Thank you very much, Chair.
I'm very pleased to be here to speak on behalf of the University of Toronto.
Today's economic circumstances are indeed challenging, as we all know. But Canada has been through tough times before. The difference today is that we're playing in a global world where we can no longer rely upon our natural resources alone as the foundation of a competitive economy. Our wealth now must focus on Canada's human resources: they must be nimble, globally aware, and innovative. This is where the contribution of Canada's universities makes a significant difference to our present and future competitiveness and prosperity--namely, by producing the talent that will lead our country and the economy.
Canada's universities are places where new ideas, new discoveries, and new innovations are generated. Canada's universities are the places that generate the basic and applied research that leads to the next big discoveries, the discoveries that bring significant economic benefits to all of us.
Examples are always helpful. A wonderful example of potentially world-altering, university-based research is that being led by U of T nanotechnologist Dr. Ted Sargent. Professor Sargent has developed a solar technology that can literally be woven into every aspect of daily life, from our clothes to our roads, using a spray-on solar cell. It's quite extraordinary, frankly. His research has led to the founding of a spinoff company that has raised venture capital and has created jobs. And they're not just any jobs. They are the jobs of the future.
Canada's universities are at the forefront of the economy. We are the eager partners with industry and governments in this task, but we need the necessary supports to maximize our contributions of talented human capital and world-changing research.
The Government of Canada has made important investments in knowledge creation and innovation, even in these current times of economic uncertainty. And I would like to register our appreciation for the sustained investment in research, science, and technology made by the Government of Canada over the past few years. At the same time, however, competitor jurisdictions have been aggressively investing in the full cost of research as well as in infrastructure support.
Canada's innovation economy depends on investing in the best minds and in the best research. The University of Toronto believes that competing to win on innovation means embracing and striving for excellence. It means ensuring that researchers have the support to achieve their full potential. It means internationally competitive levels of funding to support the full costs of research.
I am aware that you've heard from other presenters about the need for greater support from the government for the full cost of research being done at universities. These funds are necessary to support the grants to the researchers themselves. Canada provides its researchers, its universities, with 20¢ for each dollar of grant support. Suffice it to say that in competitive jurisdictions, the support is in excess of 40¢ for each dollar.
Canada is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Our people are highly skilled. They represent a wide diversity of backgrounds and beliefs. The University of Toronto produces an inordinate share of Canada's graduates at both the undergraduate, graduate, and professional graduate levels. Each year we support 10% of Canada's new doctors. We produce 8% of Canada's new engineers. We produce 16% of Canada's new Ph.D.s.
Those are just a few examples. The most important part is that the quality of the human capital goes beyond the particular degrees awarded and the accreditations achieved.
Talented, nimble, creative human capital is critical to a robust innovation economy in Canada. In particular, the high-tech sector is critically dependent on broad creativity and business acumen. As President David Naylor--who unfortunately could not be here today--likes to boast, Research In Motion didn't really get the ball rolling until they brought in a guy named Jim Balsillie, a commerce graduate from the University of Toronto, to serve as co-CEO and take the BlackBerry to market in a serious way.
Technological innovation is relatively common, but management creativity and business acumen separates the winners from the losers in the global marketplace. We need to ensure that the innovation pipeline is supplied with young research talent that will generate the next big ideas. This talent resides in future graduate students, who are both domestic and international. However, universities do not have the financial resources to recruit and retain this international talent without increased graduate scholarship funding. A program like Vanier Canada graduate scholarships is so important to the next generation of Canada's leading researchers. Canada needs to develop and attract the best and brightest minds to contribute their energies to the economy. To achieve this, our research environment must be internationally competitive.
We need more supports like the Vanier scholarships for both domestic and international graduate students. We need support for students at the post-doctoral level who can make a huge contribution to the innovations agenda. Creating a new program to support 1,000 post-doctoral fellows at $60,000 each for two years, awarded on the basis of peer-reviewed excellence, will help make Canada a more attractive location for research. We believe Canada can best address the challenges ahead by playing to our incredible strengths in human capital innovation.
Thank you very much for your attention.