As every year, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance has invited Canadians to participate in the planning of the 2026 Federal Budget.
The CAP’s Director of Science Policy and Advocacy, James Fraser, in collaboration with the CAP’s Science Policy Committee and input from our institutional partners, sister societies, and the CAP Board of Directors, prepared a strong submission with the following two recommendations:
Recommendation #1: To secure Canada’s future prosperity and sovereignty, we urge the government to make significant investments in the research and development ecosystem. This includes accelerating growth in critical technology sectors—such as clean energy, AI, quantum computing, and advanced biosensing—and bolstering the foundational science that fuels this innovation pipeline. A strategic increase in funding is essential to attract and retain top talent, drive economic competitiveness, and ensure Canada is a leader, not a follower, on the global stage.
Recommendation #2:That the government accelerate the timetable laid out in Budget 2024 for increased investment in the Tri-council agencies’ core grant programming to ensure the younger generation has access to affordable education and Canada’s workforce has the access to the highly skilled workers needed for expanding the innovation economy and increasing productivity.
Click here to view a copy of the CAP’s full brief submitted on Aug. 1, 2025.
Copies of previous briefs and science policy news items can be found on the CAP’s science policy webpage.
If you wish to contact the Science Policy Committee, please contact the CAP’s Director of Science Policy and Advocacy, James Fraser, at james[dot]fraser[at]queensu[dot]ca.