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Canada's Economic Action Plan: A Third Report to Canadians

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Archived - Creating the Economy of Tomorrow

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Highlights

Almost 93 per cent of the $2-billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program, which supports research and advanced education by funding deferred maintenance, repair and construction projects at colleges and universities across Canada, has been committed. There are already 381 projects that have begun, and a further 66 projects will start this fiscal year. Projects at universities will improve the quality of post-secondary research and development, while projects at colleges will strengthen their ability to deliver advanced knowledge and skills training.
New Canada Graduate Scholarships awards have been fully allocated.
Funding for about three-quarters of the projects supported by the Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund in 2009–10 has begun to flow. In some instances, construction has already begun.
About 90 per cent of the 2009–10 funding set aside to address deferred maintenance at some 70 federal laboratories and scientific facilities across Canada has been committed. Initiatives that are well advanced include projects to upgrade the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's forensic laboratories in Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver.

Introduction

Canada's Economic Action Plan includes about $4.0 billion over two years for post-secondary education and research and other investments in science and technology. These measures will strengthen Canada's capacity for excellence in research by creating world-leading facilities for research and advanced training, and better prepare young Canadians for the jobs of tomorrow. Other investments will modernize the federal laboratories that deliver critical services to Canadians in a wide range of areas including health and the environment. The Economic Action Plan also includes measures to create business opportunities and provide support for small and medium-sized companies as they develop new products and services for the marketplace, discover new technologies that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create business opportunities in robotics, improve Canadians' access to broadband Internet, and create jobs.

Table 2.8
**Creating the Economy of Tomorrow**
	2009–10	2010–11	Total
	(millions of dollars)
Action to Invest in Colleges, Universities and Research
Improving infrastructure at colleges and universities	1,000	1,000	2,000
Other	90	154	244

Subtotal—Action to Invest in Colleges, Universities and Research	1,090	1,154	2,244
Investing in Science and Technology
Renewing federal laboratories	100	150	250
Clean energy and the environment	501	201	702
Other	120	660	780

Subtotal—Investing in Science and Technology	721	1,011	1,732

Total—Creating the Economy of Tomorrow	1,811	2,165	3,976
Total stimulus value	1,871	2,164	4,035
With provincial contributions	2,871	3,331	6,202
Notes: Totals may not add due to rounding. The stimulus value reflects projected cash expenditures. The budgetary impact may be somewhat smaller because some of these expenditures relate to construction and renovation costs of federal assets (for which only depreciation is recorded on a budgetary basis) and loans to third parties (where there is a budgetary impact only in the event that there is a risk of loss).

The Government is helping to build a strong innovative economy through science, technology and research excellence. Investments in science, technology and research also help to train new generations of highly skilled individuals. Canada needs this new wave of highly qualified workers to prosper in a global economy that depends more and more on knowledge and innovation. Canadians are committed to learning how to do things in new and innovative ways that make us more competitive.

Prior to the Economic Action Plan, the Government had invested over $2.2 billion in new science and technology measures since 2006. Canada's investments in higher education research and development as a proportion of the economy are now the highest in the G7 (Chart 2.12).

Canada invests more in higher education research
and development (R&D) than any other G7 country

Chart 2.12 - R&D Investment in the Higher Education Sector

The Government is committed to maintaining Canada's global leadership position in post-secondary research. Funding has been provided to support research excellence at Canadian post-secondary institutions, help Canadian scientists focus on areas where we can be world leaders, and link our research strengths to the opportunities and challenges facing the private sector. These investments are consistent with the principles and objectives articulated in Advantage Canada: Building a Strong Economy for Canadians, the Government's plan to ensure Canada's long-term economic prosperity.

The Government has provided significant additional resources to the three federal research granting councils, increasing their combined annual budgets by about $400 million since 2006. This has included new funding for research competitions to identify the best ideas, support advanced training, and accelerate the translation and application of new knowledge. Overall, the total planned spending of the granting councils will rise to about $2.7 billion in 2009–10. This represents an average annual increase in funding of 5 per cent since 2006.

Supporting Advanced Research,
Training and Commercialization

The Government has strengthened the ability of the granting councils to fund world-leading research, support advanced training and promote commercialization through the following new investments:

$205 million of new core funding in 2009–10 compared to 2006 levels to support basic and applied research at Canada's universities and colleges, including collaborative research focused on the needs of strategic industries.
$80.5 million to provide 2,500 new Master's and doctoral scholarships to promising students in all disciplines. This includes the creation of the new prestigious Georges P. Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program, which this year will support up to 166 world-class doctoral students.
$70 million in new funding this year compared to 2006 levels for the indirect costs of research program, which helps post-secondary institutions support world-class research.
$21 million over two years to build upon the Canada Research Chairs program and establish 20 Canada Excellence Research Chairs.
$41 million annually to create and support new business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence and new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research. These initiatives encourage collaborative research and stimulate the commercialization of discoveries and technological advances that benefit Canadians.

The Government's investments since 2006 represent an average annual increase in funding for the granting councils of about 5 per cent.

