INST Committee Report

CHAIR’S FOREWORD

Prosperity in the new knowledge-based economy depends, in large part, on innovation. One of the major priorities of the federal government is to improve Canada’s innovation performance since Canada lags behind other advanced economies in this regard. The federal government’s Innovation Strategy, released in February 2002, is intended to serve as a blueprint for increasing innovation and productivity in Canada. The Innovation Strategy outlines broad goals, targets and federal government priorities to help meet the objective of improving Canada’s innovation performance and standard of living over the next decade.

Two of the areas listed in the Strategy that influence innovation capacity are “skills” and “knowledge performance.” The Strategy indicates that the federal government’s role in improving capacity in these areas will be achieved, in part, via an increase in the federal government’s current investments in research and development (R&D), and in the training of highly qualified personnel. Part of those investments are in the three federal granting agencies, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

The Committee believes that these three agencies all have vital roles to play in improving Canada’s innovation capacity through their support of research, training, and knowledge and technology transfer. However, earlier work conducted by the Committee suggested that improvements in how the agencies allocate federal research funds may be necessary. In the Committee’s June 2001 report A Canadian Innovation Agenda for the Twenty-first Century, the Committee committed to examining the mandates, processes and decision-making criteria of the agencies to ensure that funds are being managed in the best possible way before additional investments are made. Part of the Committee’s concerns about the allocation of federal research funds centred on the low research capacity of certain small and regional universities, and the relatively low success rates of these universities’ applicants in the granting agencies’ competitions. The Committee believes that small research institutions have an important role to play in ensuring that all regions of Canada participate in and benefit from the knowledge-based society that we are building; access to federal granting agency funds for researchers at these institutions is critical in this regard.

The Committee undertook an examination of these issues by organizing a series of roundtables in which representatives of the granting agencies, advisory bodies, policy groups, university and college associations, and the research community expressed their opinions on peer review and other issues related to the allocation of federal research funds. A wide range of views on this topic was heard; the Committee believes that this report captures the essence of those views and that its recommendations will help the granting agencies in their work of supporting R&D and innovation.

I would like to thank the individuals and organizations that took part in this series of hearings, and express my appreciation to them for helping the Committee in its ongoing work to improve Canada’s innovation performance. The Committee, in the context of its planned future work on innovation and productivity, will continue to study the allocation and management of federal R&D funds. With the help of Canada’s research community, the Committee will continue to promote the importance of science, technology and innovation for improving Canada’s economic performance and the quality of life of its citizens.