On behalf of Queen’s University, I thank the Government of Canada for its continuing support of science, innovation and post-secondary education in Canada. Universities such as Queen’s play a critical role in supporting Canada’s prosperity by creating a highly skilled workforce and fostering innovation and discovery.

I note the government’s commitment to cultivating an innovative economy, including through an investment of nearly $1 billion in innovation clusters. Research universities such as Queen’s serve as anchors to virtually all globally competitive innovative clusters and we look forward to working with the federal government more closely. And we look forward with interest to further details on the Canada 150 Research chairs program.

Budget 2017 also makes significant investments in improving access to post-secondary education and training for adult learners returning to school, part-time students, students with dependent children, veterans and Indigenous students. The government has also included a number of measures in the budget that will have a significant impact on women, including through creating more opportunities in the workforce and promoting inclusive economic growth.

Queen’s also welcomes the federal government’s additional investment of $221 million over five years to create 10,000 work-integrated learning opportunities through Mitacs, as well as the government’s commitment to work with the provinces, the private sector, and postsecondary institutions to support skills development.

We look forward to further details of these programs, and to the release of the much anticipated fundamental science review.

Daniel Woolf,
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
Queen’s University