Currently, the world’s major economies are mobilizing unprecedented resources to support research and innovation, and recruit the best talent. Quebec and Canada must resolutely engage in this race.
It’s not easy to be optimistic these days. Reading the news constantly brings us back to the observation that our climatic, political, economic, cultural and social environment is in a worrying state of instability. Considerable transitions are being prepared and will have to be implemented at an accelerated pace.
For some, this combination is a source of deep anxiety. For universities, it is an urgent call to action.
All major countries have realized this: building the world of tomorrow will require major investments in research, the mobilization of knowledge and the creation of national and international networks of expertise.
In the United States, President Joe Biden launched the plan Build Back Betterand the CHIPS and Science Act, with astronomical means amounting to trillions of dollars. In Europe, a green pact will release 600 billion euros for research and innovation in order to tackle climate change. The Horizon Europe programme, a vast scientific collaboration project, is endowed with a fund of 95.5 billion euros. In this respect, we salute the initiative of Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who is starting negotiations with the European Commission for the inclusion of Canada in this ambitious program.
The talent race is on. What about Quebec and Canada?
First, we need to better support master’s and doctoral studies. Within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada ranks first for the post-secondary graduation rate, with 57.7% of graduates among people of working age (25 to 64 years old). ). However, most of our post-secondary graduates come from short programs, rather than graduate studies. Thus, among the 37 member countries, Canada ranks 28e ranking in terms of the number of holders of doctoral degrees (1.1%). A delay that we must try to fill. The stakes are real: graduate students constitute a formidable pool of talent and are at the forefront of research and innovation. They receive a good part of their training by participating in the work of their teachers, in state-of-the-art laboratories and field interventions. Without their contribution, university research and our ability to innovate would be greatly diminished. However, funding for higher education in Canada has stagnated for two decades. It is imperative to increase scholarships and overall research funding.
Next, states, universities and businesses must work together more to create winning conditions to attract and retain the best researchers on the planet.
This requires facilitating access to our research teams for international partners. To facilitate the temporary or permanent immigration of international talents. To play in the big leagues by increasing public and private investment in research and development. Here again, the Canadian lag is significant. Our research and development expenditure currently stands at 1.75% of GDP. In the United States, it is rather 3.07%, in Germany, 3.19%, in Israel, 4.93%, and in France, 2.20%.
Otherwise, the solutions to the most pressing problems of our century will be developed elsewhere, sometimes even by Canadians who have been let go. Northern and Arctic research, essential to fighting climate change and empowering Indigenous peoples, will no longer be Canadian. The digital revolution, based on artificial intelligence, will be piloted by others. Canada’s autonomy in the discovery and production of new drugs and vaccines can no longer be assured.
Finally, we must also rely on innovation and the revitalization of knowledge transfer between universities and other sectors.
History reminds us that after each global crisis, major countries have invested massively in innovation, accelerating the development of new technologies and new know-how. Canadian universities are ready to contribute to this effort. Like the Quebec Strategy for Research and Investment in Innovation (SQRI2), Canadian innovation funding structures must be updated to preserve Canada’s competitive potential in the race for the best ideas and the best talents.
To face the future, we need new ideas, and above all talented people to carry them. Quebec and Canada can be at the forefront of a better world and their universities are a major asset in achieving this.