York University has received a welcome boost to its research efforts with a $3.9-million infusion from the federal government’s Canada Innovation Strategy. York West MP Judy Sgro paid a visit to York to announce the funding.
York MP Judy Sgro (centre) presents a ceremonial cheque to Suzanne MacDonald (left), associate vice-president research, and York University President & Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden
York received a total of $3,977,577 to help support institutional research. The funds are provided under the strategy’s Indirect Costs Program, which includes items such as the operation and maintenance of equipment and facilities, information management systems, and technology transfer and commercialization services.
On behalf of Human Resources Development Canada and Industry Canada, Sgro presented a cheque to York University President & Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden and Suzanne MacDonald, associate vice-president research, after a meeting of the University Administrative Forum (UAF).
“These funds are essential to support our strategic research plan, to make York the most innovative university in Canada,” said MacDonald. “This money allows us to move forward and support our researchers as they break new ground.”
Sgro told the UAF audience that the funding of indirect costs was a way for the federal government to participate in what is primarily a provincial jurisdiction. “Paul Martin when he was finance minister was always looking for ways of getting money into the universities,” she said with a smile.
Under the Indirect Costs program, funds are distributed to universities based on their past federal research awards from the federal university-research granting agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The program is a key part of the Canada Innovation Strategy, which is designed to assist public and private institutions with the cost of leading Canada’s knowledge and skills development drive in the 21st Century. The strategy was announced in 2002 with a goal of putting Canada among the top five countries in the world in research and development by 2010.