Participation of colleges in Canada's evolving innovation system poised for growth

Business support holds steady despite downturn

The rapid expansion of applied R&D at Canada's colleges has weathered the economic downturn and is poised for even greater gains as new programs ramp up and the culture of innovation permeates the college community. A new report from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) shows that colleges received $138 million in R&D funding in FY09-10, up marginally from $132 million in FY08-09 but an impressive jump from FY05-06 when the total was just $45 million.

The report shows that over the five-year timeframe it covers, R&D revenues were driven in an explosion of private sector investment in college applied R&D, jumping from just $4 million in FY05-06 (for 8.9% of the annual total) to $45 million and a 32.6% share. The level of investment has held firm throughout the economic crisis, indicating a deepening of relationships between colleges and their industrial partners.

"We struggled through the worst economic times in a century and we still went up. We came through that period with growth," says ACCC president James Knight. "I'm confident that as the economy ramps up again, we will see a strong increase."

new programs coming on stream

New programs and investment in R&D infrastructure will also propel college R&D funding upward. In the past two years, colleges have seen two major new programs and a doubling of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's (NSERC) but for its Community College Innovation Program (CCIP) with an increase of $15 million annually.

Last year, the Canada Foundation for Innovation introduced the College-Industry Innovation Fund worth $32.5 million (R$, July 30/10). Two calls for proposals have been scheduled with letters of intent due in June/11 and June/12. Also in 2010, the recently created Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) unveiled the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative (ARCI) with $15 million available.

The new funding sources and stronger support from industrial partners will likely help push up the college share of total R&D funding in Canada beyond its current 1% (which represents a doubling in recent years) and closer to ACCC's target of 5%.

"That's a stretch target but we only have to double two more times and we'll be there. We're being reasonable and modest in our aspirations as we don't want to antagonize the universities," says Knight. "But all things being equal and more political upheaval not being considered, I think this (reaching the 5% target) will happen more quickly than we thought."

Knight says NSERC and CFI assistance has been invaluable in crafting programs that address the specific characteristics and requirements of college R&D and their role in the innovation continuum, resulting in positive feedback and growing participation from companies seeking assistance in developing new products and processes at the commercialization and knowledge transfer stages. He is particularly impressed with CFI president Dr Gilles Patry whom he says possesses "a remarkably deep knowledge of colleges" stemming from his days as president of the Univ of Ottawa and its interaction with Ottawa-based Algonquin College.

In addition to boosting interaction with industry, the ACCC has been active on the performance measurement front. It has developed what it terms a logic model to measure the impact of applied research on institutions, partner firms, faculty, staff and students. By measuring inputs, outputs, outcomes and impacts, ACCC has been able to demonstrate the benefits of college R&D investment. For companies, these include profitability, reduced time to market, the hiring of skilled employees, increased R&D capacity and new business opportunities.

"They're still not perfect but our Presidents' Science, Technology and Innovation Committee is very active on this file," says Knight. "They want to further increase the capacity of colleges to measure and report results. Otherwise we can't document our success. More effort is required or we could slip and fall off the ladder."

A proposed initiative aimed at boosting the impact of college R&D is the Applied Research and Innovation Leaders Program (ARILP), which Knight describes as a loose counterpart to the Canada Research Chairs program. The concept is to eventually have one such person at each Canadian college to identify opportunities to work with smaller firms and boost expertise in key theme areas corresponding to the federal S&T Strategy. While the proposed funding level is $500,000 per innovation leader, Knight says that if the program is accepted it will likely be launched as a pilot.

"It could be offered through the granting councils and even be part of NSERC's CCIP," he says, adding that ACCC is not positioning the program for the upcoming Budget. "We could start with a certain number, measure outcomes and build it up over time. The logic will become apparent and it will grow."

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