Budget 2024 provided $1.8 billion over 5 years starting in fiscal year 2024–25—and $748.3 million per year ongoing—in new funding to increase support for core research grants for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This funding represents a 30% top up to existing agency programs and will be delivered through each agency’s existing funding opportunities. It will also support the indirect costs of research and research security through existing initiatives, and it will enable researchers to better support their students and postdoctoral fellows.
In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment (SEEA), the three federal research funding agencies completed a detailed strategic environmental and economic assessment for this investment.
Based on the assessment criteria outlined in the SEEA directive, it was determined that the proposal for funding to increase support to core research grants was unlikely to result in significant environmental effects. Consequently, no strategic environmental analysis was undertaken.
A strategic economic analysis was completed using the SEEA directive’s assessment criteria, and it found that the proposal would have no significant local economic impacts. Impacts on the education sector were assessed as medium in the short term, and the extent of the proposal’s effects in the long term was assessed as uncertain. At the national level, the proposal’s short-term economic impacts were assessed as medium, while the extent of its long-term impacts was assessed as uncertain.
The programs through which this new funding will be delivered support scientific research and skills development, including in sustainable development fields. They also contribute to Indigenous self-determination, enhance leadership and capacity in research and research training, and promote respect for Indigenous Knowledge systems. As such, the proposal aligns with other federal initiatives that champion sustainable development, including the
The new investments announced in Budget 2024 will strengthen the research funding agencies’ efforts to advance research and innovation and foster a strong and sustainable research ecosystem in Canada. While this funding does not contribute directly to federal targets related to climate, nature or the economy, research related to climate change may be funded. As a result, this investment has the potential to improve our understanding of climate change and its effects on people in Canada. It also offers opportunities for economic growth in the short term and has the potential to spark positive developments with respect to Indigenous Peoples’ rights and Indigenous climate Leadership.