Might be something in it for us, anyone think?
he relatively modest research investments outlined in Canada’s new federal budget could make it difficult for the nation to recruit and retain scientific talent, Canadian science advocates fear.
The multiyear spending plan announced on 19 April includes CA$2.2 billion in mostly new funding for life sciences, but much of the money is targeted at boosting biomedical applications and vaccine development. Many research groups had hoped for greater investment in basic research at a time when, just across the border, U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed large increases for fundamental science.
Canada’s three main research councils will share CA$250 million for a new joint biomedical research grant program, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research will be given an additional $250 million to fund clinical trials. Universities and research hospitals will get $500 million for bioscience infrastructure such as equipment and buildings. The government also plans to provide new funding for an existing funding program—known as a national strategy—on artificial intelligence, as well as to create two new national strategies for genomics and quantum science, with each getting about CA$400 million. Some CA$17 billion will go to efforts to develop low-carbon technologies, support green jobs, and meet conservation goals such as protecting 25% of Canada’s land and water by 2025.
Research advocates welcomed the focus on science as a way to fight the pandemic and rebuild the economy in its aftermath. “Budget 2021 attempts to balance the pressing challenges of the pandemic with a long-term view towards recovery and growth,” said the Ottawa, Canada–based science advocacy group Evidence for Democracy. But the group also noted that the budget did not include significant increases for fundamental, investigator-led research.