EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Federal Government has embarked on an innovation strategy that is aimed at making Canada one of the top 5 nations in research and development. In furthering this strategy the Government has created the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, Genome Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Canadian Research Chairs Program. The life sciences community has responded positively to these initiatives since it believes that they will enable our country as an innovative and productive society. The following brief focuses on Canada's need for highly qualified personnel and attempts to identify solutions to the problems that the Government may encounter in achieving the goals of its innovation strategy.

RECOMMENDATINS:

We encourage the federal government to pursue its stated aim to move Canada to the 5th position among the developed nations in research and development. This action will improve the research environment by providing the granting councils with sufficient funds to underwrite the creative talents of Canadian researchers.

Productivity in research and innovation depends on having the right people with the right training. We support the expansion of both the range of opportunities for post secondary education and the strategies for the retention of our active researchers.

We encourage the federal government to monitor the effects of university-corporate partnerships to ensure that a healthy balance is maintained between curiosity-driven and applied research.

That for the health of the Canadian economy, the federal and provincial governments cooperate to develop an effective policy regarding the funding of post secondary education to ensure that Canada has the personnel to respond to the innovation strategy.

SOLUTIONS:

1. For more efficient use of federal funds, we would encourage the federal government to develop a mechanism that would incorporate a 3-year rolling average in the federal budget for the allocations to granting councils.
   
   
2. For greater accountability, we suggest the use of the granting councils to provide an effective and transparent mechanism for monitoring the expenditures provided in the allocation of "indirect-costs" of research.
   
   
3. To encourage greater involvement of Canadian Corporations in research, we would suggest extensions of the Federal Interchange Canada Program (sponsored by Treasury Board) to partnerships between the corporate and university sectors.
   
   
4. To attract and retain the next generation of scientist, we would encourage the federal government, through the granting councils, to use training initiative to ensure that our potential scientists do not incur massive debt obtaining undergraduate and graduate training. We support the expansion of programs such as the Canada Research Chairs to retain researchers and attract our best and brightest young scientists to careers in innovation.
   

The Canadian Federation of Biological Societies (CFBS) represents the members of 13 Canadian Life Science organizations from across the Country. CFBS' mission is to promote research, facilitate the dissemination and economic use of knowledge in the Life Sciences and to contribute to the development of a forward-looking science policy for Canada.

INTRODUCTION

The Federal Government has pledged, as a stated aim, to move Canada from 14th to 5th position among the developed nations in its investment in research and development. The intent to achieve this goal has been warmly applauded by the research community. This "brief" has been written; therefore, in an attempt to identify key issues, which if addressed, we believe will assist the Government to be successful in pursuing its innovation strategy.

Having decided that the Country should become more innovative and productive, the Federal Government
Has embarked on a series of initiatives that it believes will assist in achieving these goals. The past several years have seen the unveiling of the Federal Government's "innovation strategy". Contributing to this initiative has been the creation of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Research Chairs Program, the millennium scholarships and, more recently, the first phase of investments in "indirect costs" of research.

Reaching the Government's goal will provide the funding required by researchers to effectively attack issues related to human, environmental and economic health. Underlying this strategy is the critical need for personnel to implement the innovation agenda.

THE NEED

Canada's ability to compete internationally relates directly to our capacity to satisfy our manpower requirements. In his last report the Auditor General, Denis Desautels, indicated that, during the first 10 years of this century, the Federal public service expects between 7,000 and 9,000 employees per year to retire. Currently, 63% of the government jobs require a university degree compared to 46% 20 years ago.

As the current wave of retirements occurs in universities, it is estimated that 30,000 faculty members will have to be found over the next decade. Demographics dictate that a large exodus of highly skilled scientists can be expected from industry in this same time period. Finally, a survey of independent businesses has suggested that as many as 300,000 jobs in small- and medium-sized firms remain unfilled, in part, because of a shortage of workers with the capabilities to fill them. Whatever the precise number, what is clear is that Canada's ability to recruit well educated/trained individuals is critical to our survival as an innovative and more productive society. One approach the Government envisages is recruiting from abroad. Since the demand for highly qualified personnel is expected to be universally high in developed countries, this strategy may have limited success unless the environment for innovation is exceptional in Canada. A British government report (Roberts, Sir G., SET for success, The supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, HM Treasury, UK Government 2002) highlights the decrease in enrolment rate in areas of science where there is an increasing demand for these individuals thus emphasizing the continuing need to attract the best people into these careers.

