Prepared by: Robert Merson, March 29, 2012
Strengthening and leveraging the private sector as a key player in advancing innovation was a primary theme of the Canadian federal budget, presented March 29, 2012. The announcement to eliminate the penny from Canadian currency was also a point of interest.
Existing funding programs received increased investment, a total of $37M across the tri- councils and $60M for Genome Canada. The National Research Council was provided with $67M to support the transition from an institute model over to a program model.
Industry will benefit from a doubling of IRAP investment to $110M per year and the investment of $500M in venture capital. Changes to the SR&ED’s program will ultimately generate a savings of $35M per year as a result of a lower eligible rate of claim
