Infrastructure agency is the world’s best, says KPMG study

Ottawa, ON – The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is the most successful research funding organization of its kind in the world says an internationally renowned panel of experts. Due to the dramatic increase in the quantity and quality of research infrastructure, the CFI has had major impacts on research capacity and productivity in Canada.

“The panel is unanimously of the view that the CFI’s record of achievement to date is outstanding,” said panel chair Arthur May, who is also president emeritus and vice-chancellor of Memorial University of Newfoundland. “The CFI is widely admired internationally and, indeed, is a model that has been and will be emulated elsewhere.”

KPMG conducted an overall performance evaluation and value-for-money audit of the CFI and an international panel of seven experts in global research and research funding reviewed the findings and produced an independent report. The KPMG evaluation focused on the achievements of the CFI against its national objectives and addressed global questions regarding relevance, results, and design and delivery. The audit looked at the CFI’s management practices and processes, and whether they have been carried out with regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Panel members included:
• Arthur May, Chair, President Emeritus and Vice-Chancellor, Memorial University of Newfoundland and former President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
• Don Aitkin, former Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra, and Foundation Chair of the Australian Research Council.
• Michael Barber, Vice-Chancellor, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia, and former senior executive at the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
• Robert C. Dynes, President Emeritus, University of California, and former Chancellor, University of California San Diego. Dr. Dynes was also employed in private sector R&D for more than 25 years with Bell Laboratories.
• Paule Leduc, former Rector, Université du Québec à Montréal, and former President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
• Glenn Wells, Deputy Director and Head of Research Programmes, UK Department of Health, and former Business Development Manager for the Wellcome Trust.
• Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, Secretary-General, Human Frontier Science Program, former Secretary-General of the European Research Council, and former President of the German Research Foundation (DFG).