Federal Science and Technology: The Pursuit of Excellence

1.1 What Federal Science and Technology Entails

Science and technology (S&T;) activities within the federal government are crucial to the ability of departments and agencies to serve the public interest. S&T; informs the formulation of policy, the establishment of appropriate standards and limits for regulation, and the anticipation of the impacts of various courses of action. Federal S&T; also provides the basis for services to Canadians, such as weather forecasting and advice on food safety, and brings to life new ideas and technologies with global implications, such as broadband, the heart pacemaker, and telecommunications satellites.

S&T; activities, as defined by Statistics Canada and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, consist of two related components: research and development (R&D;); and non-research activities (related scientific activities, or RSA), such as the scientific assessment of products and data analysis.

The federal government invested more than $8.5 billion in S&T; in 2003–04, including both R&D; and RSA (details of this investment can be found in Table 1). S&T; activities to meet federal mandates and responsibilities are performed internally by science-based departments and agencies, or are performed externally with federal funding. Federal investment in S&T; also extends to the funding provided by federal granting agencies (1) and foundations for university-based research. Science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) employ scientific researchers and workers from a variety of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, engineering, and technology, and maintain institutes, laboratories, field stations, and offices across the country.

Science and Technology for the New Century, released in March 1996, marked a turning point in federal S&T.; This strategy challenged the community to examine new and different ways of doing business. The key priorities under the strategy were creating value for Canadians, serving the public interest, and collaborating better across departments and with the other players in the science and innovation systems.

The 1996 federal S&T; strategy set up a system of governance founded on the principle that individual ministers should be responsible for the science directly related to their mandates. Individual ministers needed to retain the authority over, and accountability for, those scientific activities.

The 1996 strategy has served as an important catalyst for improving federal S&T; performance. Its principles continue to be relevant as the demands placed on federal S&T; change and evolve. As a result of the strategy, federal government scientists and researchers have forged stronger links with each other, as well as with the broader Canadian and international S&T; communities. The governance and advisory mechanisms put in place as a result of the strategy have helped shape new ways of doing business for federal S&T.;

The establishment of the Council of Science and Technology Advisors (CSTA) in 1998, in particular, has provided a valuable independent and external perspective on the government’s approach to S&T.; Its first report on science advice formed the basis of the federal Framework for Science and Technology Advice. Subsequent advice from the CSTA has focussed on other aspects related to promoting excellence in federally performed S&T.;

These reports also provided thoughtful analysis of the evolving context for federal S&T.; It is a context characterized by:

• rapid changes in S&T; knowledge and capacity worldwide;
• an aging workforce;
• competing demands for government resources to attract a new generation of scientists and researchers and to upgrade facilities and equipment; and
• increasing public expectations for S&T; to provide the answers to complex challenges that reach across jurisdictions and disciplines, such as climate change, stem-cell research, food safety, national security and epidemic-disease threats.

1. Three granting agencies are involved in funding S&T;: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.