Ottawa and partners commit $60 million to natural resources and environmental genomics projects, applied research funding at Canadian colleges gets a boost, and more.
Topic: energy efficiency
Opinion Leader: Federal funding for energy efficiency must tackle impact on low-income Canadians
The federal government’s upcoming budget needs to address the problem of “energy poverty” as an urgent priority, Kirsten Pulles, Community Organizer for Efficiency Canada, says in an op-ed. This includes funding low-income energy efficiency programs, making meaningful reductions in energy use, and training and hiring lower-income, rural and racialized Canadians to do the energy efficiency upgrades and outreach work, she says.
Analysis: Updated mandate for federal innovation minister shows a Prime Minister preoccupied with COVID-19
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is much more focused on his government’s response to COVID-19 than on science and innovation priorities, judging by the PM’s updated mandate letter to the minister of innovation. The letter mentions the world “innovation” once, compared with more than a half-dozen references to COVID-19 and the federal response to the pandemic
Calgary wants MaRS to complement its innovation ecosystem, not add competition
Toronto-based MaRS Discovery District has proposed expanding some of its innovation components to Calgary. However, key players involved in exploratory talks say the $60-million “MaRS West” initiative will need to complement, not compete with, Calgary’s existing innovation entities and ecosystem.
Alberta invests $70M in 11 industrial projects to reduce emissions
The funding from the province’s Climate Leadership Plan is being provided through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Industrial Efficiency Challenge.