Breaking Down The 2009 Ontario Budget

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By Maria Cootauco

While harmonized taxes were the talk of the town when the 2009 Ontario Budget was announced on March 26, universities, research institutes and enterprising innovators cheered from the sidelines when it came down to the $715 million budget for research and innovation. It also offers more than $110 million in additional tax relief to support Ontario Innovation.

This new allotment of money is in addition to the $3 billion over eight years already committed through the Ontario Innovation Agenda. The government will provide $400 million over the next five years to the Ontario Research Fund for investment in research infrastructure and research excellence.

As well, the Ontario government will be investing $250 million over five years for the Emerging Technologies Fund to drive start-up investment in green technology companies and other high tech businesses.

Green technology seems to be on everyone’s minds lately, and that field will receive $30 million annually to support Ontario’s innovative green technology companies by providing initial purchases of their products and by showcasing and demonstrating the effectiveness of those products to potential customers here and around the world.

The biomedical field was recognized in the budget, as it will receive $100 million in additional operating funds over four years for research performed in the biomedical field, focusing on genomics and gene-related research. The Ontario Genomics Institute will receive $5 million.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will be given $1.5 million to plan the development of new agri-food research centres focused on livestock and crop production, renewable energy, nutrition and health.

Ontario universities and colleges have a lot to gain from this year’s budget - $780 million in capital funding to be exact – which will do its part to alleviate the pressures facing institutions of higher learning. Over the past two years, schools have been challenged by enrolment pressures that affect the government’s ability to augment per student funding. As part of the budget, the government will channel $150 million in operating relief funding for 2008-2009 for colleges and universities.

“The economy will recover and government revenues will grow again,” said Professor David Naylor, president of the University of Toronto. “This budget, released in extraordinary circumstances, signals the government’s continued commitment to universities and to research and innovation.”

The budget includes $35 million in capital investment for the creation of 100 new spaces for medical students in universities across the province.

While the allocation of the spaces has yet to be determined, the University of Western Ontario’s president Paul Davenport expects the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in London and the satellite campus at the University of Windsor to receive a share of the funding for expansion.

Schulich dean Carol Herbert says that the investment in medical spaces will help ease Ontario’s doctor shortage problem.
“We are very pleased to be able to expand the number of physicians graduating from Schulich who will help meet health human resource needs for southwestern Ontario,” she added.

As part of its commitment to a “knowledge-based economy”, the province also committed $10 million to expanding graduate fellowships to help students pursue higher levels of education.

“A key factor in recruiting graduate students is providing the students themselves with support for their living and university expenses, so we are grateful for this commitment,” Davenport said. “We are strong supporters of the McGuinty government’s vision for the future of Ontario as driven by a knowledge-based economy. The importance of education and research is fundamental to our economic health today and will be even more so in the future.”

Additionally, the government will provide $300 million over six years for research infrastructure, which is meant to leverage recent federal investments in the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and an additional $100 million in funds over four years for biomedical research.