Thank you so much.

Good afternoon, everyone.

As noted, I'm the president and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada, the national voice of our 135 publicly funded colleges, institutes, CEGEPs and polytechnics.

Research impact for Canadians is the theme I want to underscore today.

Federal research must improve the daily lives of Canadians. It must also drive community and business innovation to support prosperity and well-being for all.

Canada's public colleges and institutes specialize in industry-partnered, problem-driven research that works at the speed of business to de-risk technology development and mobilize greater technology adoption, adaptation and integration. Sixty-two per cent of our partners are Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises that keep the IP generated from our collaborations, supporting wealth creation and retention in Canada and across communities. Colleges' research approach is, by definition, mission driven.

I'm pleased to be here to share the perspective of Colleges and Institutes Canada, or CICan, on the establishment of the new capstone research funding organization.

We support the creation of the capstone organization and the transition to a mission‑driven research program. To achieve this, the mandate, structure and priorities of the capstone organization must help our research system address Canada's major challenges.

Given this impact imperative, we have five recommendations.

Enshrine college and small and medium-sized enterprise representation on the new council of science and innovation to inform the federal strategy and priorities for the capstone.

Have a dedicated college seat on the capstone's board to ensure all research players have a voice in the governance.

Ensure full eligibility for colleges in the capstone’s mission programs.

Hire capstone leadership and staff with a core understanding and experience of industry-academic partnerships, pathways to research implementation and college-led research.

Also, mandate intentional connections and hand-offs with existing federal granting agency programs, where barriers to full college participation must be removed and where the overall role of colleges must be reimagined, recentred and reinvested in to optimize the impact of federal research dollars.

We believe that adopting these recommendations and ensuring the capstone has a stand-alone and robust budget means that the capstone will be well positioned to leverage the unique strengths of colleges to deliver on a mission-driven research agenda, with tangible benefits for Canadians.

Let me share a few other data points that illustrate why we can't afford to leave college capacity on the table if we want to reap the benefits of mission-driven research.

In 2021-22, our colleges and institutes leveraged $150 million in federal government investment for a total of $433 million in research activity to support over 8,000 research projects, prototypes, projects, services and processes in challenge areas such as housing construction, advanced manufacturing and climate-smart agriculture and food production.

However, most impressively, the colleges are achieving these results despite receiving only 2.9% of the funding provided by the three granting councils in 2021.

If we really want the research ecosystem to make a tangible and noticeable impact on Canadians, mission‑driven research that leverages college expertise must become one of Canada's most powerful drivers of innovation.

However, our system is severely challenged right now, putting all this at risk.

The latest reforms at IRCC to the international student program will create a $2-billion shortfall in our system, and our main funding vehicle, the college and community innovation program, is set to expire in 2026. This is creating a perfect storm that threatens the capacity of our system to work with our industry and community partners to produce the research and innovation results that matter to Canadians.

Let's not overlook this tool. This means intentionally supporting and leveraging colleges as full partners in the research and innovation ecosystem.

Thank you for your time.

I look forward to your questions.

Thank you.