Read our submission in full: U15 Canada – Pre-Budget Submission 2026
Recommendations:
To harness Canada’s world-leading research enterprise for long-term prosperity and sovereign capability, U15 Canada recommends:
- Build a modern science and technology architecture to strengthen Canadian research. Advance the proposed mission-driven research organization and Science and Innovation Advisory Council while upholding principles that protect investigator-led scientific excellence, maintain the independence of the merit-review process and provide clear strategic direction for Canada’s research ecosystem.
- Establish mechanisms to connect Canada’s research strengths with sovereign capability objectives. Through the Defence Industrial Strategy, establish scalable mechanisms for engagement that position research universities as national assets in the development of sovereign capabilities that will underpin Canada’s economic and national security and our collective prosperity.
- Deepen Canada’s research partnerships with like-minded European partners by committing to association with Framework Program 10. Building on the success of Canada’s association to Horizon Europe, maintaining participation in the new European Union research and innovation program will help strengthen European partnerships and ensure Canada has access to the latest ideas and innovations.
Introduction
Canada is navigating a moment of strategic consequence. Geopolitical realignment and technological competition are reshaping the conditions for prosperity and security. In a changing world, the capacity to generate, apply, and retain knowledge is the foundation of Canada’s resilience.
Canada’s leading research universities are helping to meet this moment. Together, U15 universities account for the vast majority of Canada’s federally funded research, developing talent, driving innovation and delivering impact from coast to coast to coast. Our universities anchor research partnerships with industry, government, and international allies that Canada will need to remain strong and secure. As world-leading hubs of research excellence, U15 universities are national assets to secure Canada’s sovereign capabilities in critical fields for the future.
To build the framework that will help unlock more from the research capacity Canada has already built, U15 Canada recommends action in Budget 2026 on three fronts:
- Governance changes that enable mission-driven coordination without compromising research excellence.
- Scalable mechanisms that connect industrial and defence priorities to university research and innovation capacity.
- Firm commitment to international partnerships that will define Canada’s research relationships for the next decade.
Canada’s research capacity is world-class. The partnerships with industry are ready to scale. The international networks are within reach. What is needed now is the architecture to harness this capability. Budget 2026 is an opportunity to move from recognizing Canada’s research strengths to deliberately mobilizing them.