Federal budget provides welcome investments in research: CAUT

/EIN News/ -- OTTAWA, April 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today’s budget delivered investments for researchers across the country, including long-awaited and much-needed increases to graduate and post-doctoral fellowships as well as increases to core research funding.

“This investment in Canada’s next generation of researchers will help recruit promising scholars and support them as they advance our understanding of the world around us,” said Peter McInnis, president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). “It will encourage early-career scientists and researchers to develop their ideas and innovations here, benefitting all Canadians.”

Today’s budget included the following investments in research:

• $1.8 billion over five years to core research grant funding at CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC – an approximately 30% increase
• Increased annual value of master’s and doctoral student scholarships to $27,000 and $40,000 respectively, and post-doctoral fellowships to $70,000
• Funding for an additional 1,720 graduate student scholarships and fellowships each year
• $26.9 million over five years to the granting councils to establish an improved grant management system
• $30 million over three years to support Indigenous researchers and their communities
  

While details are limited, the budget also signaled the creation of a new research funding organization to support investigator-driven research and advance international, multi-disciplinary and mission-driven research.

“We have long emphasized the opportunities our country was missing by underfunding basic research, so it is both exciting and reassuring to see the federal government’s focus and investment in this year’s budget,” said McInnis. “As part of the Coalition for Canadian Research, our members were strong advocates for these investments that show what we can do when we work together.”

CAUT is the national voice of more than 72,000 academic and professional staff at more than 125 universities and colleges across the country.

Elizabeth Berman
Canadian Association of University Teachers
media@caut.ca
613-400-1633