They would say they have complementary purposes. The tri-councils have large budgets, or relatively large budgets. The three councils together fund about $3 billion a year of research, of talent development, scholarships, and transitional support, whereas CIFAR's budget—the federal government provides it—is about $5 million a year. In the last budget, it was proposed that it be increased to $7 million a year. That would represent about a third to a quarter of its total support. It has funding from other levels of government as well as the private sector.
CIFAR's work is very elite focused. The councils tend to focus on a range of researchers—all excellence based, but emerging researchers and a different tool kit. CIFAR's research tends to be in support of highly elite research. It's about getting Canadians to participate in international research networks at a very high level. It's about raising the game for top Canadian researchers, but also contributing to knowledge that will benefit Canadians and, in fact, the world.
It's just a slightly different set of activities.