Le 5 avril 2002

Allan Rock announces $2.4 million Canada Research Chairs in Queen's University

KINGSTON, Ontario - The Honourable Peter Milliken, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands welcomed the announcement today of Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and minister responsible for the Canada Research Chairs, $2.4 million in federal funding for Canada Research Chairs in Queen's University as part of the federal government's ongoing commitment to investments in research and development (R & D).

Queen's University will receive $2.4 million to support three new Chairs as well as $406,250 in infrastructure funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

"Investment in people, ideas and knowledge infrastructure through initiatives such as the Canada Research Chairs and the Canada Foundation for Innovation is more vital than ever," said Peter Milliken. "I warmly congratulate all recipients."

On March 28, Minister Rock announced an investment of $94.6 million to fund 88 new Canada Research Chairs across the country. This announcement marks a milestone and brings the total number of chairs in Canada to over 500, one quarter of the goal of 2000 Chairs by 2005.

"Investments in university research build Canada's innovation performance," said Minister Rock. "The Canada Research Chairs Program provides exciting opportunities for Canadian researchers and attracts the world's best research minds to Canadian universities. This is key to Canada remaining competitive in the global, knowledge economy."

Budget 2000 allocated $900 million to the Canada Research Chairs Program to help Canadian universities attract and retain the best researchers and achieve research excellence in the natural sciences and engineering, health sciences, and social sciences and humanities. 

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent, not-for-profit corporation established by the Government of Canada in 1997 to address an urgent need of Canada's research community: new, state-of-the-art research infrastructure. The CFI has been entrusted with $250 million to be dedicated to the infrastructure needs identified by the Canada Research Chairs. 

Last month, the Government of Canada launched Canada's Innovation Strategy, two papers that lay out a plan to address skills and innovation challenges for the next decade. The paper released by Industry Minister Rock was entitled Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity. It proposes goals, targets and priorities for Canada over the next decade to: create knowledge and bring ideas to market more quickly; ensure a skilled workforce in the new economy; modernize business and regulatory policies while protecting the public interest; and, strengthen communities by supporting innovation at the local level. Today's announcement supports this strategy.

For more information about Canada's Innovation Strategy or to obtain a copy of either Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians or Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity, please call 
1-800-0-CANADA (1-800-622-6232) or visit http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca

For more information, visit the Canada Research Chairs Web site at: http://www.chairs.gc.ca/, and the Canada Foundation for Innovation Web site at: http://www.innovation.ca/, or contact:

Natalie Beaudoin 
Canada Research Chairs 
(613) 995-3205 
communications@chairs.gc.ca 

Sheila Thurlow
Canada Foundation for Innovation
(613) 996-3160
sheila.thurlow@innovation.ca