C A N A D A F O U N D A T I O N F O R I N N O V A T I O N

REPORT ON RESULTS2019

An annual summar y of project outputs and outcomes

C a n a d a F o u n d a t i o n f o r I n n o v a t i o n | i i

What is the Canada Foundation for Innovation? The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) makes financial contributions to Canada’s universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research organizations to increase their capability to carry out high-quality research.

Research supported by the CFI is helping build communities across Canada. That’s because the CFI gives researchers the tools they need to think big and innovate. And a robust innovation system translates into jobs and new enterprises, better health, cleaner environments and, ultimately, vibrant communities. By investing in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, the CFI also helps to attract and retain the world’s top talent, to train the next generation of researchers and to support world-class research that strengthens the economy and improves the quality of life for all Canadians.

Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed almost $8 billion in support of 10,771 projects at 154 research institutions in 75 municipalities across Canada (as of March 31, 2019). For more information about the CFI, please visit Innovation.ca.

C a n a d a F o u n d a t i o n f o r I n n o v a t i o n | i i i

THE REPORT ON RESULTS

The purpose of the report on results is to provide a summary

of the outputs and outcomes achieved through CFI-funded

infrastructure as they relate to the overall objectives of the CFI,

based on information provided through annual project progress

reports (PPR). The PPR is an online questionnaire which is completed

by the researcher leading a CFI-funded project and submitted by

the host institution after the infrastructure becomes operational.

Institutions are required to submit a PPR for each funded project by

June 30 each year, for four or five years depending on the award

value. The data collected pertains only to the CFI’s past fiscal year

(April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019). Data is self-reported, and not

independently  verified.

For information on the composition of the 2019 PPR sample,

see the Appendix.

C a n a d a F o u n d a t i o n f o r I n n o v a t i o n | i v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 ATTRACTING AND RETAINING WORLD-CLASS RESEARCHERS1 Researcher attraction2 Researcher retention

3 DEVELOPING HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL3 Trainees using infrastructure4 Quality of training environment5 Highlyqualifiedpersonnelemployment

6 CAPACITY FOR WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH 6 Operationandmaintenance7 Infrastructurequalityandusefullife8 Infrastructure use9 Sharing research results

10 PRODUCTIVE NETWORKS AND COLLABORATION 10 Productivecollaborations11 Research agreements

12 ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOB CREATION12 From research to innovation13 Newjobs

14 BENEFITS TO CANADIANS14 Arangeofbenefits15 Users of research outcomes

16 CHALLENGES 16 Most common factors limiting research

17 APPENDIX17 Compositionofthe2019projectprogressreportsample

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ATTRACTING AND RETAINING WORLD-CLASS RESEARCHERS

Researcher attractionAmong the 207 newly recruited researchers leading CFI-funded projects, 98% indicated that CFI-funded infrastructure positively influenced their decision to join their institution. A little over 50% of new recruits (of Canadian or non-Canadian citizenship) were in foreign countries at the time of their hiring, suggesting that CFI-funded infrastructure contributed to attracting international talent and internationally trained Canadian talent. New recruits that were already in Canada (47%) came from all sectors but were predominantly from academia.

Canada98 (47%)

University/college/

research hospital

86 (88%)

Other public6 (6%)

Private6 (6%)

Foreign countries109 (53%)

Foreign46 (42%)

Canadian63 (58%)

CITIZENSHIPSECTORS

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Researcher retention94% of researchers leading CFI-funded projects indicated that CFI-funded infrastructure was important in their decision to remain at their institution. Infrastructure funding helped retain researchers from all disciplines.

417

1,038

87

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Contribution to researcher retention

% o

f p

roje

cts

Very importantSomewhat important

Engineering20% (296)

Environment 7% (110)

Health50% (721)

Science17% (243)

Social sciences& humanities

6% (85)

RESEARCHERS RETAINED BY AREA OF APPLICATION

Not at all important

DE

VE

LO

PIN

G H

IGH

LY

QU

AL

IFIE

D P

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SO

NN

EL

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DEVELOPING HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL

Trainees using infrastructure96% of researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported that CFI-funded infrastructure was a key resource for the next generation of researchers.

30,041 postdoctoral fellows and higher education students had the opportunity to expand their research skills using CFI-funded infrastructure. Of those, 50% used the infrastructure for the first time in 2019.

