VPRI Office at York U supports Naylor Report as comprehensive plan to bolster long-term impact of research that aligns with York’s research goals.
The Research & Innovation Office at York University supports “Investing in Canada’s Future: Strengthening the Foundations of Canadian Research,” submitted to the Government of Canada on April 10, 2017 by former University of Toronto President Dr. David Naylor, who chaired the nine-member advisory panel. Tasked with assessing Canada’s research funding apparatus, the panel received 1,275 written submissions and heard from some 230 researchers during a series of cross-country roundtables.
This sweeping report calls for a $1.3 billion boost to annual federal research funding. This increase would be by an average of nine per cent over four years, from approximately $3.5 billion to $4.8 billion. The report also recommends the creation of an oversight body, reporting directly to the Prime Minister’s Office, called the National Advisory Council on Research and Innovation (NACRI), consisting of scholars and scientists alongside innovators from diverse sectors.
“This comprehensive report establishes a multi-year agenda that could transform the Canadian research landscape, building the support for basic or pure research and bolstering the long-term impact of research across Canada,” says Vice-President Research & Innovation Dr. Robert Haché.
Vice-President Research & Innovation Dr. Robert Haché
The report also advocates establishing a new coordinating board to better synchronize the efforts of the three granting councils that currently distribute the bulk of federal grants to individual researchers at universities, hospitals and institutes across Canada: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
“The report’s recommendations, if adopted, will strengthen Canada’s global standing in fundamental science and bolster our ability to produce cutting-edge, world-leading research to improve the lives of all Canadians,” says Haché.
This report aligns with York University’s Plan for the Intensification & Enhancement of Research, which is focused around leadership in research and research advocacy, growing a culture of scholarly inquiry, supporting research growth and development, and building research for the future.
The report, “Investing in Canada’s Future,” is available online.