Highlights from Budget 2015

April 21, 2015

Finance Minister Joe Oliver today tabled the 2015 federal budget. Below are some highlights of interest to the Canadian library community:

Canada150

Supporting activities and events to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017, with $210 million over four years, starting in 2015–16.

In 2017, Canada will mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation. This milestone will provide an opportunity to celebrate Canada’s history, heritage, values and future. To mark this event, Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $210 million over four years, starting in 2015–16, to support activities, events and celebrations across Canada.

Funding will be used to support local community events such as festivals and concerts, enhanced Canada Day celebrations in the National Capital Region and other major Canadian cities, and other national initiatives, such as Rendez-vous naval 2017, that will unite Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

Creating a new dedicated infrastructure fund to support the renovation, expansion and improvement of existing community infrastructure in all regions of the country as part of the Canada 150 celebrations.

Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to create a new dedicated infrastructure fund to support the renovation, expansion and improvement of existing community infrastructure in all regions of the country. These new investments, which will be cost-shared with municipalities, community organizations and not-for-profit entities, will support projects that celebrate our shared heritage, create jobs and improve the quality of life of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. The Government will announce further details on the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program over the coming months.

Copyright

Introducing amendments to the Copyright Act that will enable Canada to implement and accede to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.

The ability to access printed information is essential to prepare for and participate in Canada’s economy, society and job market. According to Statistics Canada, approximately 1 million Canadians live with blindness or partial sight. The Government will propose amendments to the Copyright Act to implement and accede to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (the Marrakesh Treaty). Aligning Canada’s copyright limitations and exceptions with the international standard established by the Marrakesh Treaty would enable Canada to accede to this international agreement. Once the treaty is in force, as a member country, Canadians would benefit from greater access to adapted materials.

Proposing changes to the Copyright Act to extend the term of protection of sound recordings and performances.

The mid-1960s were an exciting time in Canadian music, producing many iconic Canadian performers and recordings. While songwriters enjoy the benefits flowing from their copyright throughout their lives, some performers are starting to lose copyright protection for their early recordings and performances because copyright protection for song recordings and performances following the first release of the sound recording is currently provided for only 50 years.

Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to amend the Copyright Act to extend the term of protection of sound recordings and performances from 50 to 70 years following the first release of the sound recording. This will ensure that performers and record labels are fairly compensated for the use of their music for an additional 20 years.

Modernize Canada’s intellectual property framework to help innovators better protect their intellectual property.

Building on these measures, Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to further modernize Canada’s intellectual property framework to keep pace with internationally recognized best practices. The Government will propose amendments to the Patent Act, Trade-marks Act and Industrial Design Act to provide intellectual property agents with a statutory privilege for confidential communications with clients, enhancing Canada as a place in which to invent and market inventions. This measure will bring Canada’s framework in line with other common law countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Amendments will also be proposed to modernize administrative practices and increase clarity and legal certainty for businesses. For example, proposed amendments would provide the Canadian Intellectual Property Office with the ability to extend key deadlines in cases of force majeure events such as floods or ice storms.

Education

Investing $2 million over two years, starting in 2016–17, to expand the Computers for Schools program, extending access to refurbished computer equipment to non-profit organizations such as those that support low-income Canadians, seniors and new Canadians.

Recognizing the important social and environmental benefits of this successful program, Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $2 million over two years, starting in 2016–17, to expand the Computers for Schools program and extend access to refurbished computer equipment to a wider group of not-for-profit organizations, including those that support low-income Canadians, seniors and new Canadians. The program will be renamed to reflect its expansion to enable more Canadians to fully participate in the digital economy.

Providing $200 million over five years, starting in 2015–16, to improve First Nations education.

Earning a high school diploma is an important achievement that opens the door to a range of education, training and work opportunities. Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $200 million over five years, starting in 2015–16, to help support First Nations to achieve better education outcomes, including building partnerships with provincial school systems. The proposed investment in the Strong Schools, Successful Students Initiative will support the First Nation Student Success Program and the Education Partnerships Program.

Infrastructure

Creating a new dedicated infrastructure fund to support the renovation, expansion and improvement of existing community infrastructure in all regions of the country as part of the Canada 150 celebrations.

Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to create a new dedicated infrastructure fund to support the renovation, expansion and improvement of existing community infrastructure in all regions of the country. These new investments, which will be cost-shared with municipalities, community organizations and not-for-profit entities, will support projects that celebrate our shared heritage, create jobs and improve the quality of life of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. The Government will announce further details on the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program over the coming months.

