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The federal government has significantly ramped up its support of forestry research and marketing with three initiatives designed to ensure that Canada maintains its world class research capability. The assistance is also meant to counteract the severe recession and US duties now decimating the industry.

With the creation and funding of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the federal government has unleashed a $4-billion research colossus that has transformed Canada’s scientific landscape. With money and talent flowing into universities and colleges across the country, the post-secondary research enterprise has blossomed, but that dramatic expansion in research activity is not occurring in isolation.

The Univ of Alberta (U of A) is amalgamating its three research services offices into a single powerhouse to deal with a rapid build-up in research activity that’s expected to reach $500 million annually within four years.

More than 30 regional meetings planned

Industry Canada has formally kicked off the engagement segment of its innovation strategy as part of a highly structured process to encourage industry and other sectors to help achieve the government’s objective of transforming Canada into a world class, knowledge-based innovative economy.

New vision for federal S&T

Senior S&T managers in Ottawa are considering the use of technology foresight to assist in the selection of research networks and to improve the funding chances for their proposed Federal Innovation Networks of Excellence (FINE) program.

A Senate committee is recommending that the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) receive new funding for an innovation strategy for increasing commercialization of federally funded health research.

Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity

The future success of Ontario as an innovative and competitive economy and society will ultimately depend upon its ability to grow and sustain vibrant clusters, according to an major new study from the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity (ICP).

The CATA Alliance is calling on the federal government to change the rules for its flagship R&D assistance program to allow publicly traded firms access to large pools of unused tax credits. CATA contends that many of these firms are suffering badly due to the current high tech slowdown and could go into bankruptcy if R&D assistance is not made available.

An unprecedented meeting of sectors was held recently to launch the federal government’s $170-million R&D initiative to advance research and develop technologies for preparing against terrorist threats.

Health R&D is growing at a much faster rate than total R&D in Canada due in large part to spectacular increases in spending by the nation’s medical schools and health research institutions. Health gross expenditures on R&D (GERD) increased by an estimated 11.