Is Justin Trudeau failing the Canadian science test?

Canada’s Liberal government swept to power eight years ago promising to undo the damage inflicted by the previous Harper regime. However, after a big early funding spike for basic research, there is a growing sense of drift – and mounting concern about the future. Paul Basken reports

Published on
July 20, 2023
Last updated
June 6, 2024
Montage of the doctor dropped the damaged blood test tube with Canada shape leaf falling out of it to illustrate Is Justin Trudeau failing Canadian science?
Source: Alamy / Getty Images / Istock montage

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Reader's comments (1)

The problem with Canadian science and engineering research is hat the funding levels for discovery grants is low that makes it untenable to support more than 1 student at a reasonable level that they would have if they went south. However the bigger problem is that most of the funding is for partnership programs and there is scant evidence that his has led to any noteworthy technological contributions. Canadian universities have an administrative bloat and rely on wrong metrics to measure impact. The fact is the vast majority of research is mediocre aimed at meeting metrics. An example is see the accomplishments of recent FRSC members elected. It is correct to note foreign students use Canada as a waystation to go south. This is because there are no meaningful jobs for them in Canada that would utilize their skills.

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