Quebec science policy unfolds as full implementation waits for additional funding

The Quebec government is planning to create a series of new mechanisms designed to maximize the impact of initiatives contained in its new science and innovation policy, which was released earlier this year (R$, February 21/01). The four interdepartmental mechanisms will focus on areas considered key to boosting the province’s innovative capacity and R&D spending – interdisciplinary research, skilled personnel, technology transfer, incubation and business assistance. But any clarity on when the research community can expect full implementation of the policy’s measures will have to wait for at least one more Budget cycle.

The new mechanisms are considered critical to the policy’s implementation, given its inclusionary scope which now encompasses a strong emphasis on the social sciences and humanities — an element originally absent from the policy, but added following an extensive consultation process.

The policy also lays out objectives for boosting support for the indirect costs of research, increasing the number of development corporations for the commercialization of university research, establishing uniform intellectual property (IP) policies for universities and standardizing the framework for IP stemming from government R&D. Details of the policy were obtained from a draft copy of the English-language version, to be officially released in September.

“The new policy is like a whole bunch of signals we’ve sent ourselves and the community, indicating that these are the trends we see,” says Marc Ferland, associate DM, Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MRST). “Our job is to create the means to support these signals and encourage people and give them the means to use them.”

What’s less clear is how and when the policy’s various measures will be implemented. MRST officials have estimated a range of what it would cost to implement all the measures contained within the policy, and the last provincial Budget was expected to lay out a budgetary timetable for implementation over the next three years (R$, April 4/01). While the Budget made $250 million available to begin the implementation process, funding for specific initiatives including the creation of the four new mechanisms was not forthcoming. This has prompted officials at (MRST) to refine plans for their creation.

Measures without significant funding components are proceeding apace. The mandates of the three provincial granting agencies have been modified to better reflect current realities of their respective research communities and bring them into alignment with their federal counterparts. The bill clearing the way for the changes was passed by the provincial legislature in June.

“The three provincial granting councils will now work closely to provide a harmonized service,” says Ferland, adding that coordination will be led by the three respective presidents. “They are now more parallel with the three federal granting councils and more in line with federal jurisdictions.”

CHANGES TO MANDATES OF GRANTING COUNCILS

The Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l’aide a la recherche (Fonds FCAR) is responsible for research funding in the areas of natural sciences and engineering. Over the next two years, its mandate will be altered so that it can better position Quebec research in these disciplines at the national and international levels, and maximize diffusion of research results into society as a whole. FCAR will also manage a joint program of master’s and doctoral merit scholarships on behalf of the other councils.

The Fond de recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) will have its mandate modified to encompass a wider breadth of health research, as opposed to strictly medical research. Like the federal Canadian Institutes of Health Research, FRSQ’s range will now include basic, clinical and epidemiological research, public health research, and research on health services. It will also be mandated to maximize spinoffs “in respect of individual and public health and Québec’s economic development”.

Lastly, the Conseil québecois de la recherche sociale (CQRS) will be converted into a research fund on par with the other two granting bodies and its mandate will be broadened. A key element of its mandate will be to train scientists who can contribute to a knowledge and social innovation agenda, encourage interdisciplinary linkages and maximize dissemination of social sciences and humanities research into society. A two-year period will be allowed to establish the necessary administrative structure, budgets and programs, which entails moving some responsibilities over from FCAR.

Putting CQRS on a par with FCAR and FRSQ reflects the broad nature of the new science and innovation policy and the realization that rapid changes in technology require leading-edge research for its impact and applicability.

On the business front, Ferland says that most of the mechanisms required to encourage greater innovation and R&D spending are already in place, hence the policy’s relatively non-prescriptive stance towards the sector. He says that by building niche research capacity and encouraging cluster development in areas where Quebec has advantage, companies will be attracted to those jurisdictions, increasing the overall number of firms that innovate.

“Quebec already has a series of very supportive fiscal instruments so now we’re entering a zone of more refined measures, like developing incubation centres for biotech and other technologies,” he says.

In order to gauge the policy’s effectiveness in increasing innovation and research capacity throughout all sectors and regions of the province, the government will be creating a new monitoring and benchmark body — Observatoire-réseau (O-R). Along with other provincial statistical and policies bodies, O-R is intended to give departments and agencies the coordination and intelligence they require to gauge progress on meeting the policy’s R&D targets of matching the G-7 average of 2.47% for R&D as a percentage of provincial gross domestic product.

To achieve that goal, however, the policy makes clear that Quebec’s share of federal funding must increase. It calculates that federal underfunding of Quebec’s R&D topped $4.1 billion between 1979 and 1999.

R$