Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for the invitation to appear today.
As the chair mentioned, my name is Fred Meier. I'm the president and CEO of RRC Polytech, which is Manitoba's only polytechnic institution. I'm joining you today from our Notre Dame campus in Winnipeg, which is located on Treaty 1 territory and the national homeland of the Red River Métis.
In March 2024, Carolyn Rogers, the senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, focused a spotlight on the productivity crisis in Canada. It’s now widely recognized that our country is in trouble. As the president of a polytechnic institution, I want to share a perspective that doesn’t get the attention it should.
Colleges and polytechnics provide the skills and credentials that drive productivity in virtually every economic sector in every region of our nation. Institutions similar to ours play a more significant role in countries around the world that are leading in productivity.
Our collaborative applied research activities with industry partners advance innovation through adoption and the dispersion of technology. We’ve built incredible trust with business partners and have proven that we can deliver what they need. Our partnerships are deep and our outputs help elevate Canada.
Polytechnics Canada's 13-member institutions alone accounted for 138,000 job-ready graduates in 2024–25. More than 18,000 of them worked on applied research projects while they studied.
Colleges and polytechnics have the ingredients to help grow productivity in Canada, yet funding, policy decisions and the general optics of colleges and polytechnics compared to universities continue to support a hierarchy and advance a systemic disadvantage. Colleges conduct the majority of Canada’s SME-focused, industry-driven applied research, yet we receive less than 3% of the tri-council’s total budget for research funding. This imbalance makes it difficult to scale the kind of productivity-enhancing innovation and technology adoption that keeps investment in Canada. It limits the growth of benefits we can provide to Canadian businesses.
More and more within post-secondary, we’re seeing signs that our peers recognize how important colleges and polytechnics are in helping businesses turn innovation into productivity and profit. Last year, RRC Polytech became a partner and lead of Labs4, a national network of 38 colleges and universities helping researcher-entrepreneurs turn academic breakthroughs into real-world ventures, products and solutions. We received the largest ever tri-council grant to be awarded to a college—more than $24 million—and recognition from Ottawa that applied research by polytechnics and colleges is a catalyst of productivity in Canada. It was a big win and a step in the right direction for research funding in post-secondary education and, equally important, for something I call parity of esteem.
Colleges and polytechnics need to be seen as different from but equal to universities as contributors to Canada’s success. The current hierarchy in post-secondary education is counterproductive to what the sector can generate when we work together and when our unique strengths are advanced and equitably funded.
Canada’s SMEs employ more than 16 million people and comprise 98% of all businesses in our country. They don’t have massive R and D budgets. They need rapid access to graduates who have applied knowledge, work experience and the technical skills to implement and optimize technology quickly.
We fill that gap. We help them work with existing technologies so they can become digitally literate and competent, now. We do all of this in partnership with industry and through foundational industry support.
RRC Polytech’s ability to support Manitoba SMEs in manufacturing transformed in 2023 with the launch of the Price Institute of Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics, which was possible in large part due to the vision and generosity of Dr. Gerry Price. The institute's Centre for Automation and Manufacturing Technology Transfer now connects SMEs with our research experts and students to rapidly explore new technologies and then adopt them into their operations. It’s just one example of the mutually beneficial outcomes we provide for students, industry and community partners, and for Manitoba and Canada.
We drive productivity. We want what you want for Canada. We can do more, but that requires more—more funding for applied research, greater recognition as a viable post-secondary option for more Canadians and parity of esteem.
Thank you for your time this morning. I encourage you all to visit colleges and polytechnics and learn more about the impact they have on productivity across the country. I look forward to hosting you at RRC Polytech.