Robert Asselin became the CEO of U15 Canada on June 9, after five years as the senior vice-president for policy at the Business Council of Canada.

U15 Canada is an association of 15 research universities across Canada dedicated to advancing research and innovation, and developing highly qualified leaders for the benefit of Canadians. 

Asselin is a recognized expert on innovation, economic growth and industrial strategy with extensive experience in senior roles within government as well as in academia.

He has over a decade of experience advising at the highest levels of government, having served as policy and budget director to Canada’s minister of finance and as a senior advisor to two prime ministers.

In addition, he spent nearly a decade in academia, notably as associate director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and as visiting public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

Asselin currently serves on the advisory board of the U.S. Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

Some highlights of U15 Canada universities are:

• U15 Canada universities enroll nearly 50 percent of all university students.
• Over 156,000 students graduate annually from a U15 university, including 48,000 graduate students.
• Since 2010, U15 universities have filed over 18,000 invention disclosures, 11,000 patent applications, and launched more than 1,100 research-based startups – including nearly 120 in 2023 alone.
• In just 2022-2023, researchers at U15 universities worked with over 3,600 organizations on federally-funded research grants – including over 1,000 non-profits, 1,800 businesses, hundreds of educational institutions, nearly 500 healthcare providers, and government bodies at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.

Asselin agreed to do a Q&A via email with Mark Lowey, Research Money’s managing editor.

R$: Why did you make the move to U15 Canada from the Business Council of Canada after five years there as senior vice-president, policy – and why now?

RA: After five years at the Business Council, I felt the timing was right to focus more directly on one of the most foundational pillars of Canada’s future competitiveness – research and innovation.

U15 universities are at the core of this agenda. They are not only talent engines but also the country’s most productive research institutions. At a time when Canada faces serious challenges in productivity, technological adoption and innovation, and long-term growth, I believe our leading research universities must be at the table in shaping solutions.

That’s the opportunity – and responsibility – that drew me to this role.

R$: Where and how does U15 fit into Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem? Can you highlight what U15 brings to the table?

RA: U15 universities conduct nearly 80 percent of Canada’s university-based research. They are where Canada’s most significant discoveries are made, and where the country’s next-generation talent – scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and public leaders – is trained.

U15’s role is to advocate for the conditions that allow this research and talent pipeline to thrive: robust and predictable funding, institutional capacity and strategic alignment with national priorities.

What we bring to the table is not just scale, but a deep reservoir of research excellence, multidisciplinary collaboration, and a national footprint that connects regions and sectors.

R$: What is U15’s view of BOREALIS (Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Innovation and Science), a new agency that is part of the federal government’s new strategic approach to defence and security? How can U15 best contribute to this initiative?

RA: BOREALIS is a welcome and overdue step toward building Canada’s capacity for mission-driven, high-risk, high-reward research – especially in national security and advanced technologies.

U15 universities house the country’s deepest scientific expertise and cutting-edge infrastructure, including quantum, AI, cybersecurity and advanced materials. We can contribute talent, lab capacity and partnership models that blend academic research with applied problem-solving.

We see BOREALIS as a generational opportunity to embed universities more directly into Canada’s sovereign capabilities innovation ecosystem.

R$: Is U15 involved in discussions about the new capstone research funding organization announced by the federal government in Budget 2024? What would you like to see regarding its design and delivery?

RA: We have been in active conversations with the federal government on this file.

If Canada is serious about building a modern research and innovation system, this new organization must be designed with excellence, ambition and scale in mind. That means arm’s-length governance, competitive merit-based funding, and an explicit mandate to support breakthrough science. We’d also like to see strong coordination with existing granting councils and alignment with industrial and national strategies.

Done right, this could be a defining institution for Canada’s scientific future.

R$: Does the financial situation facing many Ontario universities concern U15 and is there anything your organization can do to improve the situation?

RA: It’s deeply concerning. A sustainable university system is critical to talent development, regional economic health and long-term national prosperity. Structural underfunding – especially in Ontario – is putting that at risk.

While U15 represents research-intensive institutions nationally, we are engaged in conversations about policy reforms that can strengthen financial sustainability. We need governments to treat universities not as cost centres but as nation-building assets.

R$: What are your thoughts on talent loss to other countries, particularly the U.S.? How can U15 help to retain graduates in Canada?

RA: It’s a real challenge – and one we can’t afford to ignore. The global demand for top talent is intensifying and Canada needs to be opportunistic considering what is happening south of the border.

Ultimately, Canada needs to create the kind of economy – dynamic, innovative and ambitious – that top talent wants to stay and build in. U15 universities are where talent development and advanced research happen.

R$: Have you identified any short-term priorities (next six months) and longer-term goals (six months to three years) for U15?

RA: We’re focused on four priorities for the coming year:

• The establishment of a Sovereign Technologies Fund (STF) to strengthen domestic capacity in sensitive technologies critical to national security, economic competitiveness and our technological sovereignty.

Our proposal is to house the STF within the new federal capstone organization. We’re flexible on the design. The objective is to fund advanced research in critical technologies [such as AI, life sciences, energy, and defence] in support of sovereign capability development.

• Ensuring BOREALIS will leverage Canada’s research hubs to expand the country’s defence capacity in cutting-edge technologies, meet important commitments on defence spending and secure sovereignty in dual-use technologies.
• Refocusing Canada’s immigration system to attract the best and brightest through a distinctions-based approach that rewards excellence, reassures prospective students and rebuilds Canada’s international reputation.
• Working on the modernization of our Science and Technology architecture, including the capstone research organization and the Council on Science and Innovation as strategic vehicles for mission-driven, interdisciplinary and globally engaged research – building on the strengths of existing research councils while supporting a science-based industrial strategy. 

See also: U15 Canada’s Pre-Budget Submission 2025

U15 Canada welcomes role for research universities in securing Canadian sovereignty through new defence spending

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