Fundamental Science Review: CFI Board says Canada’s system well designed

OTTAWA, ONTARIO — The Board of Directors of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has provided its submission to the Panel for Canada’s Fundamental Science Review , the independent review of federal funding for fundamental science that was launched by Minister of Science, Kirsty Duncan, in June 2016.

In its submission, our Board stressed that the overall structure of the Canadian research support system is well designed, particularly at the federal level, but that there is opportunity for improvement. It identified a number of issues it considers to be of strategic importance to the way the Government of Canada supports state-of-the-art research infrastructure through the CFI, and to the foundation’s ability to meet its mandate to increase the capabilities of Canada’s research community to conduct world-class research.

These issues include, among others: the benefits of ongoing and stable research infrastructure support; the importance of sustaining the operations and maintenance of a range of research facilities and the need for a Big Science roadmap for Canada.

“Making Canadian research matter to the citizens of Canada, and of the world, is our ultimate goal,” says the submission. “We firmly believe this can best be accomplished by ensuring that the funding for research infrastructure provided by the Government of Canada supports excellence and is distributed in the most effective and efficient manner possible.”

READ: Key strategic issues facing Canada’s research community