Ottawa, December 6, 2010 — The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, today announced that the Harper government is fast-tracking innovations from the lab to the marketplace through grants to five new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR). This investment will create jobs and help to foster environments where researchers are able to commercialize their findings to the benefit of Canadians. The five new centres will respectively support microelectronic businesses, regenerative medicine technologies, medical imaging innovations, monitoring technologies used in Canada’s North, and the wireless industry.
"Our government understands that an innovative society and economy depend on creative thinkers whose potential is encouraged and supported," said Minister Clement. "That’s why we are investing in the ideas, products and technologies generated by these Centres of Excellence to create jobs and businesses, help develop highly skilled people, strengthen our economy and position Canada for long-term prosperity."
The MiQro Innovation Collaborative Centre (Bromont, Quebec), the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (Toronto, Ontario), the Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization and Research (London, Ontario), Leading Operational Observations and Knowledge for the North (St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador) and the Wavefront Wireless Commercialization Centre (Vancouver, British Columbia) will share $61.1 million over the next five years to pursue major discoveries and product innovations and bring them to the marketplace. Each of these new centres was selected following a rigorous peer review process involving expert panels and a private sector advisory board.
Dr. Suzanne Fortier, Chair of the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) Steering Committee and President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), said the CECR program plays an integral role in the government’s science and technology (S&T) strategy for a more prosperous, advanced and competitive Canada.
"We welcome these five Centres of Excellence into the NCE family," said Dr. Fortier. "The centres help translate leading-edge research into practical solutions for Canadians, addressing many of our country’s greatest health, environmental, social and economic challenges."
The CECR program is a cornerstone of Canada’s science and S&T strategy, launched by Prime Minister Harper in 2007. The goals of the strategy are to encourage more private sector investment in research and development, to ensure that discoveries are translated into practical applications, to build upon our strong research base to position Canada at the leading edge of discoveries, and to develop, attract and retain the highly skilled people that Canada needs to thrive in the global knowledge-based economy.
More information on each new Centre of Excellence is provided in the attached backgrounder.
For further information (media only), please contact:
|
Lynn Meahan |
Kelly Nolan |
|
|
