MONTREAL – Brian Tobin, Minister of Industry, today
announced that Genome Canada would receive a one-time grant of $140 million
from the Government of Canada.
“Genomics promises tremendous quality of life benefits for all Canadians,
especially in health, and will be a key economic engine in the 21st
century,” said Minister Tobin. “Genome Canada is an important component of
the Government of Canada’s innovation agenda and this funding will further
enable Genome Canada to secure those benefits for Canadians.”
Genomics is the science of deciphering and understanding the genetic code of
life — of humans, animals, plants and pathogens. Genome Canada, a
not-for-profit, national partnership-based scientific enterprise, is
spearheading a national effort to make Canada a world leader in genomics
research and will accelerate our investment in ground-breaking research.
As part of the existing financial framework, the Government of Canada
invested $160 million in Genome Canada. The additional funding brings the
Government of Canada’s financial support thus far to $300 million.
Genome Canada is building on the existing strengths of Canadian scientific
excellence to develop five world-class genome technology centres across the
country – one each in BC, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada
– to provide technology platforms and find new methods for diagnosing,
treating and preventing disease, addressing environmental concerns, and for
managing our natural resources and food supply.
Genome Canada
Industry Canada, on behalf of the Government of Canada, manages an
arm’s-length relationship with Genome Canada. Genome Canada, as a
not-for-profit organization, can contract and partner with federal and
provincial governments (e.g. use of Government of Canada facilities).
However, Government of Canada departments and agencies are prohibited by
Treasury Board rules to receive funding from Genome Canada, or the Genome
Centres, to finance their internal activities, including activities related
to genomics.
Budget 2000 provided a $160-million lump-sum grant to Genome Canada, a
not-for-profit corporation that will deliver a Canada-wide partnership-based
genomics enterprise. The Government of Canada has now committed an
additional $140 million with the same terms and conditions, bringing its
total financial support thus far to $300 million.
Genome Canada is spearheading a national effort to make Canada a world
leader in genomics research and will accelerate our investment in
ground-breaking research. The Genome Centres will provide the technology
platforms for major genomics research and development projects currently
beyond Canada’s research capacity. About 10 per cent of the funding will
support the national organization and 90 per cent will support the R&D
activities of the five regional genomics centres that will be established in
British Columbia, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
The centres will focus on various structural genomics activities (i.e.
functional genomics, genomics sequencing, genotyping, functional proteomics
and bioinformatics) as well as major research projects. Each centre will
also conduct research on the ethical, legal and societal issues related to
genomics in their field.
The Genome Canada Board of Directors is composed of members from the
scientific community in Canada. The Chair is Dr. Henry Friesen, formerly
President of the Medical Research Council. The Presidents of the Granting
Councils are also Board Members, as part of the Funding Agreement between
Industry Canada and Genome Canada, to ensure coordination and avoid
duplication in research activities.
The selection of Genome Centres will be established after an open and
rigorous competition, based on scientific, financial and management
criteria. Genome Canada has established a panel of international experts to
review the applications for Genome Centres. The final decision on funding
will be made by the Board of Genome Canada. No specific locations will be
designated until that process is complete.
Genome Canada issued guidelines for the submission of Genome Centres in
September, 2000. The deadline for Genome Centre applications was the end of
January 2001. A review by a panel of international experts is currently
underway, based on scientific, financial and management criteria. It is
expected that Genome Canada will announce approval of projects in Spring
2001.
