PRIME MINiSTER STEPHEN HARPER PARTICIPATES IN CEREMONY RECOGNIZING CANADA’s TOP SCIENTISTS AND RESEARCHERS

March 16, 2021

Economic Action Plan to invest more in science, research and development

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today congratulated Canada’s top scientists, researchers and engineers for their outstanding work.  The Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal and the Steacie Memorial Fellowships are funded by the Harper Government through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

“Canada’s capacity for world-class research is a source of economic strength that helps create jobs far beyond the lab,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who joined many of Canada’s top scientists and researchers at a ceremony recognizing the award recipients. “That is why our government is proud to provide additional support to science, research and development through Canada’s Economic Action Plan.”
 
Prime Minister Harper presented the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal, awarded for sustained excellence and overall influence of a body of research, to physicist Paul Corkum. The award comes with a guarantee of $1 million in research funding over five years.
 
In addition to the Herzberg Gold Medal, the Prime Minister also participated in a ceremony recognizing the six recipients of the Steacie Fellowship, awarded to younger scientists who are earning international reputations for their research. The Fellowships are valued at $90,000.
 
Both awards are funded through NSERC, the federal agency charged with promoting science, research and development.  NSERC supports 26,500 university students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies, funds more than 11,800 university professors in their ongoing research and helps fosters innovation by encouraging more than 1,400 Canadian companies to participate and invest in postsecondary research projects.
 
Canada’s Economic Action Plan, outlined in Budget 2009, further builds on the Government’s commitment to science and technology (S&T;) through one of the single-largest federal budget investments in S&T; to date.  The plan announced $5.1 billion in new S&T; spending in the areas of infrastructure, research, people and commercialization.  In total, this Government will have invested more than $7 billion in S&T; through 2010-11. This includes an additional $2 billion that is being invested to help universities maintain and expand their facilities.  The Government is also investing $87.5 million over three years in the Canada Graduate Scholarships program, and is providing 600 more graduate internships through the Industrial Research and Development Internship program.