Article Type: Generic

In one fell swoop, Canada has aggressively positioned itself to re-enter the international genomics research community with the creation of five regional centres and the awarding of 22 major projects that Genome Canada hopes will eventually place the country among the world’s top three locales for pursuing R&D.

Science and technology (S&T) is quietly staging a comeback at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and is being positioned to take on a more prominent departmental role in anticipation of government action on the international S&T file.

The National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) is shaping up as a key player in the renewed federal emphasis on international S&T. With its strategic plan recently updated to explicitly include an international component, the organization has launched and is continuing with several modest initiatives it is positioning for future expansion.

The value of private sector sales made over the Internet in Canada rose 73.4% in 2000 but still represent only a tiny fraction of the entire economy, according to a recent Statistic Canada survey on electronic commerce and technology.

Foundation named in honour of late Dr Michael Smith

British Columbia’s health research community has moved closer to parity with its provincial counterparts with the creation of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) (www.

June timeframe considered too short

Industry Canada (IC) is working to complete a White Paper on innovation for delivery to Cabinet in June that is rapidly shaping up as the key policy instrument in the government’s attempts to propel Canada into the top five R&D-spending nations of the OECD.

The Quebec Budget has provided a first glance at the financial commitment the provincial government is willing to make in support of its freshly minted science and innovation policy. Flush with surplus cash and cognizant of the need to bolster the province’s innovative capacity in selected niches sectors, the Budget once again demonstrates the unique approach to supporting science and technology (S&T) through a combination of tax incentives and funded initiatives geared towards the needs of the high technology and medical business communities.

Health R&D has steadily grown to account for a full 20% of all R&D with $3.3 billion conducted in 2000, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. That’s up from $1.225 billion in 1988 when health R&D accounted for 13.

Amidst the hype and confusion that is British Columbia politics, it’s hardly surprising that science and technology (S&T) were afforded barely a mention in the province’s pre-election Budget (http://www.

High-profile backers of a proposal to assist in the commercialization of Canadian bioscience research are gaining powerful support for their plan to strike at the heart of one of the most vexing challenges facing Canada’s efforts to create a truly innovative economy.