If I can build on that very briefly, we're not simply trying to recreate a professoriate. We're trying to create the talent that Canada needs to be globally competitive.
Canada is now 28th in the world for graduate student enrolment. We are all proud of our undergraduate attainment in both colleges and universities. That is at record levels. However, in terms of graduate attainment, we're 28th in the world.
If you look at every investment that's been made by major international companies over the last 18 months, it's about the talent and access to talent. I'll point to GM. When they were building their engineering centre in Markham, Ontario, they talked about having 800 engineers. It was right in the press release. We have five universities within spitting distance that are going to create the engineering talent we need.
If you look at the recent Volkswagen investment, yes, there is some federal subsidy, but that's not the decisive factor. It's the pipeline of talent. It's the access to research. Why are we leaders in batteries? Why are people coming here for batteries? It's because 15 or 20 years ago we attracted battery expertise to do the work and be discovery researchers, and now we're seeing the benefits of that.
My concern today is that we're eating our own seed corn. If you're from a rural community, you know what that means. We're harvesting the benefits of previous governments' investments. We have to invest now for the economy of the future.