Science and Research committee  In the case of scholarships, it is indeed the research councils that set the amounts. However, post-doctoral fellows are often Mitacs fellowships at the Canadian level. The typical income for Mitacs fellows is $40,000 plus $5,000 for equipment. Some awards are higher. For example, one of my colleagues at one point received a $53,000 award.

Science and Research committee  A portion of the amount is for equipment. As I was saying, the salary for Mitacs fellows is $40,000 plus $5,000 for equipment. If there are additional purchases to be made, faculty will often subtract the cost of those from that amount because they have not budgeted that cost in their research funds for that project.

Science and Research committee  I don't have the exact figures. However, I remember seeing a survey circulated during the pandemic. We were at 64% of university students with mental health issues. I can't say it's the same numbers for post-docs, but I think the level is high as well. If you look at the level of funding for post-docs who are fortunate enough to be unionized, the salary floor, which is the minimum salary the university has to pay them, ranges from $33,000 to $48,000.

Science and Research committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair Hello, everyone. I'm Sébastien Paquette, and I'm here on behalf of the Association du personnel de la recherche du Québec. The role of the APRQ is to help reduce the precariousness of research personnel and to recognize their contribution to university research throughout Quebec.