Thank you very much.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
As noted, my name is Michelle Chrétien. I'm the vice-president of research and innovation at Conestoga College.
I would like to begin by thanking this committee for undertaking this study on the allocation of federal research funding and for all the work that you're doing to ensure that Canada's research ecosystem remains vibrant, diverse and world class. I'm really honoured, honestly, to have been invited to appear before this committee, so thank you, Mr. Chair and members, for this opportunity.
Today, in keeping with the theme, I would like to speak to you about the role of colleges within Canada's research ecosystem through the lens of impact—the impact on students, on industry and community partners, and on knowledge translation.
In Canada, we are rightfully proud of our history of research excellence. This study provides an opportunity to look to the future and at how Canada's research funding dollars can be allocated to best position our country for success.
This is also perhaps an opportune moment to reflect on what Canadians expect from federal investment in research. Certainly, it's the creation of new knowledge, but perhaps also, and increasingly, it's the focused and efficient translation of this knowledge to industry and to public benefit.
Canada's colleges have strong ties to both industry and the communities that we serve. We believe that collaborator-driven applied research can empower our partners to create economic and social impact while also providing our students with the opportunity to learn in rich experiential environments.
A significant portion of our research funding goes to ensuring that students benefit from the experience of collaborative, practical, solutions-driven, applied research that creates impact for small and medium-sized enterprises and communities while also sowing the seeds for a more innovative industry and public sector in the future.
This past year, grant funds at Conestoga supported more than 250 students from 45 different academic programs to engage in research projects at the college. If we collectively aspire to build Canada's research capacity and develop the full spectrum of talent, we need to ensure that this funding is more broadly available. When we engage undergraduate students in applied research, we're creating a future workforce that understands and values innovation.
I'd like to provide a few really quick examples of the type of work that our students and our faculty are engaged in.
Currently, students from our school of engineering are working with a local start-up, Vortex Technology Group, to develop a novel supercapacitor energy storage technology for fast and efficient electric vehicle charging. This project is beyond conception; Vortex is now expanding its technology demonstration sites with local utilities and partnering with the well-known EV charging infrastructure player, Flo.
In our food research and innovation lab—it's my favourite, although I'm not supposed to have favourites—students are working to address food waste using novel approaches to upcycle spent grains from the brewing industry. Through this project, we have helped a company, Terra Bioindustries, to develop and launch two new products to domestic and international markets.
It's not just in science and engineering that we have impact. Students and faculty in our social innovation lab are currently collaborating with local credit unions to explore innovative solutions to housing affordability through novel co-operative models and unique financial products, such as rent to own.
There are more examples and I would love to tell you about them, but unfortunately the scope and scale of this work is limited by the availability of funds. As I know you will have heard in previous testimony, less than 3% of the nearly $4 billion invested by the federal government went to support this type of community-driven research last year.
The advisory panel on the federal research support system specifically identified an inability to respond quickly to emerging societal and economic needs as one of the greatest gaps of the current funding system. These examples, I hope, demonstrate how colleges are addressing this gap by responding to the pressing and topical challenges of business and society. Just imagine what we could do with the right-sized investment.
While Canada has historically underperformed in translating our strengths in science and research into marketable innovations that benefit Canadians, this gap in translating innovation to impact is precisely where colleges and CEGEPs shine. Unfortunately, this capacity is somewhat under-recognized and under-leveraged.
While I agree that there does exist a disparity in research funding between large and small institutions, as I know this committee has heard, I would also suggest that the current funding allocation model undervalues certain types of research, even though applied research and incremental innovation of the type led by colleges can lead to big impacts for a country and an economy made up of small businesses.
In conclusion, I would like to again express my gratitude for the opportunity to appear today before this committee and share the important role that colleges play in creating social and economic prosperity for Canadians.
Together, let's rethink how research investment is evaluated and allocated, and reimagine colleges and CEGEPs as full partners in Canada's research and innovation ecosystem.
Thank you.