Colleges, Polytechnics and Applied Research: Notes from Budget 2010

The Federal Government's Budget 2010, while modest, shows a fairly positive outlook for applied research.

Notably, the NSERC College and Community Innovation Program gets its budget doubled and is mentioned for its contribution to innovation and industrial competitiveness. An additional $15M per year is allocated to support its expansion, doubling the program to $30M annually. This is good news for those colleges (like GBC) that are well positioned to deliver on this program. The three granting councils also got a good boost; most notable is the “$5 million per year to foster closer research collaborations between academic institutions and the private sector through NSERC’s Strategy for Partnerships and Innovation.” The SPI was announced by NSERC President Suzanne Fortier at the Polytechnics Showcase last November. 

There are also good programs for fostering greater links to industry R&D partners. Infrastructure funding for education and research is also good to see. Colleges are listed as core R&D assets in the country – a good evolution in keeping with the direction of the S&T Policy.

The Polytechnics Canada press release on Budget 2010 contains more information on what this means for the applied research capacity that we represent.