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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is erecting another major building block in its long-term strategy of becoming Canada’s main engine of health research and innovation. President Dr Alan Bernstein and other CIHR executives have been consulting with a variety of stakeholders over the summer on a draft version of its Blueprint 2007 Strategic Plan, which pegs the need for a $1-billion annual budget at FY07-08 (see chart).

Bell Canada and Nortel Networks Corp have entered into a joint R&D initiative as part of a comprehensive agreement to develop Internet protocol (IP) applications and services for what’s being called a Next Generation Network.

Canadian participation unclear

Frustration and anxiety are growing as the federal government continues to delay its decision on whether to contribute $1.15 billion to the international ITER project.

Climate Change Plan for Canada

The federal government is providing more information on how it plans to spend $250 million earmarked for technology and innovation (T&I) projects related to climate change.

Dr David Strangway may be leaving the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), but he is not leaving the academic arena. The CFI’s president/CEO and the former president of the Univ of British Columbia is also the president and founder of Sea To Sky University (SSU), a $120-million project that will become Canada’s first secular, not-for-profit private university.

Asian and North American corporate interests have elected to place public good ahead of private gain from a Canadian-led, international research effort to unlock the scientific mysteries surrounding methane hydrates – a potentially vast, new source of hydrocarbon energy.

A new report on the R&D spending of more than 600 companies reveals that a critical pillar of Canadian innovation is at a crossroads. Although R&D expenditures and research intensity of Canadian and Canadian-based firms dropped slightly in 2002, there remains remarkable strength in some sectors, providing some optimism that Canada’s innovative companies are well positioned for the next economic upturn.

Canadian venture capital investment fell to its lowest level in seven years between April and June with just $212 million injected into 179 firms. That’s down 33% from the first quarter of 2003 and is less than half of the $459 million invested in the same quarter last year.

Screaming media headlines lamenting and denouncing Canadian high tech firm heading to the US are a distortion of the reality surrounding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between the two countries, emerging evidence suggests.