Editorial - 23-18

The 20th anniversary of the launch of Canada's Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) finds the program larger and more diverse than at any time in its history. Three distinct streams of centres now occupy centre stage in the suite of federal programs underpinning S&T and commercialization. The decision to expand the model to include business-led and commercialization-focused centres appears to have been a wise one.

So where does the NCE program go from here? By far the most significant addition to its roster has been the introduction of Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) which now number 17.

Anecdotal evidence suggests such an objective is unrealistic. Several CECRs participating in the ACCT annual meeting earlier this month failed to provide convincing arguments that they will be able to operate past year-five without continued public support. Many remain less than fully operational months after the official start dates and the R&D focus on those in the medical or biotech space are faced with years of development work before tangible results begin to emerge.

CECRs that fail to achieve initial objectives should be allowed to expire. But for those that demonstrate impact and potential, the time horizon for public support must be extended. The federal government needs to quickly re-examine the CECR stream of NCE programming and devise a more realistic funding formula.