Innovation Canada: A Call to Action

Innovation Canada: A Call to Actionprojects and services, funded byamounts drawn against existing NRCappropriations together with revenueearned from collaborative activities(b) an institute engaged in basic researchto be affiliated with one or moreuniversities and funded by an amountdrawn against existing NRCappropriations together withcontributions from university and/orprovincial partners(c) a part of a non-profit organizationmandated to manage what arecurrently NRC major science initiativesand potentially other such researchinfrastructure in Canada(d) an institute or unit providing services insupport of a public policy mandate andto be incorporated within the relevantfederal department or agency.4.2 IRAP — Transfer the Industrial ResearchAssistance Program to the proposedIndustrial Research and InnovationCouncil (IRIC).4.3 Structure and oversight — Institutescould be established as independent nonprofitcorporations, with the federalgovernment’s share of funding managedand overseen by the proposed IRIC forindustry-oriented institutes in category (a)above, and by the Natural Sciences andEngineering Research Council (NSERC) orCanadian Institutes of Health Research(CIHR) for categories (b) and (c) above.(Apart from functions in category (d), anyresidual activities of NRC, or institutes thatare unable to secure adequate funding,would be wound down according to anappropriate transition plan.)The model of arm’s-length, non-profit researchinstitutes is key to putting in place appropriateincentives to develop high-quality R&Dprograms that would compete for requiredfunding (beyond federal core funding) fromindustry and from government programs. ThePanel envisions institutes of sufficient scale tohave significant long-term impact on businessinnovation capacity. Some of these institutes —by virtue of their expertise in specific sectors andintegration with related local partners — couldplay an important role as focal points for thedevelopment and implementation of sectoralresearch and innovation strategies. Suchstrategies are paramount to addressingCanada’s innovation deficit, since differentsectors face different challenges across an arrayof issues such as access to financing, regulatoryrestrictions and intellectual property rules,among others (Box 7.5).The Panel’s proposal would allow for theredeployment of institutes that are not activelyengaged in business-related research touniversities whose research capacity has vastlyimproved in recent years. It is not proposed thatthe separate industry-facing institutes should begrouped organizationally under the proposedIRIC, but it would be logical and appropriate forIRIC to have financial authority over the federalcontributions to the institutes by managing thefunding agreements between the institutes andthe Government of Canada. Moreover, it wouldalso be appropriate for NSERC or CIHR tomanage any needed funding agreements withinstitutes fitting in categories (b) and (c) inRecommendation 4.1. 6 Those institutes thatprovide services in support of a public policymandate — for example, activities such as thoseconcerned with public health and safety —should be transferred to appropriate federaldepartments and agencies, with no reduction incurrent resources.6 Scientists in the academic-facing institutes would be able to apply for granting agency funding in line with others at theuniversities.7-10