Funding provides support for new and renewed Canada Research Chairs, excellence in research equity and indirect costs of research.
Investing in Canada's world-class postsecondary institutions and their teams of diverse researchers leads to groundbreaking discoveries and innovations. It encourages researchers to dig deeper and build on the knowledge that informs and influences public policies across the health, environmental, economic and social sectors in Canada and beyond.
Today, Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced that the government is investing more than $638 million in science and research funding.
More than $452 million will be distributed through the Research Support Fund (RSF) to ensure researchers and institutions are equipped to address new demands in the current research environment and compete on a global scale. Funded projects will namely:
- create eco-responsible platforms to reduce the environmental impacts of research activities
- establish digital tools to support research and cybersecurity
- support inclusive and Indigenous research.
Over $182 million will support 224 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs. This funding will allow researchers to advance essential knowledge in areas such as Black and racialized people's health, emergency responses to the opioid overdose epidemic, wearable brain injury sensing technologies, changes in the Great Lakes ecosystems, and more.
As a Canada Research Chairs Program partner, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is also committing more than $3.3 million to support 17 research infrastructure projects at 12 institutions through its John R. Evans Leaders Fund.
Finally, $300,000 will be distributed among the three recipients of the 2023 Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity. The recipients will each receive $100,000 to help them advance their bold and game-changing initiatives that spark change and address systemic barriers within and beyond their postsecondary institutions.
As part of Budget 2024, the government unveiled a package of measures worth over $4.6 billion to strengthen Canadian research and innovation. With these investments, researchers and institutions are empowered to solve the world's biggest challenges and pave the way for a more prosperous and sustainable future for everyone.
