Canada Must Rebuild Its National Research System

by Maj (ret’d) CORNELIU, CHISU, CD, PMSC FEC, CET, P.Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Canada has no shortage of scientific talent. Our universities produce respected research, our laboratories contain highly qualified scientists and engineers, and Canadian entrepreneurs continue to develop promising technologies. Yet Canada too often fails to convert this intellectual strength into lasting economic power, industrial capacity and national resilience. The problem is not simply a lack of money. It is the absence of a coherent national research system. Canadian research is spread across universities, federal departments, granting councils, provincial institutions, private companies and numerous temporary programs. Each part may perform valuable work, but the overall system is fragmented. Priorities are frequently changed, programs overlap, promising discoveries struggle to move beyond the laboratory, and Canadian intellectual property is often commercialized elsewhere. Canada needs to revive and restructure its approach to research. At the centre of that reform should be a renewed and strengthened National Research Council of Canada, or NRC The NRC was established to help build Canadian scientific and industrial capacity. Over its long history, it has contributed to advances in aerospace, construction, health, communications, manufacturing and many other fields. It possesses laboratories, technical expertise, research centres and close relationships with industry. However, the NRC is no longer positioned strongly enough to lead a national research effort. It operates within a system containing many agencies and departments, each with its own mandate, budget and administrative structure. Canada has created numerous research programs, but it has not created a powerful mechanism to coordinate them around major national objectives. The NRC should be given that responsibility and the power to realize it. This does not mean that the NRC should control every university laboratory or determine what every scientist studies. Fundamental research must remain open, creative and independent. Many important discoveries emerge precisely because researchers are free to explore questions without knowing where the answers will lead. But freedom in scientific discovery is not incompatible with national purpose. Canada must identify the technologies and capabilities that are essential to its future. These include artificial intelligence, advanced nuclear energy, quantum science, biotechnology, aerospace, Arctic technologies, cybersecurity, critical-mineral processing, food security, advanced manufacturing, defence research, clean energy and climate adaptation. More than mere academic subjects, these issues affect Canada’s economic independence, public safety, national defence and competitiveness in a rapidly changing world. The NRC should become the principal technical and coordinating institution for a long-term Canadian research and technology strategy; A strategy developed in conjunction with the federal government, provinces, universities, Indigenous communities, industry and the scientific community. The strategic plan should cover at least ten years and be updated regularly, not be rebuilt after every election or budget cycle. The government should establish a limited number of national research missions, with each mission having clear objectives, stable funding and measurable results. Sample Canadian missions could include: · to become a world leader in small modular reactor technology and nuclear-fuel recycling. · to develop technologies for the Arctic, including communications, transportation, surveillance, energy and infrastructure suitable for northern conditions. Other missions could address domestic vaccine production, critical-mineral refining, agricultural resilience or Canadian artificial-intelligence capabilities. The NRC should coordinate the laboratories, technical personnel and testing facilities required to advance these missions. One of the greatest weaknesses in Canada’s current system is the gap between discovery and production. A university researcher may develop a promising technology, but the project can stall before reaching a prototype, demonstration plant or commercial application. At that stage, foreign investors or corporations may acquire the idea, move the intellectual property abroad and develop the product elsewhere. Canada then celebrates the discovery but imports the finished technology. A stronger NRC should provide the bridge between research and commercialization. It should help promising projects with engineering, testing, certification, regulation, intellectual-property protection, pilot manufacturing and access to investment. It should work closely with Canadian small and medium-sized companies, which often possess good ideas but lack the capital and facilities needed to bring them to market. Publicly funded research should also produce a greater public benefit. When taxpayers finance major discoveries, governments should ensure that Canada retains meaningful access to the resulting technology. This does not require excessive state control, but it may require conditions related to Canadian intellectual property, domestic production, national-security review and continued Canadian participation. Canada must also modernize its scientific infrastructure. Many research facilities are aging, while access to expensive equipment is uneven. The NRC should oversee a national network of laboratories, pilot plants, secure computing centres and testing facilities available to universities and Canadian businesses. This network should be distributed across the country. Atlantic Canada could concentrate on oceans, fisheries and marine technology. Quebec could build further on aerospace, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. Ontario could expand its strengths in nuclear science, automobiles, health research and engineering. The Prairies could lead in agriculture, biotechnology and food security. Alberta could advance energy technologies and carbon management. British Columbia could expand clean technology, forestry and ocean research. Northern research centres should support Arctic sovereignty and Indigenous-led development. A national strategy must also address the loss of talent. Canada educates outstanding scientists, engineers and graduate students, but many leave for countries offering better laboratories, more ambitious projects and clearer career opportunities. Short-term grants and temporary positions cannot sustain a serious research system. Canada must provide stable scientific careers and allow talented researchers to participate in projects of national significance. The federal granting councils should continue to support fundamental and investigator-led research. Their independence is important. However, Canada needs a clearer distinction between basic science, mission-oriented research, industrial development and strategic technology. At present, these activities are often mixed together without sufficient coordination. A National Research and Technology Council should therefore be created at the highest level of government. It should include the NRC, the federal chief science adviser, granting councils, provinces, universities, industry and specialists in defence, health, energy and agriculture. The NRC should serve as its operational arm. Progress should be reported annually to Parliament. Canadians should be told how many publicly supported technologies reached commercial production, how much intellectual property remained in Canada, how many companies were created, what facilities were built and whether Canada’s strategic dependence on foreign technology was reduced. Research policy cannot be measured only by the number of grants awarded or academic papers published. Those indicators matter, but they are not enough. Canada must also measure whether research produces Canadian companies, Canadian manufacturing, secure supply chains, better public services and greater national resilience. Canada is entering an era of intense technological competition. Countries are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, defence, energy, biotechnology, semiconductors and space. Scientific capacity is now inseparable from national power. Canada cannot afford to remain a country that produces excellent ideas but lacks the institutional strength to develop them fully. The answer is not to politicize science or restrict academic freedom. The answer is to combine independent discovery with strategic coordination and national ambition. Canada needs freedom in research, discipline in execution and determination in commercialization. A revitalized National Research Council can provide the leadership required to connect our scientists, universities, industries and governments. Rebuilding the NRC, Canada can transform knowledge into capability, innovation into industry and scientific excellence into a stronger and more independent nation.