Genome Canada receives sufficient funding to launch new targeted competition

Budget 2008

Genome Canada will launch a new competition targeting agricultural plants and bioproducts following its successful bid for additional funding. The Budget provides the agency with $140 million in year-end funding, part of which will also go to the six regional genome centres spread across Canada and support Canadian participation in a limited number of international projects.

While the new funding falls short of the $210 million Genome Canada was requesting, it is sufficient to launch the new competition and maintain existing commitments through to FY10-11. The majority of the new money — subject to board approval — will be devoted to the new competition, with calls for applications due in April. Four-to-six groups are expected to submit proposals and a decision on the winners will be released some time before March/09.

"We are very pleased. The $140 million is out of $440 million in the Industry Canada-based sector we're part of. You can't do better than that," says Genome Canada president and CEO, Dr Martin Godbout. "This is a recognition of the work we have done in the past eight years. There has been the management of large-scale projects, we've acted as a VC (venture capitalist) not-for-profit and committed to the regional genome centres."

The focus of the new competition was determined via a lengthy, bottom-up process in which 11 position papers for the potential areas for future investment were prepared by the genomics and proteomics communities and vetted through an international review. The result was the selection of two closely related theme areas which were submitted for funding.

Last year's Budget provided Genome Canada with $100 million to maintain existing commitments while the priority-setting process continued. At that time, it was expected that two-to-five areas would ultimately be funded (R$, March 26/07). Due to the constraints of the government's ability to fund new S&T, however, two closely related theme areas were merged into one.

Other areas identified in Genome Canada's corporate plan remain unfunded, including applied research in nutrition and chronic diseases, applied research in the environment and technology development.

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