Laboratories Canada Initiative

Laboratories Canada Initiative

The Laboratories Canada Initiative (LCI) is a multi-year phased initiative for building and restoring federal science and technology (S&T) capacity in the GC. Previously named the Federal Science and Technology Infrastructure Initiative, the core basis of Labs Canada was announced in the 2018 federal "science budget" which allocated an initial $2.8 billion to the initiative over a 5 year period.

Background Much of the GC's federal scientific infrastructure was build decades ago and has received scarce attention since. This has resulted in a federal laboratory system which is in need of serious renewal, with experts alerting the government of an impending "rust out" where poor infrastructure and equipment functionally impedes federal S&T from effectively conducting its important work. There were several predecessor initiatives seeking to address this including most notably the 2018 Federal Science and Technology Infrastructure Initiative, as well as others before this which proved unable to gain traction. In late 2019, this was renamed the Laboratories Canada Initiative or simply "Labs Canada".

With over 200 labs in the federal system, a large proportion of which being in critical condition, Labs Canada is faced with a huge undertaking in its mission to renewal federal S&T infrastructure. This includes most immediately the matter of prioritizing the labs which will face revitalization and in which order. It also presents the issue of limited funding as the number of facilities needing attention vastly exceeds initial budgetary allocations. As a result, Labs Canada operates on the principle of funding S&T renewal according to the development of synergies that exist in infrastructure and capacity. There is much federal S&T infrastructure that is under-utilized, or at least utilized well below its potential capacity, because of organizational silos in federal science which impede effective collaboration. As such, labs which are able to demonstrate their ability to leverage collaborative networks with other federal labs and external partners alike to improve utilization rates and contributes to the overall innovation ecosystem, are given priority.

Much background work had been conducted prior to official the launch of FSTII/LCI in 2018 which informs the work and guiding principles Labs Canada today. Two noteworthy initiatives which influence Labs Canada today include the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the Atlantic Science Entreprise Centre (ASEC) in Moncton, New Brunswick. The NML was built well in advance of Labs Canada but embodies many of the desired principles at play for Labs Canada, operating an intermural and interdepartmental research facility that shares infrastructure where possible and widely bridges partnerships. By adopting this approach, NML was able to punch above its weight in the procurement of new facilities and equipment, finding synergies that would allow it to deploy more advanced technology in its work.

ASEC

Governance

Results to Date

Subsequent Phases