Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Let me start by saying how pleased I am to have been invited to speak to you today about the importance of science and research.
I am here as the executive director of the U15, an organization that brings together many of Canada's leading research universities.
The members of the U15, the Group of Canadian Research Universities, are responsible for 78% of the research, 81% of the patents and 70% of the PhDs in Canada.
Around the world, innovation-driven ecosystems are anchored by world-class research-intensive universities that are training tomorrow's leaders and innovators. Innovation is about people. Innovation is about making the world better. Innovation builds on basic curiosity-driven research to make things better for the benefit of society.
This pandemic has shown us the power of research, the need to persevere and the importance of innovation.
For many years, messenger RNA technology, which is the basis of the two most popular vaccines, was going nowhere.
The challenge was how to get the fragile strands of RNA through the cells. It was an almost insurmountable challenge, until a Canadian company from the University of British Columbia developed a lipid coating that forms a protective envelope around the RNA when it enters a cell. It's a Canadian university-based innovation resulting from years of fundamental research that is now used in one of the mRNA vaccines.
As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, Canada faces increasing competition for the talent needed to drive high growth, knowledge-intensive industries, address global challenges and build an equitable, inclusive society. Canada has many advantages in this competition, including a welcoming society, an open immigration system, vibrant cities, proximity to the U.S. and strong, world-class research universities.
Industry leaders will tell you that the crucial building block for success is having access to highly qualified people with advanced degrees, because they are tomorrow's generators of new knowledge and the drivers of innovation in companies and social enterprises across the country.
However, it should be noted that Canada ranks 28th in the OECD in terms of the number of master's and doctoral degrees.
When you invest in research, you invest in people—you invest in young people—and research investments made by successive governments over the past 20 years have certainly contributed to our quality of life. However, we need to be a lot more ambitious. Countries around the world are making massive investments in research and talent development at a scale never seen before. Canada will need to invest strategically in research, innovation and skills development, to ensure we continue to be economically competitive and able to equip Canadians for the jobs of the future, and remain a destination of choice for highly talented people from around the world.
In addition to the investments that are being considered right now, that is, the expansion of the CRC, the biomanufacturing investment, CARPA, commercialization investments etc., we need to make an important investment in the granting councils. When we look at inflation-adjusted research investments per Ph.D. over the last 20 years, it is very easy to demonstrate that Canada has a serious research funding deficit when compared to the period between 2002 and 2008. Now is the time to address this gap, to place Canada as a strong leader in science and technology and social science research.
In making these investments in research and innovation, governments need to consider two things. Number one is the need to be globally competitive. If we are to retain and attract the best minds in the world, it is important that our programs be globally competitive. Some of us have lived through the brain drain of the 1990s, and while we're not there yet, as we come out of the pandemic, the investments made by countries around the world are threatening our ability to attract and retain exceptional researchers.
The second thing is to remember that research, as I said, is about people. Research is about investing in the leaders and innovators of tomorrow in order to improve the lives of Canadians. It's also important to remember that close to 80% of the research funding goes directly to support students and post-docs.
Allow me to conclude by citing a paragraph from the 2014 Government of Canada budget plan.
To be successful in this highly competitive global economy, Canada needs to continue to educate, retain and attract the best minds in the world, to provide them with the space and facilities for innovation and creativity, to offer them the resources necessary to place Canada as a strong leader in science, technology and social science research.
Thank you very much. I'll be delighted to answer your questions.