Thank you very much, honourable members.

Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this important topic.

When we compare Canada's position in scientific research with the positions of other members of the OECD, several paradoxes come to light. I will present these paradoxes as a way of clarifying Canada's research and development sector and those who work within it.

Specifically, I'll examine the role of post-secondary institutions, the impact of international research collaborations, the role of the business sector and labour market inefficiencies that have led to an underutilization of our Ph.D.s. I'm going to conclude with several recommendations to help strengthen Canada's research production.

How does Canada compare globally? Well, Canada's general expenditure on research and development, as a percentage of the GDP, is notably below the OECD average, and it has declined steadily since 2001. The paradox, of course, is that higher education expenditures in research and development have increased 30% during the same 20 years, so Canadian post-secondary institutions and the researchers they house play a significant role in the country's research and development.

The second paradox is that while our percentage of publications per researcher places us at seventh in the world in—and that's great—in our production of patents, we're actually 18th from the bottom. This is likely because of fairly low levels of R and D in the business sector. Even though industry tends to fund some R and D in post-secondary institutions, the ties are relatively loose.

The third paradox relates to international collaboration and a significant gender divide. Studies have repeatedly confirmed that international collaboration is correlated with an increase in research production, often identified by publications, however limited. However, in Canada, a statistically significant gender divide exists between men and women researchers. Men have significantly more international collaborations, and thus more high-impact research outputs.

The final paradox relates to labour and personnel. Although Canada has increased the number of individuals graduating with doctoral degrees, the number of tenure-track positions has plateaued. This has led to highly skilled researchers being employed in part-time, precarious positions mainly focused on teaching, and some eventually leave academia. You just have to visit one of Canada's amazing colleges, universities, CEGEPs or polytechnics to see a huge labour force of underemployed Ph.D.s, many with international experience and many who are women. Because much of our R and D is housed in post-secondary institutions, our private sector does not absorb Ph.D.s in the same way as other countries.

What does this tell us about scientific research in Canada? Higher education is a significant actor. We have relatively loose business ties, limited participation in global collaboration and an inefficient labour market that's not making the most of its skilled labour.

What do I recommend? Well, first, post-secondary institutions are at the heart of our research success, so keep funding universities and colleges. Canada needs to increase research funding to build the infrastructure at smaller institutions, as others have said in these panels, and definitely at our colleges, with their ties to industry and applied research. This practice of funding both projects and institutions has been very successful in the European context. In contrast, Canada tends to focus more on the projects than the institutional infrastructure, and we need to bring institutions up as well.

Second, fund both theoretical and applied research, establish strong partnerships with industry and make a pipeline to patents. However, as gatekeepers of research funding, we need thoughtful regulatory frameworks that ensure that it's done ethically and equitably and that it considers the social impact of research.

Third, we have to expand who is considered a researcher. Our precarious faculty who teach on part-time, limited contracts are rarely eligible to apply for federal funding. Moreover, federal funding prevents salaries from going to principal investigators, meaning that part-time researchers, when they are eligible to receive a grant, cannot increase their income to a living wage with funds from the grant. Our selection criteria need to adapt to the reality that not all researchers have the same conditions of employment.

Fourth, we need to increase our global collaborations and provide funding for travel to work globally with other teams. When I have conducted research on international publications, other teams in other countries are shocked that international collaboration is not one of our requirements. We need to focus on the big issues that impact our planet.

Lastly, we need targeted programming to support populations of researchers who are left outside the high-impact world of scientific research: women, researchers of colour and indigenous communities. In short, we want to see research funding going to diverse institutions and diverse researchers who can make Canada a global leader in scientific research with a positive social impact.

Transcript

Discussions (0)