Provincial government funding and programs
The Ontario government actively supports research innovation. Here are various provincial government ministries, agencies and not-for-profit corporations that fund, or have funded leading edge research and programs (i.e. OIT):
Ministry of Research & Innovation: www.mri.gov.on.ca
Ontario Innovation Trust: www.oit.on.ca
Ontario Institute For Cancer Research: www.oicr.on.ca
Q In 2003 you gave a speech at the opening of MaRS
where you pointed out how disappointing Canada's
spending on R&D was and how we had to end the old
pattern of "invent in Canada and produce elsewhere."
Five years later how are we doing?
A I think there's been an acceptance of the importance
of these issues by everyone - government, academia and
the business community. And this has made things
better. For example, MaRS has turned into a wonderful
strategic initiative for bringing people and ideas
together. And we're making progress also in the venture
capital area with new pockets of dollars like the
Ontario Venture Capital Fund in which RBC is a partner.
But I guess everything has to have a "but". There
clearly is more work to be done.
Over the last decade, the Ontario Innovation Trust,
along with the Canada Foundation for Innovation,
invested in infrastructure in all regions of the
province in areas of research ranging from the arts to
the life sciences.
View chart (PDF)
View chart (PDF)
