Science in Canada needs a $459M boost
Report calls for infusion after a decade of cuts but minister says ‘there’s no quick fix’
Science Minister Kirsty Duncan says there is “no quick fix” for plugging Canada’s scientific-funding gap as a new report confirms that fundamental research needs an infusion of $459 million just to return to 2005 levels.
The report, released Wednesday by the Global Young Academy and led by scientists Julia Baum and Jeremy Kerr, also found that 40 per cent of Canadian scientists changed the direction of their research program in the past10 years — usually away from basic science. Fewer than 2 per cent of researchers reported that they pursued only fundamental research in 2011-15 compared to 24 per cent in 2006-10.
The $459-million gap, created over the past dozen years as new funding flatlined and existing funding was diverted to industry partnerships and priority areas, is in line with the findings of another major review led by former University of Toronto presi- dent David Naylor in April. The Naylor report made its top priority a $485-million increase for investigator-led, curiosity-driven research.
Duncan said she agrees with the “majority of the recommendations” in the Naylor report, but warned that “we’ve got to be realistic. There’s no quick fix. It’s been10 years of cuts and it’s going to take time to make up lost ground.”
She added that the report “allows me to make a case. My cabinet colleagues understand how important science is and fundamental science, that it’s the beginning of the pipeline to innovation.”
Katie Gibbs, executive director of Evidence for Democracy, said that among Canadian scientists there is “unanimous support for the (Naylor) report, and really a desire from the research community to see it fully implemented.”
The advocacy group launched a campaign Tuesday called Rebuilding Research, which encourages scientists and supporters to urge their MPs to implement the report’s recommendations. Beyond the cash infusion, the campaign also rallies behind recommendations that address the yawning gender gap in science and the development of a plan to support Indigenous-led research.
In May, Ottawa announced an equity, diversity and inclusion action plan to address the lack of diversity in the Canada Research Chairs program, including requiring universities to develop their own plans to address under-representation and withholding funds if the schools fail to meet their targets. Imogen Coe, dean of the faculty of science at Ryerson University, said Duncan has “made a very good start.” There has been “a shift in culture, but it definitely needs more of a push, more engagement, more intentionality, more investment. We need to catch up to what some of our comparators are doing in other countries.”
Jeremy Kerr, a co-author of the new Global Young Report and a professor in the department of biology at the University of Ottawa, said these changes are “going to take time. I am sympathetic to that — I’m an ecologist and we think about ecosystems with a lot of moving parts.
“On the other hand, the research community and Canadians are expecting that the government will get its house in order and begin to make this happen.”