Council of Canadian Academies' long-term sustainability depends on diversified funding

By Debbie Lawes

The five-year-old Council of Canadian Academies wants to spread its expertise — and its funding sources — beyond Industry Canada and other federal departments to solidify the organization's independence from government and its long-term sustainability beyond March 2015, when current federal funding runs out. The goal is outlined in the Council's first Strategic Plan, which builds on an 2010 external review saying there is "an urgent need" for the Board to develop a long-term strategy for sustainability that supplements federal funding with other sources of income.

Released April 13, the three-year strategic plan outlines five broad goals for the Council, including establishing a long-term, sustainable and dependable funding stream. The Council, which employs 20 people at its Ottawa office, currently relies on a $30-million, 10-year grant from the federal government. In return, federal sponsors can refer up to five questions per year to the Council for independent scientific assessments.

"The Council needs to know, by year eight of its current funding agreement (2013), whether it has the resources to continue operations. If new funding commitments are not clearly secured, the Council will be increasingly unable to attract or accept any new assessments after that time and may start to lose key staff," states the Report from the External Evaluation Panel, chaired by Margaret Bloodworth, former National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister.

At the same time, the panel advises the Council to diversify the types of assessments it does and to attract new sponsors, including other federal departments, provincial and municipal governments, the private sector, universities, foundations and NGOs. All but two of the Council's past and current assessment have been under its agreement with the federal government.

The Council's communications director, Cate Meechan, says efforts are already underway to bring aboard new sponsors, as well as conduct more assessments for its member academies. It is currently working on an assessment on global health for the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and Meechan says more sponsors will be announced over the coming months.

"The Council is an independent organization. We're not an agency of the government or a Crown corporation so we think it's important for us, as a national organization, to be able to work with all governments and those interested in science policy across the country," says Meechan.

The plan also identifies a need to provide rapid advice for pressing issues. While the Council's expert panels would continue to spend 18-24 months producing in-depth reports, the Council says it will develop other mechanisms that respond to the increasing demand for instant information.

"We might look at doing something like a short 10-page brief that's compiled by specific experts over a very short period of time," says Meechan, adding they may also consider holding workshops that bring together researchers, policymakers and stakeholders to discuss critical issues.

Another priority is to increase the Council's collaborations with academies in other countries, particularly the US and UK. This may include joint scientific assessments and sharing of best practices.

The strategic plan also addresses the need to increase the Council's visibility among academia, media and the general public to "help enhance the impact and relevance of the Council's work". While those who know of the organization think highly of it, the plan acknowledges that "regrettably, the Council is not yet well known."

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