Thank you, Terry, and thank you always for your strong support of science. I think this committee would want to recognize that it's the 25th anniversary of Dr. Bondar's first space mission.
Dr. Roberta Bondar always talks about creating a culture of curiosity. This is what we want to do in this country. All children are born curious. They want to discover and explore. We want to foster that through elementary school, high school, and beyond. Of course, we're happy to do that, whether it's our investment in PromoScience of $10.8 million in this last budget, whether it's Science Odyssey's 600 events happening across the country, or whether it's $50 million to teach grade school children to code.
The last area you hit on was the SIF. As you know, in budget 2016 we made a $2-billion investment in research and innovation infrastructure across the country. Much of our infrastructure was 25 years of age. This is good for our students. We want them to have the most up-to-date labs and tools. They are going to be the ones out in the workforce in the jobs of the future. The $2 billion could be matched by the provinces, the territories, and other organizations. We're really pleased. We've announced 300 projects. Whether it's Holland College in Prince Edward Island, Centennial College in Toronto, or SAIT out west, this will make a real difference to our country.
With that, I will just highlight that in budget 2017 we're also looking at federal science infrastructure. My job is to work across government to bring together the science-based departments. In budget 2017 we've announced that we will work to create a science infrastructure strategy for the federal government, so that they have the best labs and tools.