An article in the April 24th, 2002 Ottawa Citizen quotes the CD Howe Institute study "Renovating the Ivory Tower" which notes that Canadian Governments' financial support for universities has fallen far behind public support given U.S. universities. This study, that reinforces the need for greater attention to our postsecondary institutions, concludes that the decreased expenditures over the past two decades may help explain Canada's lagging living standards.

EDUCATION

To perform effectively as an "Innovative Society" Canada requires individuals with the skills necessary to insure that the funds invested in innovation can be used to their greatest effect. "Without a substantial increase in the proportion of young Canadians undertaking post-secondary studies and going on to obtain graduate degrees that our labour market demands, Canada will be unable to improve productivity or fully seize the opportunities that the new knowledge-based economy offers."¹

While this has been a stated concern of the recently published "Canada's Innovation Strategy" there is a growing unease regarding our capacity to generate the individuals needed to ensure that this Country maintains a competitive edge as a progressive and innovative society. Increasingly, more complex societies demand the availability of well-educated populations. Consequently, attempts to satisfy our highly qualified personnel needs by depending on individuals from offshore may not be an effective solution. In this regard, it is important, therefore, that Canada harvests its best minds much as it would if it were attempting to obtain the highest yield of a crop of wheat. In other words, we must insure that the best possible conditions are in place for growth to occur.

To attain this goal our educational institutions must be able to offer training with both outstanding professors and facilities that meet the definition of the highest international standards. Secondly, the Country must strive to ensure that all young minds capable of being challenged have access to higher education.

1. Attracting University Faculty Members

With few exceptions, it would appear that the Federal and Provincial Governments have not developed a joint vision in promoting Canada's highly qualified personnel requirements. As a consequence the quality of post-secondary education has suffered. University facilities have deteriorated badly. Laboratory offerings to science students have been reduced resulting in limited hands-on experience. The learning exercises performed frequently make use of decrepit and out-of-date instrumentation. The erosion in quality of the undergraduate experience has persisted for two decades during which time students have been required to invest more money in tuition for declining offerings.

During the 1990's, because of insufficient funding available (see Fig. Page 2), to cover their operating costs, universities across Canada reduced the number of faculty members, (and support staff). The ultimate effect of this action was not only to increase faculty members' workload but also to significantly reduce meaningful interaction between student and professor, create obstacles to development of new courses and areas of instruction. The resultant increase in teaching and committee responsibilities compromise the ability of university scholars to compete, at an international level, in their spheres of research. Given that Universities perform 31% of Canada's R&D these actions threaten this country's research capacity.² In an attempt to alleviate this situation the Federal Government created the "Research Chairs Program" an initiative that will see the funding of 2000 research professors in Canadian academic laboratories. This program is designed to recruit expatriate Canadians back to Canada and to retain our top researchers. Considering Canada's requirements for highly qualified personnel over the next decade additional means are necessary to attract the individuals to educate the next generation of scientists.

For a number of reasons the ability of universities to attract quality academics has diminished. In the latter part of the last century the majority of those studying for a doctoral degree had aspirations to become a university professor. Such individuals spend a considerable period after their undergraduate experience, often 6-8 years, developing the credentials that allow them to compete for available faculty positions. This means that at the age of 30-35 (following the PhD and post doctoral training) an individual is eligible for a university post. The current academic environment with its withering infrastructure and inadequate operating budgets has reduced considerably the allure of academic life. Creation of the Canadian Foundation for Innovation has contributed greatly to improving the morale of investigators by providing instrumentation that allows Canadian researchers to compete more effectively internationally. More recently (December 2001) the Federal budget has helped universities by providing support for the indirect costs of research previously provided by universities from their operating budgets. These federal programs have the potential to dramatically improve the academic environment encouraging our best minds to pursue careers in innovation

Our ability to attract outstanding academics is further impeded by the salary structure within most institutions. The Globe and Mail Magazine (March 2002) reported, "Approximately half the assistant professors earn between $ 26,704 and $ 45,522. According to the most recent numbers from Statistics Canada the average professorial salary declined by 2.2% between 1992-93 and 1998-99". This has occurred at a time when the best qualified individuals are needed to produce the scientists to meet the challenges of the Country's Innovation Strategy. Consequently, given the state of university facilities, the perceived lack of response by Provincial Governments in maintaining excellence in its post secondary institutions, it is not surprising that many of our brightest minds are considering other career options. The Federal Government can have a direct impact on quality and productivity of our academic scientists and universities by expanding the successful Canada Research Chairs program with specific focus on university professors that contribute to the training of undergraduate and graduate students.

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1. Canada's Innovation Strategy Achieving Excellence P. 56
2. Ditto P. 41