A 20-year success story: The Canada Foundation for Innovation the transformational impacts of sustained investments in research infrastructure Expanding partnerships across disciplines, sectors and world regions ICRI 2016, October 4 th, Cape Town, South Africa

The story 1.What is the CFI? 2.Intended CFI objectives 3.Intended outcomes 4.Impacts…the “other” outcomes

Canada Foundation for Innovation  Created as an independent Foundation by the Government of Canada in 1997 with a 5-year mandate to: build capacity to undertake world-class research & technology development that benefits Canadians  One-stop shop* for research infrastructure in all areas of research – humanities, science, health, engineering, environment  Governed by Board of Directors representing all sectors of society.

 Provides 40% of research infrastructure capital costs (and since 2012, O&M costs of national research facilities);  Highly competitive funding requiring excellence and institutional commitment  Institutions are the applicants  Proposals must fit within institutional strategic research plans A unique funding model

Enhance the capacity of institutions to:  Conduct world-class research and technology development leading to benefits for Canadians  Attract and retain the world’s top research talent  Train the next generation of researchers  Support private sector innovation and commercialization Intended objectives

State-of-the-art Infrastructure…as reported by Project Leaders Average over the past five years

Outside institution 20,087 users Inside institution 9,027 users Local users 5,270 Provincial users 2,241 National users 2,784 International users 9,792 Users in 2015…

Trainees using CFI funded infrastructure Project leaders consistently credit their infrastructure with having a high or very high impact on the quality of the training environment. 35,251 31,896 29,101 26,638

895 research contracts 1275 collaborative research agreements (acad and ind) Innovation indicators…in consultancies 49 spin-offs >40,000 construction job-years since licensing agreements 272 IP rights

 Redressed a severe research infrastructure deficit in our universities, research hospital and colleges.  Provided unprecedented funding for recruitment and retention of faculty  Allowed institutions and researchers to think big and realize ambitious research aspirations  Enabled new and different kinds of research collaborations and partnerships But the most interesting stories are about successful outcomes and real impacts …more on that later The intended outcomes

Research Infrastructure deficit… research institutions 145 distinct researchers 13,457 > 7,700 > 8,200 PL role PU role * As of the latest public CFI statistics on April 2016 Total investment >$17B

Research infrastructure, from state-of-the-art to… world-class facilities Research infrastructure, from state-of-the-art to… world-class facilities

Attraction and Retention… 98% of the 219 project leaders who reported that they were newly recruited to the institution stated that the availability of CFI- infrastructure was an important factor in their decision to join the institution.

The “other” outcomes The WindEEE Dome

Multidisciplinary initiatives are the norm!

So are multi-institutional initiatives!

The “other” outcomes Platforme de recherche en sciences humaines et sociales, Erudit.org The NCIC Clinical Trials Group Central Operations and Statistics Office The Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics The Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy

The “other” outcomes Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT)

The “other” outcomes Advancing Canadian Wastewater Assets (ACWA)

The “other” outcomes Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC)

The “other” outcomes

The Museum of Anthropology (MOA)

The “other” outcomes The National Centre for Audiology (NCA)

Responding to the needs of the community 91% of respondents state that the CFI is a valuable part of Canada’s science, technology and innovation ecosystem >90% of international members of multidisciplinary assessment committees say they would happily serve again on CFI committees