The federal government has made university research a top priority in its 2014 budget, tabled Feb. 11.
The Canada First Research Excellence Fund is a 10-year commitment promising up to $200 million each year in high-demand research fields, starting with $50 million in 2015-16. The fund hopes to create jobs and expand Canada’s international connections through commercially viable research projects.
Jessica McCormick, chair of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), said the fund is “one of the most substantial investments into post-secondary education” in the budget, but specific areas to be funded remain vague.
“I think there are a lot of questions that have still gone unanswered. The devil will be in the details,” McCormick said. “It’s hard to say what the specific impacts will be on institutions and students when it’s still kind of unclear how the funding will be distributed.”
McCormick said the fund deviated from Canada’s “short-term strategy” in terms of research funding in recent years.
McCormick said “a diversity of fields, from basic to applied” should be funded, not just areas that are currently commercially viable.
Amanda Nielsen, board chair of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA), said the fund, unlike other measures in the 2014 budget, came as a surprise.
“It wasn’t something that we had specifically requested,” she said. “But if it lives up to the promises that are currently in the budget, I think it will do great things.”
Nielsen said basic research should not be neglected “because that’s often where you get the ideas to move further research that can be commercialized forward.”
Research granting agencies like the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council will receive $46 million more each year, as well as $40 million in high-demand science and engineering fields. This funding is set to be used to create up to 3,000 full-time internships.
Both groups agreed that the exemption of vehicle ownership from student loan applications was a positive aspect of the budget.
This plan will create over $8 million more in funding each year, according to Nielsen. She said CASA has been lobbying for the exemption for over five years.
Nielsen said she hopes that in-study income will be the next factor dropped from student loan applications.
McCormick said the budget lacks consideration for student debt.
“Not to say that research funding or that investment in paid internships are not a good thing, but I think we have a really systemic issue with youth unemployment and access to education in Canada,” McCormick said.
She said investment in these internships would only help one per cent of those between 20 and 29. This demographic represents almost 400,000 unemployed students and recent graduates, she said.
“It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what is actually needed,” McCormick said. “Non-repayable student financial assistance is the best means of reducing student debt.”
