Canada’s budget to make significant investments in basic science and research
OTTAWA — Canada’s research community has long yearned for a consequential funding boost for science — and 2018 is poised to be its year.
The Liberal government’s federal budget, now believed to be only a few weeks away, is expected to contain a major financial lift for basic scientific research across the country — one that will address some of the concerns laid out last year in a national review of the state of fundamental science.
That exercise, led by former University of Toronto president David Naylor, recommended the government end a long stretch of underfunding with phased-in investments over four years — until there’s $1.3 billion more for researchers, scholarships and facilities.
It remains to be seen how much spending the budget will contain, and for how long. The Naylor report calls for a steady increase in funding for scientific endeavours — with a particular focus on federal granting councils, which oversee the distribution of federal grants to researchers.