Alberta Budget funds two new innovation funds, boosts IAE funding by $150 million

Alberta's Conservative government is loosening the purse strings with its 2014 Budget with some of the new money flowing to research and innovation after a year which saw a freezing of spending due to a downturn in resource revenue. Two new innovation endowments and a 5.5% boost to the budget of the Ministry of Innovation and Advanced Education (IAE) arrive as the province moves forward with dramatic changes to its research and innovation organization from the Alberta Innovate corporations to a new Alberta Institute for Research and Commercialization. Details have yet to be announced.

The Budget commits $1 billion and $200 million respectively to the Social Innovation Endowment (SIE) and the Agriculture and Food Innovation Endowment (AFIE). Announced March 4th — two days before the Budget — the endowments are part of Bill 1.

The endowments will disburse 4.5% of their market value based on a three-year rolling average. The SIE will be capitalized with $500 million immediately and $500 million in FY15, generating $22.5 million in FY15-16 and $45 million in FY16-17 and thereafter. Funds will be invested in "research on transformative approaches through knowledge dissemination initiatives", as well as prototyping that offers "potential to demonstrate improved social outcomes" and social finance for "identifying and testing new funding models".

The AFIE will generate funding of $9 million annually beginning in FY14-15 on projects for "basic and applied agricultural research in Alberta while supporting value-added product development and commercialization activities".

The budget of the IAE ministry is being boosted by 5.5% or $150 million in FY14-15 to $2.8 billion. Within that envelope, $203 million is committed to innovation and technology commercialization, including $133 million for grants to the Alberta Innovates corporations. The Budget also unfreezes the Access to the Future Fund, providing $50 million annually for matching donations to innovative post-secondary collaborative projects.

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