Although the 2017 federal budget, tabled last week by Finance Minister Bill Morneau, makes no specific provisions for postsecondary institutions, it nevertheless presents a number of opportunities for Canadian universities, said Peter White, Executive Director, Government Relations and Strategic Partnerships at Western.
“From our standpoint, there was no surprise with what the budget provided. Given the support we had last year, from the designated funding for the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF), and the fact there was a significant bump to the research councils, which was maintained, we had a fairly good understanding of how this budget was going to operate,” White said.
“Nothing in the budget went to individual universities, but for the sector, there were still, actually, some good items.”
The first opportunity for universities lies in the announcement of $950 million for the Canadian Innovation and Skills Plan. The government has allotted $800 million over four years to develop innovation networks and clusters – an initiative that will be led by the private sector, but with university partners. Projects will focus on advanced manufacturing, agri-food, clean technology, digital technology, health biosciences and clean resources, and given some of Western’s strengths, the university is well positioned to benefit from this, White noted.
“The good news is, we operate in a number of those areas. Core for us would be advanced manufacturing and health and biosciences. As we move forward, and as (the government) looks at these clusters, they’re thinking more of a regional sector basis, we should be in a good position to participate in that because of what we’re doing with research parks, with engineering, science and health biosciences,” he explained.
Through CFREF and Canadian Innovation Foundation applications in some of these areas, Western has shown it has good strategic plans to grow its research and development base, White added. The university has many private sector partnerships that will work well for future opportunities.
Another key opportunity for universities – and Western, in particular – from the federal budget can be found in the funding allotted to Mitacs. The government will provide $221 million over five years, starting in 2017-18, to provide 10,000 work-integrated learning placements for Canadian postsecondary students and graduates each year.
“This is great news for us because we’re always in the Top 3, if not the Top 5, of institutions across the country that utilize Mitacs,” White said.
The federal budget also established the Canada 150 Research Chairs program, which will create approximately 25 research chairs to attract top-tier international scholars and researchers to Canada. The $117.6 million in funding for these new chairs will come from the existing Canada Excellence Research Chairs program. Western has always done well with these types of opportunities, White added.
Two areas of the budget will help universities attract international talent, with almost $8 million allotted to implement a new global talent stream onto the temporary foreign worker program, allowing for exemptions for short-duration work, study-exchanges and academic stays. Some flexibility was needed in this area, White noted. Increased investments in an international mobility program will likewise benefit universities trying to attract top-level researchers.
The 2017 federal budget also:
- Provides $125 million in new money to launch a Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy for research and talent;
- Outlines details of the Work-Integrated Learning Program, featuring $73 million over four years for job-creating partnerships between employers and interested post-secondary institutions;
- Provides an annual $2-million budget for the Chief Science Advisor and related secretariat; and
- Lists a number of new investments in government research/science, some of which may be accessible to university researchers.
Over the coming year, the Government will work to develop a new federal science infrastructure strategy. This will include a review of existing investments in federal science infrastructure, including federal laboratories and testing facilities, and provide a roadmap for future investments.