Good morning from sunny Calgary and the traditional territory of the people of the Treaty 7 region.
We're home to one of Canada's research-intensive universities. Since 2011, the University of Calgary has been intentionally growing its research capacity by focusing on impactful solutions that are beneficial to Canadians. By 2021, we had become the youngest institution on Canada's top-five list of research universities, and we have one of the fastest rates of growth in research funding, which ranks among those of much larger, more established institutions. Our research community consistently demonstrates excellence and transdisciplinary collaboration, which are among the reasons our external research funding continues to grow.
For many years, the research performed at the University of Calgary and our sister institutions has made Canada more prosperous and healthier. We have done so in partnership with the federal government, which leverages further investment and helps us attract talent to solve some of Canada's pressing problems.
A good example is One Child Every Child, a Canada-first research excellence program. At $125 million, it's one of the largest federal research grants to a university in western Canada. We have leveraged this funding to attract other partners to build a $268-million research and innovation ecosystem with our community and industry that will dramatically improve health outcomes for children and youth across the country.
We are grateful for the support of the federal government, as it creates leveraging opportunities to accomplish important shared goals.
Other players also recognize the economic, social and health benefits of research. Last year, the University of Calgary had $545 million in externally sponsored research. More than one-third of that came from industry and non-profit organizations. There is broad relevance and broad benefit to the research we perform. It advances discovery. It generates economic activity. It creates jobs. It supports existing industries, and it helps create those of tomorrow.
Federal funding plays an essential role. It supports talent and the creation of new ideas for the benefit of society. However, funding levels are eroding. Since 2020, federal funding has fallen in real terms by 19%. At the same time, our competitors are increasing their funding. The stakes are global.
We need to increase research funding to attract and retain talent, create new ideas and grow enterprises. The top economies in the world are doing just that. We also need to maintain a merit-based allocation of that funding based on rigorous, independent review. Canada's current system is considered an international best practice. While it is true that U15 institutions like the University of Calgary do receive the largest amount of this funding, we also receive most of industry's funding—75%, to be exact. A strong innovation and start-up ecosystem has broad spillover benefits when university research is mobilized towards innovation.
At the University of Calgary, we have activated several commercialization pathways, including the Hunter hub for entrepreneurial thinking, mentoring programs for innovation training, a set of evergreening, philanthropically driven venture funds, and several sectoral innovation hubs. For the third consecutive year, the University of Calgary is the top start-up company creator among Canadian research institutions. Our ecosystem is working to mobilize research.
U15 institutions are the anchors of Canada's research ecosystem, but we are not silos. We routinely collaborate with other institutions. Just last week, the University of Calgary and University of Alberta partnered with the University of Lethbridge and Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie to expand rural medical training. We have many joint ventures with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, a polytechnic in Calgary, with Mount Royal University and with other post-secondary institutions across the country.
Increased federal funding will help to promote those collaborations by supporting scholars, and, through these partnerships and collaborations, it will help smaller institutions grow, just as the University of Calgary has grown. The merit- and excellence-based funding model is key to this success. It is a proven winner and is the envy of other countries.
The core problem with Canada's research funding model is not how the research funding is allocated, but that the funding is falling in actual terms and diminishing our capacity as a nation to conduct impactful research for the benefit of Canadians.
Thank you.