Read CAN’s submission to the 2024 Pre-budget consultations

Investing in science will create new jobs and build a greener, more competitive, more innovative, more inclusive, and more resilient Canada.

Read our main recommendations here:

The Canadian Association for Neuroscience recommends the following:

Recommendation 1: That the government double the budgets of the three main federal funding agencies: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for the benefit of all Canadians. This recommendation aims to bring Canadian investment in scientific research to a level commensurate to that of other G7 countries.

Recommendation 2: That the government of Canada increase support for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows by increasing both the value and number of fellowships awarded in the next budget. We recommend that the government of Canada follow the recommendations of the House of Commons permanent committee on Science and Research:

  • Increase the value of Tri-Agency graduate scholarships and postdoctoral fellowships by 50%, and index them to inflation moving forward;
  • Increase the number of Tri-Agency graduate student scholarships by 50%;
  • Increase the number of Tri-Agency postdoctoral fellowships by 100%; and
  • Increase the Tri-Agency research grant budget provided to faculty […] to allow for increased graduate student and postdoctoral pay.

In conjunction with Recommendation 1, this recommendation will ensure our next generation of scientists have the means to participate fully in Canada’s knowledge economy.

Recommendation 3: That the government of Canada make research on the Brain and Mental Health a national priority by investing in research to understand the brain through well-established and trusted organizations in the field.

You can read our brief here:

https://can-acn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CAN-ACN-Prebudget-consultation-brief-Feb-2024.pdf