OCE program waits for decision on future

The Ontario of Centres of Excellence (OCE) program is still waiting for word on its future direction and funding levels with only months remaining in its current contract with the province. The government is reportedly planning to shift the program’s focus more towards commercialization and has received advice on how to proceed. But the current leadership campaign and indecision over what role the OCEs should play in the provincial innovation strategy has cast a cloud over its future.

Few believe the government will actually axe the program. Indeed, the province is reportedly looking favourably on renewing the program for a 10-year period rather than five years, providing much needed continuity. The OCE program is currently operating with $32.2 million over five years beginning January 1/98.

“We’re looking to enhance flexibility and focus a little more on commercialization as well, although the OCEs are already involved in commercialization,” says Tony Vandervoet, acting director of the research, technology and innovation branch of the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology. “The plans are for approval to renew and I feel confident. It would be really nice if we could get a longer term mandate.”

The OCE pushed for a specific role in commercialization two years ago, but the initiative ran into stiff opposition from Ontario’s research-intensive universities. In the end, the government opted instead to provide funding for the indirect costs of university research, a decision that left a sour taste in the mouths of OCE supporters.

Much has changed in the interim. The president/CEOs of three of the four OCEs have changed in recent months, providing the program with an injection of new blood and new ideas. There has also been speculation of a fifth OCE in the area of life science, but the earliest any announcement will take place is the next Budget, due this spring.

“Soon there will be a new premier. Is this a new opportunity to look at the landscape and re-orient programs? If so we’ll look for policy and program instruments to support this,” says Vandervoet. “

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