Canada Invests $1B+ in S&T Initiatives over Next Two Years

The Canadian Government this week released its budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, which includes several new TBED-related initiatives and increases in funding for a few existing programs. The government plans to leverage its relatively strong fiscal position by providing tax relief and paying down the national debt, while providing $606 million for workforce development and $440 for research over the next two years. Major science and technology (S&T) initiatives in the 2008 budget include:

• $140 million for Genome Canada to develop the country's genetic research and workforce;
• $250 million over five years for research in the automotive sector, including greener and more fuel-efficient vehicles;
• $250 million to research and commercialize carbon capture and storage technologies;
• $75 million to support the creation of a new privately-run venture capital fund;
• An additional $80 million per year for Canada's three granting councils to support multidisciplinary research; and,
• Improvements to the Scientific Research & Experimental Development tax credit to enhance support for small and medium-sized businesses and to extend the credit to cover some research activities outside of Canada.

Several of these initiatives have grown out of the county’s current multi-year S&T agenda. This strategy, published last year as Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage, is part of the Advantage Canada economic plan and calls for additional investment and public-private partnerships in strategic industries. These industries include areas in which Canada has the potential to emerge as a global leader, including environmental science and technologies, natural resources and energy, health and related life sciences and technologies, and information and communication technologies. Canada also enjoys several competitive advantages in building a strong high-tech economy that could help establish the country as a global S&T leader, including a strong fiscal situation and the highest investment in R&D compared to gross domestic product (GDP) among the G-7 countries, according to the report.

 

Last year’s budget, which was cited in the plan as a strong first step in leveraging Canada’s relative strengths, included more than $500 million to modernize research infrastructure and $120 million to maintain the country’s high-speed institutional broadband network. The budget also included funds for several new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research at Canadian universities to work in strategic industries. The 11 centers were officially announced last month and will receive $163 million to investigate and commercialize new technologies over the next five years.

 

Though Canada’s focus on strategic high-tech industries through initiatives like the Centres of Excellence is claimed as a strength in the budget and in strategic plan, some argue that the country’s S&T focus is too narrow. A recent report from the CBC finds that many critics are disappointed in the 2008 budget for its investment in nuclear energy and genetics to the exclusion of other areas. The report claims that major investments are needed in Canada’s broadband infrastructure and in venture capital to make it a leading global competitor.

 

To read an overview of the Canadian budget, including the section on “Investing in Knowledge”, visit: http://www.budget.gc.ca/2008/glance-apercu/brief-bref-eng.asp

 

The full budget is available at: http://www.budget.gc.ca/2008/pdf/plan-eng.pdf



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