The federal budget introduced today includes a range of initiatives that will benefit Canada’s post-secondary sector and research institutions.
“Research universities like UBC play a critical role in the Canadian economy,” said Arvind Gupta, president and vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia. “Investments in our research and innovation ecosystem will ensure Canada remains competitive in the global economy while invigorating our local industries.”
In addition to stable funding for Canada’s core research granting agencies, Budget 2015 includes a commitment to fund the Canada Foundation for Innovation—a key supporter of advanced research infrastructure at Canada’s research universities—with $1.33 billion over six years starting in 2016.
“The tri-council agencies and the Canada Foundation for Innovation are absolutely essential to the success of Canada’s research endeavors. Countless UBC projects have benefited from tri-council funding, many of which have made major contributions to Canada’s economic and social development,” said Prof. Gupta.
UBC particularly welcomes the government’s renewed commitments to several important initiatives, including TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, and CANARIE, a powerful digital infrastructure that connects our researchers and educators with colleagues across Canada and around the world. The budget also reaffirms the government’s decision to invest in the Thirty Meter Telescope project, securing a share of the viewing time for Canadian researchers and injecting capital into BC-based businesses
As well, through the Mitacs Accelerate program, the budget supports graduate-level industrial research and development internships, a program in whichUBC students have been lead beneficiaries.