Budget 2003

Research, Innovation and Skills

February 18, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

Investments in innovation and research generate ideas that become the products and services of tomorrow. Research and innovation pay enormous dividends including well-paying jobs, economic growth and a higher quality of life for all.

Budget 2003 builds on the considerable investments the Liberal government has made to make Canada an innovative leader in the world with an additional $1.7 billion in 2002-03 and over the next two years for research and innovation.

A further $285 million in 2002-03 and over the next two years will provide more opportunities to Canadians to learn and improve their skills.

Research and Innovation

Funding to the three federal granting councils will increase by $125 million per year to support more world-class research.

Budget 2003 also provides universities, colleges, and research hospitals with $225 million per year to offset the indirect costs of federally supported research.

We are providing the Canada Foundation for Innovation with an additional $500 million for state-of-the-art health research facilities. A further $75 million will go to Genome Canada for health genomics and $15 million will go to the Rick Hansen Man in Motion Foundation to support research for spinal cord injuries.

Budget 2003 provides an additional $25 million per year for the National Research Council to strengthen its Industrial Research Assistance Program. Another $10 million per year will be provided to support the study of astronomy and establish new regional innovation centres.

Knowledge and Skills

We are committing $60 million over two years to improve the Canada Student Loans Program to put more money into the hands of students and to help post-secondary graduates manage their debt.

We are creating a new Canada Graduate Scholarships program to help the research leaders of tomorrow. With an investment of $105 million per year, we will raise the number of graduate scholarships funded by the government by 70 per cent. With 4,000 scholarships for graduate students – 2,000 for Masters students and 2,000 for PhD students, we will increase the number of graduate scholarships supported by the federal government to nearly 10,000.

Budget 2003 commits $193 million a year through the Employability Assistance for Persons with Disabilities program to help remove barriers to work and education faced by Canadians with disabilities.

With $100 million, we are creating the Canadian Learning Institute to improve the quality of information available on our education and learning system.

We will invest $41 million over two years to attract new skilled immigrants and help them integrate into the Canadian Labour market.

We will provide $72 million over the next two years to improve the educational outcomes for Aboriginal people and increase their opportunities for training and employment on major projects.