Science and Research committee  I would agree entirely with that statement. Levelling the playing field creates equity for the entire ecosystem. When we take a look at our stakeholders, that is the Canadian population. They're looking to all of us, as elected officials and officials inside the government's agencies, to be good stewards of the public purse and to ensure that the results we come up with on their behalf suit their needs.

Science and Research committee  That would be a reasoned approach, yes.

Science and Research committee  I think that would be part of the government's due diligence on any re-evaluation, to ensure that the public stakeholder is well represented and their funds are being supported properly.

Science and Research committee  I think one of the challenges that we will have to address with that issue around the research support fund is this: At the university level, they have a lot of infrastructure to support those indirect costs; it is less so at a college. The connectivity between regional economic development agencies, granting councils, innovation labs and things of that sort....

Science and Research committee  I couldn't agree with you more. I think that's a wonderful opportunity to explore, as long as it is also paired with equal eligibility between colleges and universities.

Science and Research committee  Absolutely.

Science and Research committee  It could be. It would also depend on the metrics being used on those stage-gates, and that would be critical.

Science and Research committee  That's a fantastic understanding of the issue. The challenge we will be faced with—and this will be one of the serious deliberations for this committee to consider—is that in the reimagining of all federal research funding, will there be the opportunity to create an open pool that is allocated to a college or a university that allows it to be opportunistic and address an immediate and emergent issue?

Science and Research committee  Indeed we do. Similar challenges are faced because of the newness of our entry into applied research. While we have been doing research in various forms for the better part of 100 years at our college, the application directly to the work we do now at the Olds centre for innovation is challenged by the existing framework.

Science and Research committee  In order to address the eligibility issue, that would be a significant advancement forward, allowing colleges the opportunity to actually lead research opportunities. As a case in point, a lot of research today has major partnership and collaboration grants with universities being the lead.

Science and Research committee  As I would very much love to see a pot dedicated just to colleges, I think a rebalanced and reframed system that takes a systems approach, the entire ecosystem, to leverage the infrastructure that Canadians have invested into colleges and universities is an equitable solution.

Science and Research committee  Thank you for the question, and it is an intractable one that we have been dealing with since our inception into research about 20, 25 years ago. The third point that I talked about is also eligibility. While there is inequity in the system, part of that comes from the fact that colleges are simply not allowed to access certain funds.

Science and Research committee  All of the work we conduct at our college is entirely applied, and as such, the application goes directly back to our industry partners. The application of the research we do is not held by the institution and the individual researchers, and that's one of the value propositions that colleges bring to the table.

Science and Research committee  As mentioned in my opening remarks, we have a significant impact coming from the smart farm. The smart farm is the core of all of the research we do at Olds College. Our focus is agriculture. It always has been and always will be. The smart farm is the cornerstone, where we integrate technology and applied research on an actual commercial-scale farm.

Science and Research committee  The industry has been incredibly supportive, whether it is brewery, meat operations or any of our other programs. Our measure of success is exactly as you've identified. it is the job-readiness of our graduates. Because we are directly connected to the industries that we serve, our industry advisory councils tell us what they are expecting of a recent graduate and the skill sets they require in their place of employment.