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Report calls for data-driven approach to government investing to grow world-class Canadian firms

A report from the University of Toronto’s Impact Centre is calling for a data-driven approach to maximizing the government’s investments in Canadian firms and growing them to be world-class. The report — Government Venture Capital: Can the Public Sector Pick and Nurture World Class Companies? — says that the strategy for venture capital investments of the Canadian government is not to simply copy what venture capitalists in Silicon Valley are doing.

New Space Advisory Board calls for urgent action to halt decline in embattled sector

The precarious state of Canada’s space sector has compelled the recently populated Space Advisory Board (SAB) to issue an “urgent call to action” for a new national strategy and “long-term continuity” for its space program. The recommendation to the federal government is part of a suite of suggested actions that include taking a whole-of-government approach to space, making space a national strategic asset, boosting smaller programs considered more suited to the so-called New Space environment and a continuing role for the SAB to ensure coordination, stakeholder dialogue and metrics to evaluate implementation plans.

NSERC’s honing of Discovery Grants Program reflects increasing diversity of research community

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) has announced $515 million in awards through its latest Discovery Grants Program (DGP) competition as the research community awaits the federal government’s response to recommendations of the David Naylor-led panel on fundamental research and the appointment of a chief science advisor which is expected in the coming weeks.

R$ welcomes new editor to the team

R$ is pleased to announce the appointment of Veronica Silva Cusi, an award-winning multimedia journalist, to the R$ team.

CMC Microsystems extends window for securing new financing; prepares for leadership change

The leaders of CMC Microsystems have announced their retirement after saving the organization from a near-death experience and giving it renewed hope of further funding after current government commitments end in 2019. President and CEO, Dr Ian McWalter, will step down at the end of the current FY after 33 years of engagement and — years at the helm. Also stepping down is Dan Gale, VP and CTO, who joined CMC (then known as Canadian Microelectronics Corp) prior to its incorporation 1984.

Scientists raise alarm over future of neutron beam research capacity

Canadian researchers whose work relies on access to a neutron beam source have issued an urgent appeal to the federal government for stop-gap funding to offset the looming impact from the March 2018 closure of the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River ON. The Canadian Neutron Initiative (CNI) is requesting $24 million over the next three years and $19 million a year between 2021 and 2029 to buy beam time at foreign facilities and to upgrade the small, medium-flux nuclear reactor at McMaster Univ.

R$’s editorial team is expanding to meet the challenges of Canada’s STI community

I’m excited to announce that starting in September a new Editor will be joining our Research Money editorial team as Mark Henderson, our stalwart Managing Editor for the past 23 years, begins a new phase in his journalistic career. Mark will be staying on as Managing Editor for now, working with the new Editor as…

Aquaculture and energy firms team up to bid for oceans supercluster in Atlantic Canada

Atlantic Canada has taken the next logical step in its decade long effort to build a regional expertise in oceans technology with the formation of an industry-led consortium that is vying to become one of a handful of federally funded innovation superclusters. Petroleum Research Newfoundland and Labrador (PRNL) and Clearwater Seafoods Inc have submitted a letter of intent to the federal government in a joint bid for supercluster funding.

Business lobby calls on Canada to become global champion for nuclear technology

The head of the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) is calling on Canada – and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau specifically – to step up as global champions for nuclear technology, notably its civilian applications in medicine and as a low-carbon energy source. President and CEO Dr John Barrett made the comment in response to the release of a House of Commons committee report urging the government to “reaffirm its long-standing support for Canadian nuclear energy and research”.

York region consortium pitches $300 million to support microelectronics supercluster

When the Innovation Superclusters Initiative competition was announced in May, it was only a matter of time before proposals started trickling in from Canada’s strongest tech centres, including York Region. Located in the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), York Region boasts the second highest number of information, communications, and technology employers in the country, with over 4,400 ICT firms.