2,167

100 first-time users

100 repeat users

3,761

3,584

6,062

3,513

3,354

5,780

1,820

Postdoctoral fellows

Doctoral students

Master’s students

Undergraduate students

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Quality of training environment92% of researchers leading CFI-funded projects credited their CFI-funded infrastructure with having a high or very high impact on the quality of the training environment. The data is relatively consistent across all areas of application except social sciences and humanities where ratings are lower.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TOTAL

Engineering

Environment

Health

Science

Social sciences& humanities

Impact on the quality of the training environment (% of projects)

Are

a o

f ap

plic

atio

n

Very high High Medium Low/very low

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Highly qualified personnel employmentA total of 2,040 postdoctoral fellows and graduate students using the infrastructure last year completed their training and moved into the workforce. Among them, 82% (1,674) secured employment in Canada, the majority (61%) of whom joined the private sector.

507

132 118

336

9674

184

175

52

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

Private University/college/

research hospital

Public/non-profit

# o

f tr

aine

es

Postdoctoral fellowsDoctoral studentsMaster’s students

1,027 (61%)

403 (24%)

244 (15%)

Sector of employment in Canada

1,200

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CAPACITY FOR WORLD-CLASS RESEARCH

Operation and maintenance87% of researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported that they had both adequate financial and human resources for the operation and maintenance of their CFI-funded infrastructure.

Diverse funding sources, including research contracts and user fees, contribute to the sustainability of the infrastructure.

CFI (Infrastructure

OperatingFund)

Institutionalfunds

Federalgov’t

Provincialgov’t

Foreigngov’t

Municipalgov’t

Researchcontracts

User/service fees

Consulting

# o

f pro

ject

s

Grants or awards

Revenues

Source of funding

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

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Infrastructure quality and useful life The quality of CFI-funded infrastructure was highly rated overall, with 87% of highly specialized research equipment reported as state-of-the-art.

411

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1,226

180

2

Highly specializedresearch

equipment

423

11

Computinghardware or

software

194

251

15

Researchspace

70

125

15

Building(s)

% o

f p

roje

cts

State-of-the-art

Useful

Obsolete

Infrastructure quality

Rem

aini

ng

usef

ul li

fe(y

ears

)

8.0 8.3 4.1 13.6 20.2

380

494

Non-specialized/standard research

equipment

2

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Infrastructure use85% of researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported that their CFI-funded infrastructure was used to maximum capacity. Overall, 21,224 researchers (excluding students, postdoctoral fellows and technical and professional personnel) advanced their research using CFI-funded infrastructure.

The majority of international infrastructure users were from the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and China.

Provincial1,546 users

Local3,344 users

International4,364 users

National3,940 users

TOTAL 21,224 users

INSIDE INSTITUTION8,030 users

OUTSIDE INSTITUTION13,194 users

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Sharing research resultsConference, symposium and workshop presentations are the most frequent type of research output reported, closely followed by peer-reviewed publications.

Reporting year 5 (7 projects)50%

100%

Presentations Peer-reviewedpublications

Research or technical

reports

Books Reference or training tools/

materials

Internetpublishing

0%

% o

f pro

ject

s w

ith

at le

ast o

ne o

utp

ut

Type of research outputs

0%

50%

100% Reporting year 1 (433 projects)

0%

Reporting year 2 (377 projects)

50%

100%

Reporting year 3 (378 projects)50%

100%

Reporting year 4 (419 projects)

0%

50%

100%

0%

Noresearchoutputs

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PRODUCTIVE NETWORKS AND COLLABORATION

Productive collaborationsResearchers have made use of CFI-funded infrastructure to enable external research collaborations that resulted in traditional academic activities and outputs. The most common is conference presentations with 6,036 reported by 718 researchers leading CFI-funded projects.

Among researchers leading CFI-funded projects that indicated external collaborations, 22% reported engaging in all four types, suggesting CFI-funded infrastructure enables broad and varied collaboration.

5,194(849)

Peer-reviewedpublications

6,036 collaborations(718 projects)

Conference presentations

1,647(627)

Funded grants or awards

1,504(554)

Grant or award applications

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

# o

f co

llab

ora

tio

ns

Reporting year 1

Reporting year 2

Reporting year 3

Reporting year 4

Type of external research collaborations

Reporting year 5

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Research agreementsCFI-funded infrastructure facilitated new formal collaborative research agreements in 33% of projects, for a total of 2,016 agreements.

