In the document to which your colleague referred, it is stated that the Quebec colleges do not receive federal funding, unlike the universities, which receive funding through the funding research councils. That's what we meant, simply.
Of course, we receive money from the federal government through transfers, through the Consolidated Fund, but, in the table, we wanted to illustrate the fact that, unlike the universities, the colleges are barely starting to develop their research mission. So, ultimately, we do not receive any federal funding from the funding councils, whether it be the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council or the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Council or what have you, hence the zero shown in the table.