Direct support for business among recommendations to Finance committee

Direct support for business R&D, more innovation clusters, stronger engineering design and open access to scientific data are required to ensure that Canada does not squander its major invest- ments in basic research and public education, says a major scientific body.

The Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE) made the recommendations in its submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, urging the government to act quickly or be overtaken by competitor nations.

In a draft version of its submission, PAGSE contends that its recommendations would begin the necessary process of completing Canada's innovation pipeline.

Capital funding for new innovation clusters — an initiative supported by the Science, Technology and Innovation Council — could be provided to universities to build the infrastructure needed to attract the necessary players from industry, government and academia, it states.

Direct support for business will help companies boost R&D spending and build capacity for hiring skilled workers.

"There is ... a leak in the innovation pipeline. Public investment in education is being squandered because we are training people for jobs that do not exist," states the PAGSE submission. Support could take the form of incentives for business to employ Canadian graduates, grants or subsidies to businesses based on new hires and endowments to establish corporate research chairs. The cost would be neutral by making "equivalent reductions in the level of (R&D) tax credits".

A national strategy and support for data accessibility and management would improve capacity for research and innovation, states the submission. PAGSE says Canada must act quickly to encourage open innovation to match similar initiatives in the UK, EU, Australia and elsewhere.

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