Our origin story

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 series tells this story through extensive interviews with key players in the federal government and the research community.  It is an insider’s look at how Canada jumped to the front of the line in research capacity.