OTTAWA, June 5, 2009 — The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), was at Waterloo's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics today to release Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage: Progress Report 2009. The report is the Government of Canada's update on the implementation of Canada's Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy, which was launched by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in May 2007.
“Science, technology and innovation are vital to stimulating productivity, competitiveness and growth,” said Minister of State Goodyear. “Since launching the S&T Strategy, we have invested aggressively in science, technology and research to help stimulate the economy, generate new jobs and create an improved quality of life for Canadians.”
The progress report outlines advances that have been made toward the S&T Strategy's key objectives of developing an entrepreneurial advantage that encourages firms to innovate; fostering a knowledge advantage that puts Canadians at the forefront of research and discovery; and creating a people advantage of the best-educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce.
In a related event, Steven Blaney, Member of Parliament for Lévis–Bellechasse, was in Québec to announce the release of the progress report.
“Since 2006, the government has committed more than $7 billion to S&T initiatives, through major, ongoing, multi-year investments,” said Mr. Blaney. “This progress report demonstrates our government's commitment to science, technology and innovation in stimulating productivity, competitiveness and growth.”
This year, through Canada's Economic Action Plan, the government is making one of the largest investments in S&T in Canada's history — more than $5.1 billion. Part of that involves funding research infrastructure projects at universities and colleges and support for the state-of-the-art equipment and laboratories required to conduct research.
For more information on the Government of Canada's S&T Strategy and to read the progress report, please visit www.ic.gc.ca/s&tstrategy.
For further information (media only), please contact:
Gary Toft
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Gary Goodyear
Minister of State (Science and Technology)
613-943-7599
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Backgrounder
Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage: Progress Report 2009
Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage: Progress Report 2009 summarizes the progress made on Canada's Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy following two years of implementation. It demonstrates the depth of the Canadian government's sustained commitment to building a stronger economy and society through S&T and research.
Canada's S&T Strategy, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage, was launched by the Prime Minister in May 2007. It lays out a comprehensive multi-year plan to improve Canada's S&T-related competitiveness and to promote entrepreneurial innovation and creativity.
The strategy seeks to foster Canada's competitiveness through investments and activities in three key areas: entrepreneurial advantage, knowledge advantage and people advantage. It is founded on four core principles: promoting world-class excellence; focusing on priorities; fostering partnerships; and enhancing accountability. It also identifies four priority areas for enhanced investment and activity: environmental science and technologies; natural resources and energy; health and related life sciences and technologies; and information and communications technologies.
The government's commitment to S&T and research is reflected in recent federal budgets that have made ongoing investments to build a sustainable national competitive advantage. Budget 2007 focused on fostering research partnerships involving businesses, academics and the public sector by renewing existing programs and launching new ones to keep Canadian researchers at the forefront of their fields. Budget 2008 put the emphasis on people — attracting the world's top researchers and students, and encouraging Canada's best researchers and students to collaborate here at home.
Budget 2009 — Canada's Economic Action Plan — contains one of the single-largest federal budget investments in S&T to date. The plan announced $5.1 billion in new spending in the areas of S&T infrastructure, research, people and commercialization. These investments are already stimulating economic activity in local communities across the country and are helping to improve the environment for researchers.
Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage: Progress Report 2009 is available for download at www.ic.gc.ca/s&tstrategy. Copies can also be ordered from the Government of Canada Publications Centre at 1-800-635-7943.