Further, the Government has invested significant new resources to strengthen Canada's position in knowledge leadership and establish centres of excellence in key priority areas such as health, energy, the environment, and information and communication technologies. These investments are not only supporting jobs now, they will make us more competitive in the future. We are also ensuring that our investments in science are more responsive to the needs of the private sector, for example through practical research internships for graduate students in companies, support for college innovation, and the creation of business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence. In particular, we have launched Automotive Partnership Canada, which will support major collaborative research projects that will lead to innovation and greater competitiveness in the Canadian automotive sector.

Building on these important measures, Canada's Economic Action Plan invests a further $5.1 billion in science and technology initiatives. This is an unprecedented investment that underlines our continued commitment to research excellence and the objectives of our science and technology strategy. This new funding supports two broad priorities.

The first priority area is post-secondary education and research, the centrepiece of which is a fund to support deferred maintenance, repair and construction at colleges and universities. This $2-billion investment in Canada's future will create the infrastructure needed to keep Canadian research and educational facilities at the forefront of scientific advancement. It is also providing important support for new employment now. Post-secondary institutions already have 381 projects that have begun, creating jobs for engineers, architects and construction management professionals.

Canada's Economic Action Plan:
Working for Canadians

Examples of Infrastructure Investments at Canada's Colleges and Universities That Will Strengthen the Economy and Support Jobs

Capilano University in British Columbia will receive more than $14 million from the federal government to establish a new film centre.
The foundation piles are now in the ground for the construction of a Science Complex and College for the Environment at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, which will employ 400 workers through to March 31, 2011.
The construction of a Centre for Engineering Innovation, which has begun at the University of Windsor in Ontario, is expected to employ 444 workers until March 31, 2010 and 315 workers from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011.
Four projects that have begun at Laval University in Quebec are scheduled for completion by March 31, 2010 and are expected to create 105 jobs.
Nine projects that have begun in New Brunswick will create or maintain 784 jobs by March 31, 2011.
Projects at the Yukon College campuses in Dawson City and Pelly Crossing are expected to create 53 jobs in the Yukon by March 31, 2011, providing substantial economic stimulus for the 1,619 inhabitants of the two communities.
The Aurora College campuses in the Northwest Territories will receive over $2 million from the federal government for the construction of new community learning centres in Lutsel K'e, Hay River Dene Reserve and Tsiigehtchic.
Renovations at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan have begun. This project is expected to be completed by December 2010 and will enhance the college's training, research and clinical programs.
Construction has begun on the expansion and renovation of the Nova Scotia Community College's Institute of Technology Campus in Halifax. The renewed IT Campus will include a new library and student learning commons when it is completed in September 2010.

Other important initiatives in support of advanced education and research include a significant expansion of awards for post-graduate scholarships, funding for quantum research, as well as significant upgrades to arctic science facilities dedicated to research on ways to create a healthier and more sustainable society and economy in Canada's North. Funding for about three-quarters of the projects supported by the Arctic Research Infrastructure Fund in 2009–10 has begun to flow. All of these actions are supporting jobs now while contributing to a stronger future.

The second priority area is direct support for science and technology. This includes a series of measures to modernize federal laboratories, improve broadband access, and spur research in clean energy and space technology.

Federal laboratories doing research in a wide array of fields, from health and food to natural resources, are being upgraded after several years in which maintenance had been delayed or deferred. This includes $19 million over two years for the National Research Council to modernize 28 of its facilities in seven provinces.
The Economic Action Plan's commitment to extend rural access to broadband services will enable rural households, businesses and community institutions to make use of the Internet at levels similar to many of their urban counterparts. An extensive mapping exercise to identify currently unserved and underserved households has been completed. A call for applications under the Broadband Canada initiative was launched on September 1, 2009, with applications due by October 23, 2009. Projects will be selected later this fall, with funding expected to begin flowing to projects early in 2010.
The Economic Action Plan established the Clean Energy Fund, which will provide $1 billion over five years to support clean energy research and demonstration. This will include up to $150 million for clean energy research, and $850 million for clean energy demonstration projects, including carbon capture and storage technologies. A Request for Proposals for renewable energy and clean energy systems demonstration projects has been initiated. These projects are expected to assist in increasing the deployment of renewable and clean technologies through Smart Grid and integrated energy systems. The Clean Energy Fund will strengthen Canada's position as an energy superpower while stimulating new investments, creating new jobs in the energy sector and contributing to our climate change objectives.
The Economic Action Plan also provided $110 million over three years to the Canadian Space Agency to support Canada's continued leadership in the design and construction of space robotics. This funding supports new opportunities for innovative Canadian companies and provides jobs for highly skilled employees. This new support will also help prepare Canadian astronauts to participate in future international space missions, similar to those in which astronauts Robert Thirsk and Julie Payette recently participated.

As part of the Action Plan, the Government announced an investment of $500 million in Canada Health Infoway. Due diligence on this project will not be completed prior to the start of fiscal year 2010–11. The Government will continue to work with Canada Health Infoway to complete the due diligence process before next steps.