Podcast

The CFI's origin story

This is the origin story of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, an organization dedicated to the future, that was born at a time when the country was heavily burdened by its past
A vector graphic of opened head symbol with researchers and research infrastructure inside over the CFI logo on red background.

Two decades ago Canada’s federal government was struggling to contain a deficit that, in the words of one top finance official, was pulling the country towards "fiscal Armageddon." And yet, this was the moment when the government decided to make historic investments in research infrastructure.  The creation of the Canada Foundation for Innovation was a game-changer for research in Canada. But how did it come to be?

The podcast tells this story through the eyes of Carmen Charette, Denis Gagnon and Robert Giroux, key players in the conception of the CFI. It is an insider’s look at how Canada jumped to the front of the line in research capacity.

Listen to "Our origin story," a podcast series in English that traces the CFI's unlikely origins.

This podcast is only available in French.

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A vector graphic of a crane pulling out the CFI logo from a head symbol with the top half missing.
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Our origin story

This is the origin story of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, an organization dedicated to the future, that was born at a time when the country was heavily burdened by its past
CFI origin main image
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The Canada Foundation for Innovation: an origin story

This is the origin story of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, an organization dedicated to the future, that was born at a time when the country was heavily burdened by its past

Illustration of a giant grey head with an open skull cap, revealing his brain. A portion of the brain in the shape of a puzzle piece is missing. Two men in grey suits stand on top of the head. The man to the left is scratching his head, while the man on the right is carrying the CFI’s red circular logo above his head. Beneath them, a woman in a grey suit is holding up the brain’s missing puzzle piece
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Episode three: The idea of CFI is born

The third episode in a podcast series that traces the Canada Foundation for Innovation's unlikely origin story