Madam Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify before you today.
I'm joined here by Nipun Vats, the senior assistant deputy minister for the science and research sector.
I'll keep my remarks brief, as the minister will provide more fulsome comments when she joins you for the second hour.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, across its portfolio, supports the minister in fulfilling his mandate to strengthen Canada's long-term economic resilience and competitiveness.
Our role is to ensure that Canada's strengths in science, research, technology and talent are fully mobilized in service of our national prosperity.
We are operating in a rapidly changing global environment.
Economic uncertainty, accelerating technological change and shifting geopolitical dynamics present both challenges and significant opportunities for Canada.
Within the department, our job is to create the conditions for Canadian ideas, workers and businesses to thrive.
This includes supporting a strong research ecosystem, building and scaling industrial capabilities and ensuring that emerging technologies translate into productivity gains and opportunities for people in every region of the country.
More than anything, we recognize that talent is essential.
Whether we are discussing clean technologies, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, life sciences or critical minerals, Canada's global competitiveness ultimately depends on the researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and skilled workers who turn discovery into impact.
The minister will speak in greater detail about the government's recent investments to reinforce Canada's research and innovation capacity and to attract and retain the highly skilled people who drive it.
As officials, our commitment is to provide clear, evidence-based advice and work collaboratively with partners across sectors and across the country to help build an economy rooted in knowledge, innovation and opportunity.
With that, Madam Chair, I'm happy to take questions from the committee.