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By the Numbers: Who's getting funded in the 2021 federal budget?
Guest ContributorApril 21, 2021
Research and reporting by Mark Henderson and Kyria Sztainbok
On Monday, the Liberal minority government released a $101-billion federal budget that included billions of dollars in funding for science, technology and innovation (STI) programs.
The budget’s single largest STI investment is for the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), which will receive $7.2 billion over seven years starting this fiscal year. Some of the other initiatives receiving significant amounts of funding include the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), the Clean Fuels Fund, and support for long-term care facilities.
To keep track of the array of agencies and programs receiving funding, Research Money has created a list of STI initiatives benefiting from the 2021 federal budget below.
Budget 2021 – Research and Innovation Initiatives
($ millions)
| Organization | Amount | Duration | Start Year (Fiscal Year) |
| Strategic Innovation Fund | 7,200 | 7 years | 2021-22 |
| - Net Zero Accelerator | 5,000 | ||
| - Sectoral Support | 2,200 | ||
| Mitacs: 85,000 additional learning placements | 708 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| Canada Foundation for Innovation (bio-science support) | 500 | 4 years | 2021-22 |
| Industrial Research Assistance Program expansion | 500 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative | 450 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy | 443.8 | 10 years | 2021-22 |
| Genome Canada/Pan-Canadian Genomics Strategy | 400 | 6 years | 2021-22 |
| National Quantum Strategy | 360 | 7 years | 2021-22 |
| Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) (CCUS)* | 319 | 7 years | 2021-22 |
| CCUS tax credit | TBA | -- | -- |
| CIHR Clinical Trials Fund | 250 | 3 years | 2021-22 |
| Tri-Council New Biomedical Research Fund | 250 | 4 years | 2021-22 |
| NORAD (includes R&D for technology modernization) | 163.4 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| adMare Bioinnovations (company creation, scale up) | 92 | 4 years | 2021-22 |
| Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre modernization | 90 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| ElevateIP (intellectual property services) | 90 | 2 years | 2022-23 |
| Industrial Research Assistance Program (IP services) | 75 | 3 years | 2021-22 |
| NRCan and Environment Canada (satellite data) | 80.2 | 11 years | 2021-22 |
| Innovation Superclusters Initiative (top-up support) | 60 | 2 years | 2021-22 |
| Vaccine & Infectious Diseases Organization | 59.2 | 3 years | 2021-22 |
| NSERC College and Community Innovation Program | 46.9 | 2 years | 2021-22 |
| Stem Cell Network | 45 | 3 years | 2022-23 |
| Natural Resources Canada (battery mineral expertise) | 36.8 | 3 years | 2021-22 |
| BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy | 35 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| CIHR pediatric cancer research | 30 | 2 years | 2021-22 |
| Public Health Agency of Canada & Health Canada | 28.6 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| NRCan Polar Continental Shelf Program | 25.4 | 3 years | 2021-22 |
| Canadian International Innovation Program** | 10 | 5 years | 2021-22 |
| Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council*** | 10 | 3 years | 2021-22 |
| Canadian Space Agency (next generation satellites) | 9.9 | 2 years | 2021-22 |
| NRC Medical Production and Partnership-Building**** | legislation pending | ||
Which departments and agencies received the most funding for initiatives?
The 2021 federal budget includes around $16.2 billion towards government departments that specialize in and support R&D. The chart below details the amount of funding received by various departments, and the number of initiatives being supported.
| Department | Funding ($ millions) | Initiatives |
| Health Canada (HC) | 3,765.5 | 9 |
| Environment & Climate Change Canada (ECCC) | 2,945.4 | 9 |
| Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) | 2,680.1 | 5 |
| Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) | 1,645.6 | 9 |
| Department of National Defence (DND) | 1,610.3 | 4 |
| Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) | 1,142.1 | 9 |
| Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) | 725.7 | 7 |
| National Research Council (NRC) | 670.7 | 4 |
| Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) | 500 | 1 |
| Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) | 345 | 4 |
| Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) | 101 | 1 |
| Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) | 46.9 | 1 |
| Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) | 12 | 1 |
Notes:
*Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) R&D and demonstration
**expand opportunities for Canadian SMEs to engage in R&D partnerships with Israeli SMEs
***academic research into systemic barriers facing diverse groups
****enable the NRCl to manufacture and produce medical products such as vaccines on a large scale and establish and take interests in corporations to facilitate new partnership operating models
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