Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney released his first federal budget on Nov. 4. The budget signaled the nation's commitment to research and innovation, while also revealing its readiness to meet the challenges of U.S. trade policies to Canada’s potential benefit. Research and innovation play key roles in its plans.
The budget contains the International Attraction Strategy and Action Plan, which will be funded up to CAD 1.7 billion. Described in the budget as a “targeted, one-time initiative to recruit over a thousand highly qualified international researchers to Canada,” the plan funds the following measures that together are similar to the eminent scholar and star researcher initiatives many state TBED programs have implemented successfully over the years but at a much higher investment magnitude.
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CAD 1 billion over 13 years for an accelerated research chairs initiative to recruit exceptional international researchers to Canadian universities. CAD 400 million over seven years for a complementary stream of research infrastructure support to ensure the recruited chairs have the equipment they need to conduct research in Canada.
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CAD 133.6 million over three years to enable top international doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows to relocate to Canada.
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Up to CAD 120 million over 12 years to support universities’ recruitment of international assistant professors.
The budget also states that the government will launch an accelerated pathway for H1-B visa holders.
Research funding was slightly reduced in the budget, but to a much smaller degree than most other government agencies. The Federal Research Granting Councils—the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)—were directed to cut spending by 2%.
Most other government agencies were to cut spending by 15%, largely to accommodate changes brought about because of the negative impact of recent U.S. trade policy changes on the Canadian economy. To meet these challenges, according to the budget document, "Canada must build an enormous amount of infrastructure at speeds and scale not seen in generations."
the Carey budget emphasizes AI and quantum development, allocating CAD 925.6 million over five years to build a large-scale sovereign compute capacity. It also allots, through the Defense Industrial Strategy, CAD 334.3 million over five years to strengthen Canada's quantum ecosystem.
The budget document also lays out the government's plan to bolster private-sector investment, projecting that government initiatives will enable CAD 1 trillion in investment over the next five years, helping businesses overcome the obstacles created by tariffs.