Research

Providing an additional $1.33 billion over six years, starting in 2017–18, to the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support advanced research infrastructure at universities, colleges and research hospitals.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation is a not-for-profit corporation that supports the modernization of research infrastructure at universities, colleges, research hospitals and other not-for-profit research institutions across Canada. Through the Foundation, the Government invests with other partners in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment that play a crucial role in attracting and retaining the world’s top minds, training the next generation of researchers and supporting private sector innovation.

To date, the Foundation has committed more than $6.2 billion in support for over 8,880 projects at 144 research institutions in 69 municipalities across Canada. These contributions, along with those from institutions and their partners, have resulted in a total investment of almost $14 billion in Canadian research infrastructure since the Foundation’s creation.

Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide an additional $1.33 billion to the Foundation over six years, starting in 2017–18. This investment will strengthen Canada’s capacity for highly competitive research and technology development by supporting advanced research equipment and facilities, including digital research infrastructure; industry-relevant research infrastructure at colleges through the College-Industry Innovation Fund; and the ongoing operations and maintenance needs of national research facilities. This additional funding underscores the Government’s continued commitment to investing in research excellence in Canada.

Creating a more efficient and effective national digital research infrastructure system by providing $105 million over five years, starting in 2015–16, to CANARIE, Canada’s world-class high-speed research and education network.

As Canada’s national ultra-high-speed backbone network, CANARIE enables data-intensive, leading-edge research and big science across Canada and around the world. Researchers in academic institutions, major science facilities and federal labs use CANARIE to maximize the impact of their findings by disseminating knowledge and collaborating effectively in national and international research projects. CANARIE also benefits entrepreneurs and small businesses by providing access to cloud resources that can help to accelerate product development and sharpen their competitive edge in the global marketplace.

Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide $105 million over five years, starting in 2015–16, for CANARIE to continue to support the operations of Canada’s ultra-high-speed research network. Funding will support the evolution of the network to meet growing demand and ensure it will continue to support world-class research collaborations across the country and internationally.

Dedicating an additional $46 million per year to the granting councils, starting in 2016–17, focused in areas that will fuel economic growth and respond to important challenges and opportunities.

To strengthen the research capacity of post-secondary institutions and support their growing interactions with the private sector, Economic Action Plan 2015 proposes to provide an additional $46 million in 2016–17 and ongoing to the granting councils focused in areas that will fuel economic growth and respond to important challenges and opportunities, as follows:

• $15 million per year to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, of which $10 million per year is directed to collaborations between companies and researchers from universities and colleges under the new consolidated suite of similar business innovation programs (as described below in the section entitled “Strengthening the Delivery of Business Innovation Programs”). This new funding will target research areas such as natural resources and energy, advanced manufacturing, and environment and agriculture. The balance of $5 million per year will be directed to industry-driven research initiatives at Canada’s polytechnics and colleges through the College and Community Innovation Program (see below). The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council will also continue to support collaborative research in the automotive, manufacturing, forest and fishing industries, further to the direction and resources provided in Budget 2008.
• $7 million per year to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for its Partnership Grants, which support collaborations between academic researchers, businesses and other partners to advance research and knowledge mobilization in the social sciences and humanities.
• $15 million per year to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, of which $13 million is for the expansion of the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research, to advance health care innovation in partnership with provincial governments, research institutions, and the private and not-for-profit sectors, with a view to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system. The balance of $2 million per year will support additional research to better understand and address the health challenges posed by anti-microbial resistant infections.
• $9 million per year to the Research Support Fund to support the indirect costs borne by post-secondary institutions in undertaking federally sponsored research.

Colleges and polytechnics play an important role in helping small and medium-sized enterprises bring new technologies, products and processes to the marketplace. As indicated above, Economic Action Plan 2015 includes an additional $5 million annually for the College and Community Innovation Program starting in 2016–17, increasing its budget to $55 million per year. This program supports collaboration between colleges and industry on research and development projects that focus on company needs, helping firms to become more innovative and productive.

Enhance Canada’s research capacity through investments in transformative infrastructure projects that enable world-class research and enrich Canada’s research landscape

Development of a Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy that includes new policies on research data management and storage and a coordinated long-term approach to the funding and provision of networking, high-performance computing, and software tools. A new Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy will promote coordination among the federal agencies involved in the delivery of digital research infrastructure and will help to optimize the following new Economic Action Plan 2015 investments in digital research infrastructure.