Ontario's research and innovation portfolio falls outside scope of Jobs & Prosperity Council

R&D support will not be a focus of a new advisory council that will review Ontario's business and skills training programs with a view to eliminating up to $250 million in spending as part of the province's deficit reduction strategy. The Jobs and Prosperity Council (JPC) — mostly composed of CEO from large corporations — will examine the $2.5 billion in business support identified in the recent Drummond Report, spread over 60 programs and eight ministries.

The province's research and innovation programs will be the subject of a future, separate review but spending reductions are unlikely as the government has already pruned the portfolio. Late last year it announced that it was cancelling the next two competitions of the flagship Ontario Research Fund and reallocating the $66 million in savings to two proposed regional development funds for eastern and southwestern Ontario (R$, December 9/11).

"The council may weigh in on the innovation side and we would welcome their advice but (research and innovation) programs are separate. They are longer term in scope and part of our strategic advantage," says Brad Duguid, minister of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI). "We need to be smart about restructuring them. That review will come and we're not anticipating cost reductions."

Duguid says the province's research and innovation programs are generally working well, although he acknowledges that there are likely to many and could be more focused and accessible. The Liberal government has been working on its portfolio of research and innovation programs for more than eight years and Duguid says this is no time to switch gears or change course.

"We've been investing for nearly a decade and we're starting to see the fruits of that labour," he says. "We're on the right track but there are challenges ahead."

The province's business support and skills training programs are another matter. Duguid says some programs are not working well and offer the potential for cost reductions, hence the need private sector and labour advice through the JPC.

The JPC's work has a goal of increasing innovation and productivity through the proposed Jobs and Prosperity Fund, which will consolidate business support programs so that companies can access them through a single portal. The Fund is stuck in limbo while the governing Liberal Party spars with the opposition New Democratic Party on the contents of its proposed Budget legislation.

"We have a productivity gap and we need to make the economy more competitive through productivity improvements. There's also an ongoing skills shortage which is a global issue," says Duguid. "The council will determine what is the best approach ... We've got their full brain power and we don't want to interfere with their thought processes."

The JPC is expected to hand its report to premier Dalton McGuinty, which will then likely be made public.

In addition to cost reductions and recommendations for productivity improvements, the JPC will advise on whether the two regional development funds should have productivity as their main objective; improve existing business support tax credits; address workforce gaps and shortages; review the feasibility of introducing an NDP-proposed Job Creator Tax Credit; and, host an Ontario Productivity Summit this fall.

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