OTTAWA, November 6, 2025 –
Federal Budget 2025, tabled Tuesday Nov. 4, boosts support for “mission-driven” innovation while largely preserving previous commitments to foundational research.
The Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) applauds the budget’s major strategic investments in advanced technology sectors, essential to economic growth and improved productivity. The CAP is also relieved that previous commitments to foundational research were largely upheld, with only a 2% reduction to core funding. However, the Association notes that any reduction to foundational science, however small, risks eroding the discovery pipeline that fuels all future innovation.
Strategic Investments
The budget makes a clear and welcome commitment to supporting the development of high-growth technologies:
- Artificial Intelligence: A major $925.6 million investment over five years will be used to build a sovereign public AI infrastructure.
- Quantum Technology: The new Defence Industrial Strategy allocates $334.3 million over five years to strengthen the domestic quantum sector.
- Talent Recruitment: A $1.7 billion suite of measures is aimed at recruiting top international researchers, including $1 billion for an accelerated research Chairs initiative, $133.6 million for international doctoral students and post-docs, and $400 million to the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to provide them with the necessary tools.
Continuing Commitment for Foundational Science
In pre-budget consultations, CAP (and other organizations) emphasized the importance of staying the course charted by the 2024 Budget, in particular to provide much needed stipend increases to researcher-supported students and postdoctoral fellows. The 2% cut to the core operational budgets of NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC, as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, is much smaller than reductions faced by other government programs, and preserves most of the $1.8 billion funding increase promised in the April 2024 budget.
The reduction of study permits for international students in the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan initially raised concerns. However, the CAP is encouraged by reports that the government intends to move graduate students outside of this cap and accelerate their visa review process. This move, combined with new investments to attract international PhD, postdoctoral fellows and researchers, signals that Canada is putting out the welcome mat for top-tier research talent from around the world, and is serious about pursuing a global leadership position in scientific discovery and innovation.
CAP Outlook
Canada’s leadership in AI and quantum was built on decades of NSERC-funded discovery research. While the CAP applauds the strategic focus on innovation, this strategy is only sustainable if we also protect the foundational research and the student pipeline that make those innovations possible.
The full text of the 2025 Federal Budget “Our Plan: Building Canada Strong” is available on the Government of Canada’s website.