The private sector was the most often identified sector for both consultancies and research contracts while the academic sector was most frequently reported for collaborative research.

132 consultancies(7%)

1,172 collaborativeresearch agreements

(58%)

712 research contracts

(35%)

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ECONOMIC GROWTH AND JOB CREATION

From research to innovationCFI-funded infrastructure has contributed to the development of new intellectual property and the creation of new companies.

167 researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported at least one of the six types of research outcomes below.

241provisional

patents

134patentsgranted

43spin-off

companies

1copyright

2industrialdesigns

42projects

reported licensing

agreements

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New jobs29% of researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported one or more jobs created due to CFI-funded infrastructure.

Just under two-thirds of all jobs created were within the host institutions. 72% of the 561 jobs created outside the institution were in the private sector.

Private

# o

f jo

bs

crea

ted

out

sid

e ho

st in

stit

utio

n

University/college/

research hospital

Otherpublic

Non-profit

Within institution848 jobs

Outside the institution

561 jobs

Sector

0

100

200

300

400

500

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BENEFITS TO CANADIANS

A range of benefitsAlmost half (49%) of all researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported at least one type of benefit, highlighting the role of CFI-funded infrastructure in enabling research that produces outcomes for Canadians.

0

100

200

300

400

500

# o

f pro

ject

s

New/revised process, model

or plan

Public education,cultural

enrichment

New/improvedproduct

or service

New/revisedpolicy, regulation,

bill or program

Type of benefits

Among the benefits outlined:

Wireless power system for autonomous fast charging of electric cars, buses, trams and trains.

Phone app that mimics the hippocampus to aid memory gaps in people at risk for Alzheimer’s.

Increased safety for recreationists at a BC ski resort through the provision of high mountain weather conditions.

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Users of research outcomesOverall, the most frequently reported user group benefiting from the research results was the private sector, followed by public and semi-public organizations and institutions. Research users varied by area of application of the research; for example engineering projects tended to benefit the private sector most while research on the environment tended to benefit the federal, provincial and/or municipal governments.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

TOTAL

Engineering

Environment

Health

Science

Social sciences& humanities

% by user group

Are

a o

f ap

plic

atio

n

Private-sector enterprise/industryFed., prov., & municipal gov'tPublic and semi-public org./institution

Professional or industrial assoc. & practitionersGeneral publicCharitable or non-profit org. & community group

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CHALLENGES

Most common factors limiting researchTwo-thirds of the researchers leading CFI-funded projects reported one or more factors limiting the quality and impact of the research enabled by the infrastructure. The most common factor reported was funding support for the direct costs of research.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

% o

f p

roje

cts

Funding/support fordirect costsof research

Recruitment/retention of

trainees

Updating andupgrading ofequipment/

space-relatedissues

Acquiringequipment

and becomingoperational

Funding/support for

O&M

Administrationof CFI

contributions

1 or more challenges faced1,061 projects

No challenges faced

553 projects

Factor limiting research

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AP

PE

ND

IX

*InnovationFundtype:Innovation Fund 2015/2017, Leading Edge Fund 2012 and New Initiatives Fund 2009/2012.

JohnR.EvansLeadersFund(JELF)type:Leaders Opportunity Fund (LOF)–$1M to $2M, LOF–CRC, LOF–NSERC,

LOF–SSHRC, JELF–Funding for research infrastructure, JELF–CRC, JELF–CERC, JELF–NSERC and JELF–SSHRC.

Otherfunds: Research Hospital Fund–Large Scale Institutional Endeavors 2006, 2013 Digging into Data Challenge,

Cyberinfrastructure Initiative–Challenge 1 and Exceptional Opportunities Fund 2015.

APPENDIX

Composition of the 2019 project progress report sample

237

153

4236

590436

23

BC

AB

SKMB

ONQC

NBNS

PEI

NL

83 institutions

0

100

200

300

400

500

1 2 3 4 5

# o

f pro

ject

s

Reporting year

0

100

200

300

400

500

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

# o

f pro

ject

s

Year awarded

JELF95%

Projects by $ awarded

*Fund

JELF93%

<200k67%

200k–1M

28%

10M–20M0.1%

4M–10M1% 1M–4M

4%

1,614reports received and included in analysis

48% Health

20% Engineering

17%Science

8%Environment

6%Social sciences & humanities

Projects by Fund

2017

n=1

Projects by area of application

3066

1

Other0.4%

InnovationFund7%

>20M0.1%