The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update
Education, Research and Innovation

October 18, 2000

Success in the new, knowledge economy will not be determined by technology alone but by creating an environment of excellence in which all Canadians can take advantage of their talents, their skills and their ideas.

That is why the 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update continues the record of making smart, focused and forward-looking investments in areas that are the key to Canadian success in the global, knowledge economy: education, research and innovation.

Education

The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update doubles the amount on which the Education Tax Credit is based to $400 per month for full-time students, and to $120 per month for part -time students.

This will provide almost $1 billion to over 1 million students in the next four years. To help them offset the cost of books, lodging and other expenses.

This initiative builds on the extraordinary record that this government has of helping to make higher education more accessible and affordable for Canadians, such as:

• The Canada Millennium Scholarships - which are providing 90,000 needy students scholarships averaging $3,000 per year;
• The Canada Education Savings Grants - which encourage and assist Canadian parents to save for their children's post-secondary education through Registered Education Savings Plans.

Research and Innovation

Innovation is the lifeblood of prosperity in the new economy. And a world-class research capability is essential to making Canada a magnet for the best minds and ideas.

Building on previous initiatives, the 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update provides enhanced resources and an expanded mandate for the principal agency we have created to foster state-of- the-art research in Canada: The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI):

• An additional $400 million so that the CFI can continue creating world-class research facilities;
• An additional $100 million for the CFI to support the participation of Canadian researchers in major international research projects;
• These new funds bring to $2.4 billion the amount that the Government of Canada has invested in the CFI’s endowment since we created the arms-length agency in 1997.

The 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update also expand the mandate of the CFI so that it can devote $100 million of its endowment to covering 100% of the capital costs in Canada of collaborative research projects between Canadian universities and leading facilities in other countries.

We will also provide an additional $100 million over 5 years to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to support research in the knowledge economy - from management skills to educational requirements to life-long learning

The research and innovation initiatives in the 2000 Economic Statement and Budget Update build on such ground-breaking investments as:

• $900 million to create the 2000 21st Century Chairs for Research Excellence.
• An additional $225 million for health research through the new Canadian Institutes for Health Research; and,
• $160 million for genetic science through Genome Canada.