Feds to get ‘blueprint’ for fighting research espionage on Friday
By Charlie Pinkerton. Published on Jun 23, 2021 5:52pm
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa (Jolson Lim/iPolitics)
On Friday, the federal government expects to receive guidelines for protecting national security, and for preventing other countries, such as China, from spying on its research projects.
Last year, the federal government spent $7 billion on research and development, according to StatCan. Just over half, $3.6 billion, was for research at universities, colleges, and other educational institutions.
The guidelines to increase the consideration of national security when evaluating and funding research partnerships are being developed by the government’s Universities Working Group, which includes Universities Canada and the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities. The group also includes federal officials from the likes of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, CSIS, Global Affairs Canada, the National Research Council, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.