Editorial - 25-16

There's a lot to like. The Expert Panel Report on Federal Support for Business R&D offers a compelling suite of recommendations for making government support for business innovation more effective, accountable and targeted.

Most of the recommendations are non-controversial. More government procurement, new funding for early-stage and follow-on investment through the Business Development Bank of Canada, greater coordination with the provinces and a new entity to coordinate all business support are all laudable objectives. The Panel's views on shrinking the R&D tax credit system and splitting up the National Research Council are the focus of articles in this issue.

Also nestled in the report is advice on business-focused programs provided by the granting councils, primarily the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. NSERC has built up a formidable stable of programs geared to developing and teasing out promising inventions with commercial potential. While small, they appear to be working well.

The report notes two issues: NSERC's strategic support programs are not well known and could benefit from greater publicity. And NSERC needs to make the distinction between its core support for basic research and its supply-push support for solution-driven research. The Jenkins panel also recommends NSERC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research manage the basic research-focused institutes spun off from the NRC as well as the NRC's large science facilities. These are valid recommendations that need to be fully explored.