Federal Government
1 | 2 | Page 3 Canadian Foundation for Innovation
The Government of Canada established the Canadian Foundation for
Innovation (CFI) in 1997 as an autonomous corporation to strengthen
world-class research and technology development. In short, their policy is
innovation.
In coalition with Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals and
other non-profit research organizations, the CFI promotes research
excellence and research training across Canada. The CFI's programs are
designed to strengthen Canadas capacity for innovation, attract highly
skilled personnel to research in Canada, strengthen research training of
Canada's youth, promote multidisciplinary research and knowledge sharing
and utilize Canadas existing research infrastructure as efficiently as
possible.
Currently, in 2003, the CFI is responsible for a budget of $3.65 billion and has participated in over 2,300 projects since its inception.
Although the immediate focus of the CFI is Canada's researchers and their
research institutions, the investments will affect the broader Canadian
population. The CFI's focus is to promote Canada's knowledge economy and
the innovation strategy for 2010. According to their website, numerous CFI
projects already benefit the Canadian public, including
- The establishment of the Centre for Growth and Development at the B.C.
Research Institute for Children's and Womens Health
- The creation of a research centre at the University of Calgary for
studying autism, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder
- The establishment of the Canadian Light Source project at the
University of Saskatchewan a partnership between 19 universities across
Canada developing pharmaceutical agents and computer chips
- Equipment at Dalhousie University for investigating cystic fibrosis at
the molecular level
The CFIs mandate is to transform Canada's economy by the year 2010. They
envision Canada as an innovative society where all citizens will enjoy a
high quality of life, living in one of the worlds most advanced and
successful economies and societies. The CFI has been given a large
operating budget by the federal government, but with this large budget
comes the responsibility to transform the foundation of the Canada's
economy to knowledge-based industries.
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