Budget 2018 marks the biggest investment in science and university research in Canadian history, Universities Canada said Wednesday. With a focus on investing in people and ideas for a stronger, more prosperous Canada, the budget will increase diversity in science and help develop Canada’s next generation of research leaders.
In each of its budgets, Universities Canada - the voice of Canada’s universities at home and abroad, advancing higher education, research and innovation for the benefit of all Canadians - said the government has demonstrated commitments to science, research and students, and has recognized the central role of universities in shaping Canada’s future. Reflecting the core recommendations of the 2017 Federal Science Review Panel, which called for significant investments in research, Budget 2018 provides $925 million in new funding for investigator-led research through Canada’s three federal research councils over the next five years.
University of Windsor President Alan Wildeman added that "the 2018 Federal Budget provides significant new funding for basic and collaborative research across all disciplines, for research addressing important national issues, and for enhancing diversity within the research community. I want to thank the University of Windsor research community for being a part of the national effort to advocate for the importance of research in education and to the future of our country.”
Budget 2018 provides an increase of $354.7 million each for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research over the next five years, and $215.5 million for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. An additional $231.3 over five years is targeted for the Research Support Fund – a critical program that assists universities with the institutional costs of research, such as facility costs and technology transfer supports
Budget 2018 will also establish a tri-council fund to support research that is international, interdisciplinary, fast-breaking and higher-risk, with $275 million over five years to be administered by SSHRC.
As well, granting councils will be required to increase tri-council collaboration, support for interdisciplinary research and diversity among funding recipients – including women, early-career researchers and other underrepresented groups. This aligns well with university leaders’ adoption of seven principles to advance equity, diversity and inclusion, along with a five-year action plan, in October 2017.
Budget 2018 invests $763 million for cutting-edge research infrastructure through the Canada Foundation for Innovation over the next five years, reaching a stable base of ongoing funding at $462 million per year by 2023-24.
The Fundamental Science Review Panel, a group of nine eminent Canadians chaired by David Naylor, president emeritus of the University of Toronto, laid out a blueprint for the future of Canada’s research ecosystem in April 2017.
“This budget makes important advances on the roadmap developed by the Naylor report,” says Paul Davidson, president of Universities Canada. “It’s a major investment in research that impacts Canadians’ everyday lives, from shortening commute times to lifesaving medical treatments and environmental protection.”
Canada’s universities also welcome Budget 2018’s $540 million investment in the National Research Council and a major renewal of federal laboratories.
See highlights of the 2018 federal budget provided by Universities Canada.