The Canada Foundation has awarded $328.5 million into 17 research facilities at 12 universities across the country, leveraging $492.75 million for a total of $821.25 million. The funding was made through the CFI’s Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund, a key mechanism for operations and maintenance (O&M) support of major science facilities.
The successful projects were selected from a field of 41 applicants.[rs_related_article slug="CFI announces results of special $25-million competition for major science facilities"]
The competition is the third held under MSI, which was created in 2010 by the previous Conservative government. In 2012, $177 million was up for grabs, while a special competition in 2014 provided $25 million. That funding came from interest on CFI funding that was provided by the former Liberal government during a period when CFI was not funded on an as-needed basis.
[rs_related_article slug="CFI seeking predictable funding as it rolls out initiatives under new strategic roadmap"]Compute Canada, the Canadian Light Source and Ocean Networks Canada received the largest awards, representing 50% of the competition total (see chart).
The MSI program is a key component of the CFI’s efforts to take a systematic approach for evaluating and addressing the O&M funding needs and the scientific performance of national “big science” research facilities.[rs_related_article slug="Office of National Science Advisor sends science framework out for consultation"]
The creation of the MSI program capped years of advocacy by major facilities such as the Canadian Light Source and TRIUMF, and was the subject of a 2005 framework developed by the Office of the National Science Advisor. That was followed up two years later by a position paper jointly written by the CFI, National Research Council and the three federal granting councils.
[rs_related_article slug="Big science operating costs resurface after two years in policy limbo"]
CFI MSI Competition 2017-2022 |
||
---|---|---|
Compute Canada | Western Univ | 69.5 |
Canadian Light Source Inc | Univ of Saskatchewan | 48.0 |
Ocean Networks Canada | Univ of Victoria | 46.6 |
Canada’s Genomics Enterprise | Hospital for Sick Children | 32.0 |
SNOLAB Facility Operations | Queen’s Univ | 28.6 |
International Vaccine Centre | Univ of Saskatchewan | 19.3 |
Research Icebreaker Amundsen | Laval Univ | 18.2 |
Centre for Phenogemomics | Mount Sinai Hospital | 15.4 |
Ocean Tracking Network | Dalhousie Univ | 11.4 |
Cancer Trials Group & Statistics Centre | Queen’s Univ | 8.7 |
National Design Network | Queen’s Univ | 7.0 |
Canadian Research Data Centre Network | McMaster Univ | 5.9 |
Metabolics Innovation Centre | Univ of Alberta | 6.0 |
Research Platform in Human and
Social Sciences |
Univ of Montreal | 4.1 |
Centre for Electron Microscopy | McMaster Univ | 3.8 |
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for
Environmental Radionuclides |
Univ of Ottawa | 2.6 |
Super Dual Auroral Radar Network | Univ of Saskatchewan | 1.6 |
R$