Federal budget provides new funding for universities

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January 27, 2009

Tuesday's federal budget recognized the important role that universities play in driving Canada's economic innovation and development.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced $2 billion dollars in funding for deferred maintenance at Canadian universities and colleges as part of the federal infrastructure renewal plan, along with new support for research.

“Deferred maintenance is a significant challenge at McMaster and at all other universities,”says president Peter George. “Having new, one-time resources that are ear-marked for maintenance projects will help us upgrade classrooms, research facilities and equipment. Many of these projects can be started very quickly and the investment through the economic stimulus package will create new employment opportunities for Hamilton.”

The details of how the program will work or how many dollars individual institutions could receive will likely be released over the next few weeks.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has already committed to matching these infrastructure dollars.

Federal support for research has also been the focus of advocacy work by universities, including McMaster. The budget outlined an additional $750 million for current and future projects through the Canada Foundation for Innovation along with an additional $87.5 million over the next three years for the federal granting councils.

The Canada Graduate Scholarships program, which supports Canada's top graduate students, will be able to provide 500 more doctoral scholarships and an additional 1,000 master's scholarships through to 2010/11. Increased funding of $3.5 million for the Industrial Research and Development Internship program will provide an additional 600 graduate internships in science and business.

George says, “The new funding provides many opportunities and we will continue to work closely with our federal, provincial and municipal partners to make sure that McMaster and Hamilton are in the strongest possible position to access the new funds as they become available.”