We do recognize that there is a innovation gap. In Canada, the gap is a major one, to such an extent that the government established the Jenkins panel to address the issue. Your committee rightly refers to its report in your work on the issue.
In its report, the panel indicated that work must be done in various areas. First, the tax system and the way it is administered. Second, access must be much more closely linked to the market, an idea which will, in a way, be reflected by transforming the NRC. For NSERC, this means, without losing the richness of purely scientific inquiry, creating links to the programs we are conducting with industry.
For example, in 2009, the number of industrial partners with projects funded by NSERC was 1,500 companies per year. Five years later, that number climbed to 3,000 companies per year. We have put a lot of effort into adjusting our programming to create those funds.
In a way, I feel that you have touched upon the subject that is critical in this area, the labour force and the human resources. Those changes are made in people's minds. We are trying to do it more and more. With the emergence of Mitacs as—