In an effort to increase the research and development (R & D) capacity in Canada, the federal government began establishing science advisory bodies in the 1970s that would report to the government. Organisations such as the Science Council of Canada, a federal advisory body on science and technology policy active in the 1970s, and the Corporate Higher Education Forum, an independent organisation administrators and business leaders, were instrumental in the early stages of the commercialisation agenda.

Today, the Conference Board of Canada is active in promoting commercialisation initiatives by forming the Leaders' Roundtable on Commercialization in 2005 which consists of 46 CEOs, university presidents and deputy ministers.4 Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) was established in 1996 as an agency of Industry Canada to provide funding for strategic research projects. In 2005, TPC was replaced with the Transformative Technologies Program, which shares the costs of innovation and technology adoption projects with Canadian industry.

The Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACST) was established in 1996 to provide the federal government with advice on science and technology policy. Much of its focus has been guided by the belief that an economic advantage through research and development is necessary for Canada to compete in a globalised world.

Expert Panel on the Commercialisation of University Research
In 1998 the Expert Panel on the Commercialization of University Research was created by the ACST. In 1999, the Panel published a report to the Panel published a report to the Prime Minister recommending several initiatives to advance the commercialisation of university research. The report outlined that, in order for research to be beneficial to Canadians, it ought to generate economic wealth or strategic advantages for corporations. It called for greater incentives for researchers to undertake commercialisation and clearer policies for defining who has rights over the research. The federal government's response to the Expert Panel's 1999 report was presented in a document entitled, Achieving Excellence. The response essentially endorsed the5 Expert Panel's 1999 recommendations. Achieving Excellence committed the federal government to supporting academic institutions in identifying research initiatives with commercial potential and forging partnerships with the private sector to commercialise research results. What has come to be known as the Innovation Strategy called for universities "to at least triple key commercialisation performance outcomes."

In 2006, the Expert Panel released a second report calling for further commercialisation of research. The recommendations include: creating a "commercialization partnership board"; increasing business demand for talent through development of a new "Canada commercialization fellowships program" (the program would have undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral fellowships); and the creation of a commercialization fund to address key commercialisation "challenges" In total, the recommendations would cost an estimated $1.1 billion.

Federal Funding for Research Commercialisation
Chronic federal underfunding of post-secondary education throughout the 1980s, followed by significant cuts to research granting agencies during the 1990s, drastically affected funding for public research. The Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Medical Research Council (now the Canadian Institutes of Health Research), saw their budgets reduced by approximately 10% between 1994-95 and 1997-98 alone.

Since the late 1990s, the federal government has steadily increased funding for research while requiring that universities find private sector partners and commercialise research results. The 1997 federal budget established the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) with an initial investment of $800 million. The CFI is an industry-oriented research funding agency whose funding criteria stipulates that universities must form partnerships with the private sector before receiving funding. Since its creation, the CFI has received $3.65 billion in funding from the federal government.

Since the 1997 federal budget, the federal government has directed research dollars into several other commercialisation initiatives. The 2006 federal budget provided $100 million for research, $60 million of which was allocated to the Indirect Costs of Research Program and the CFI. In comparison, $6 million was allocated to SSHRC.

The 2006 federal budget also stated that the Minister of Industry, in collaboration with the Minister of Finance, would develop a science and technology strategy that would encompass the broad range of government support for research. Additionally, a review of the accountability and "value for money" of the granting councils' activities was also announced thereby heightening pressures for the granting councils to demonstrate the short-term commercial value of publicly- funded research.