Science and Research Committee on May 7th, 2026

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Winnipeg West, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

We will now proceed to MP Blanchette-Joncas for six minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to welcome the witnesses who are with us today. I thank them for their understanding of the situation we've been experiencing since the beginning of this committee meeting.

My first question is for Mr. Doyle.

Are college centres for technology transfer, or CCTTs, and colleges often the essential link between research, small and medium-sized businesses, prototyping and the actual adoption of technologies?

[Ken Doyle]

Yes, absolutely. It's a mature network with a proven track record. The model works. Our Canadian model is based on CCTTs in Quebec. The evaluation of the program, which was released yesterday, provides all the details on the strength of this model.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

I want to ask you a question about a contradiction on the part of the federal government.

The government is announcing new investments in defence. At the same time, a number of programs that support colleges, CEGEPs and CCTTs are undergoing cuts. The college and community innovation program, in particular, is being undermined.

Are we at a risk of weakening precisely these structures that transform research into concrete innovations while we are investing record amounts in defence?

[Ken Doyle]

Thank you for your question.

That's absolutely correct. The program underwent cuts on April 1. However, in last week's spring economic update, funding was announced for the college and community innovation program, or CCI, which supports technology access centres and CCTTs.

I think that the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, NSERC, now has the financial resources it needs to solve the problem of differing funding levels between centres in Quebec and those in the rest of Canada. Grant amounts are also being updated to ensure that they are ready to assist when major issues are being faced, such as in defence.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

Can you just confirm that this was the full amount that was missing for the program? After all, we were talking about cuts of about 30% to the college and community innovation program.

[Ken Doyle]

Yes. With last week's update, those cuts have been resolved. NSERC will now have, for the next five years, the financial resources it needs to maintain the appropriate level of funding for the entire sector.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Doyle, I think we have here compelling evidence that the opposition's work is playing off, as I was the one who asked Minister Joly about this, right here at this committee.

[Ken Doyle]

Thank you for that on behalf of all our members in Quebec.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Doyle, centres like SEREX, in Amqui, in my riding, and Innovation maritime, affiliated with the Cégep de Rimouski, directly support small and medium-sized businesses and innovation in the region.

Do you think we are underestimating the strategic role of this infrastructure in our industrial and technological sovereignty?

[Ken Doyle]

I think so, because the infrastructure has been built up over the years through public investments to support SMEs that lack the internal capacity to handle commercialization.

Our role is to provide support, and it's really important to ensure that the centres can work together to solve a problem a company is facing. It's important to combine the strengths of the different centres, based on their expertise. For example, SEREX, which has expertise in forest products, works well with Innovation maritime, or IMAR, to support the industry in the Rimouski area.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Doyle.

I want to ask you a question about concentration.

In the current defence research strategy, we see that the government wants to focus its efforts on the major universities.

Are we at risk of missing out on the entire applied research component, including in terms of what we just discussed, such as prototyping, testing and transfer to small and medium-sized businesses?

When it comes to applied research, you are the experts.

[Ken Doyle]

Yes, thank you.

I don't think it's a one-size-fits-all model. I think universities and government labs will have a role to play in the future in projects lasting two, three, four years or longer. On our end, we have a unique role, which is to carry out incremental innovation projects lasting five, six or 12 months to quickly meet industry needs.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

I'd like us to talk specifically about the small and medium-sized businesses you support. Do they actually have access to federal public contracts or do they too often get stuck at the prototype stage?

[Ken Doyle]

It seems that there are difficulties related to the size, history and revenue of the business or things like that. There are minimum requirements for spending public money responsibly.

At the same time, 99% of businesses in Canada are really small businesses. In the past, they were not equipped to actually win contracts.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

In a crisis or a supply chain breakdown, do you think the local capacity to quickly produce, test, adapt and repair technologies becomes as important as basic research itself?

[Ken Doyle]

Yes.

We receive many requests from companies seeking assistance with their supply chains because they are not yet able to purchase goods from the United States.

We can help them find alternatives at the same price, or even slightly cheaper, and adopt technologies to replace people who can't always be hired.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

Should a portion of new investments be set aside for concrete initiatives led by your members? I'm thinking of colleges, CCTTs, small and medium-sized businesses with goals of prototyping, testing and even actual adoption.

[Ken Doyle]

Yes, absolutely. I think there's currently a significant gap in the system. That has been the case for decades. We need something tailored to us so that we can do what we do best. That would be a good idea.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski—La Matapédia, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

With that, the first round comes to an end.

We will start our second round of five minutes and two and a half minutes. The floor goes to MP Mahal for five minutes.

[Jagsharan Singh Mahal, Conservative, Edmonton Southeast, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses for being here.

Dr. Huebert, I want to start with you.

Defence procurement should not be a politically driven topic. Canada should buy the best tool for the job, full stop. As many defence reviews have shown, the F-35 is the best equipped, by every measure, to fulfill the Royal Canadian Air Force requirements. Do you agree, yes or no?

[Robert Huebert]

Yes, I agree.

[Jagsharan Singh Mahal, Conservative, Edmonton Southeast, AB]

Thank you for the brief answer, Doctor.