Each year the Government of Canada spends around $4.5 billion to support research at post-secondary institutions across the country. This funding includes research grants for researchers, scholarships for students, research support funds for institutions, and programs to improve research infrastructure. Most of this funding is awarded through competitions run by the three granting agencies: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR); as well as by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research undertook a study on the distribution of this funding among post-secondary institutions – universities and colleges – across the country. Based on the evidence heard, the Committee learned that federal research funding is concentrated in Canada’s largest universities: nearly 80% of federal funding goes to 15 universities representing 52% of Canadian researchers and 59% of graduate students. Meanwhile, colleges receive only 2.9% of the total funding awarded by the three granting agencies.

The witnesses who took part in this study discussed the consequences and impacts of this distribution for research, post-secondary institutions, researchers and students. The issues raised included the capacity of small and medium-sized institutions and colleges to conduct research, the ability of students to study in their home region, accessibility of higher education, and the impact on research in French. As part of this study, the Committee focused on how federal funding is distributed among post-secondary institutions, rather than among individual researchers. As such, this report does not directly address any differences in funding that may exist among researchers on the basis of gender, age or other identity factors.

The witnesses discussed a series of challenges and possible solutions to provide balanced funding for research support. First, they focused on the need to increase the overall level of federal support for research in order to better capitalize on the potential of all institutions.

The Committee also looked at the allocation criteria of the granting agencies’ funding programs. It was noted that some programs are not open to colleges or smaller institutions. Several programs allocate funding based on the amounts that institutions previously received, putting smaller institutions at a disadvantage. Although witnesses expressed support for the peer review process, there was some discussion about the criteria used to assess the excellence of funding applications. Some witnesses spoke about possible unconscious bias in favour of larger universities and about traditional evaluation criteria that disadvantage smaller institutions and colleges because they poorly reflect their reality.

The Committee also heard evidence about how difficult it is for small and medium-sized institutions to provide administrative support for research and to fund the necessary infrastructure.

Lastly, witnesses discussed the importance of collaboration between post-secondary institutions, one of the strengths of Canada’s research ecosystem.

Based on the evidence, the Committee provided the federal government with 13 recommendations to ensure that the research funding system most effectively capitalizes on the potential of all post-secondary institutions in Canada.