NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Canadian government plans to have invested a total of C$157 million (US$158 million) in renewing federal laboratories over the course of fiscal years 2010 and 2011 under its economic stimulus action plan, the government said in a report this week.
The C$28 billion in funding in the second year of the stimulus program will include C$14 million to expand the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex to house the Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics at Concordia University, according to the government report.
The plan will expand the Renaud complex and add a new 58,0000 square-foot wing.
"This investment will provide long-lasting benefits to Canadians through a modernized, greener infrastructure, a renewed science and research base, a highly skilled workforce, lower taxes, and a more competitive business environment," the government stated in the report.
Canada's Minister of Natural Resources Christian Paradis toured the Concordia genomics research facility in Montreal, which will conduct research into biomass conversion, cellulosic biofuels, and alternative energy sources, among other programs, this week to highlight the research investments the action plan is supporting.
As GenomeWeb Daily News reported in 2009, the genomics research center at Concordia will receive a total of C$29.3 million over the course of the stimulus program and it will focus on interdisciplinary studies that use bioinformatics and genomics labs to conduct renewable energy research efforts.
The entire economic stimulus plan, which started in 2009, will provide C$1.6 billion in funding for investments in science and technology, C$2.2 billion in post-secondary education and research, and just under C$2 billion to make improvements at Canadian colleges and universities through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program.
When the entire plan expires, federal labs will have received $242 million in funding for renewal projects.