House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Research, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry appearance, supported by the SSHRC President

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February 2, 2023, 12 to 1 p.m.

Table of contents

• International Moonshot Programs
  • Scope of study
  • Preparatory Q&A
  • Main themes from previous sessions of the committee
    • Curiosity and mission-oriented research
    • Public and private sector R&D
    • Models and priority setting
    • Complex challenges
    • International research and top talent
    • Ethics and public trust
    • Open access / open science
• Research and Scientific Publication in French
  • Scope of study
  • Preparatory Q&A
  • Main themes from previous sessions of the committee
    • Decline in applications and publications in French
    • Trying to pin down the obstacles to research and publication in French
    • Confidence in review process
    • Need to promote, support and encourage research and publication in French
    • Open access and its impacts on publication in French
    • Translation
• Université Laval and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Canada Research Chairs Program
  • Key messages
  • December 2019 deadline equity target results

International Moonshot Programs

Scope of study

• It was agreed, — That the committee (i) study international “moonshot programs” that aim to resolve difficult environmental and social problems, set ambitious research and development programs, and attract researchers from around the world, and (ii) make recommendations regarding what such a program could look like here in Canada, for a total of eight hours.

Preparatory Q&A

1. How do the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) support international moonshot (research) programs?

• SSHRC, like the other federal research funding agencies, recognizes the importance of enabling researchers to work together across disciplines, sectors and borders to address complex challenges, in Canada and abroad, as well as to seize opportunities to ensure we remain globally competitive.
• To that end, SSHRC, on behalf of the three federal research funding agencies, administers tri-agency institutional funding programs that support world-class research.
  • This includes the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF) and the Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC), which aim to attract and retain world‑renowned researchers and help Canadian postsecondary institutions excel globally in research areas that create long-term social and economic benefits for Canada.
  • Both of these programs were renewed in 2021 to support research with the potential for significant impact in line with the Government of Canada’s science, technology and innovation priority research areas, which include antimicrobial resistance, artificial intelligence, climate change and sustainable agriculture.
  • We have also recently launched the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF), which supports Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy along with the complementary Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF), which is administered by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. These programs aim to support high-risk, applied research, training and talent development, as part of a suite of foundational investments to establish a resilient, robust domestic biomanufacturing sector in Canada.
• Through the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the federal research funding agencies also support and promote world-leading interdisciplinary, international, high-risk / high-reward, transformative and rapid-response Canadian-led research. The program has three streams (Transformation, Exploration and International), as well as special calls.
  • Last year, the first-ever NFRF Transformation stream awarded $144 million to seven six-year interdisciplinary projects that will challenge current paradigms, develop novel approaches and promise groundbreaking impact; for example, by developing new methods to repair spinal cord injuries, using DNA sequencing to track changes in the Earth’s biosphere, and advancing inclusive workplace design for persons with disabilities.
  • Through the NFRF, the federal research funding agencies have also announced an International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. The initiative was  launched in January 2023 in partnership with funding organizations from Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa and Brazil.
• I want to emphasize the importance of social sciences and humanities research in addressing the complex challenges facing Canada and the world.
  • Technological innovations are not sufficient on their own to respond to the pandemic, the climate crisis or the accelerating loss of biodiversity. Understanding the human and societal dimensions of these challenges is vital to finding effective solutions and spurring collective action.
  • The social sciences and humanities provide crucial questions, data and insights, and at SSHRC we are actively supporting this research and the communication of its findings to help address these complex challenges.
  • SSHRC’s Imagining Canada’s Future initiative supports foresight and knowledge mobilization on key challenges, which can be used by government departments and other policy makers. We also use Ideas Labs to bring together multisector groups to bring new perspectives on key challenges such as Canada and the circular economy.
  • SSHRC launched the Race, Gender and Diversity Initiative, which is designed to support research led by community organizations in partnership with postsecondary institutions, and that analyzes the causes and persistence of systemic racism and discrimination.   
    
• It is important for Canada to continue to participate at key international platforms and fora to advance science, research and scholarship to address global challenges.
  • As an example: The International Science Council launched a Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability that highlights the importance of international and interdisciplinary research, including the social sciences, to advance progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The National Research Council maintains Canada’s membership in the International Science Council, and SSHRC serves as the co-chair of the Canadian committee that informs Canada’s representation at the International Science Council.

2. What are SSHRC and the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS) doing to support research on climate change?

• SSHRC and TIPS are engaged in various initiatives to support research on climate change, including with international collaborators.
• The federal research funding agencies have launched an International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation. The initiative is funded in Canada through the New Frontiers in Research Fund, and is a partnership with funding organizations from Europe, the UK, the US and Brazil. It targets interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral research— with a requirement for community involvement—that will have a tangible impact on communities most affected by, and particularly vulnerable to, climate change. The call was launched in January 2023.
• SSHRC and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) are working with Agriculture Agri-Food Canada on a $100 million joint initiative, announced in Budget 2022, given to the agencies to support postsecondary research in developing technologies and crop varieties that will allow for net-zero-emission agriculture.
• Climate change science efforts have traditionally centred on the natural and health sciences. However, as recognized in Canada’s Climate Science 2050 Plan, there is a pressing need to support and integrate social sciences and humanities research, which play a particularly important role in addressing climate change. They are essential in identifying and motivating the human behaviours that are integral to taking swift, ambitious action on this challenge.

3. How do the federal research funding agencies ensure that Canada has the talent supply needed to pursue (international moonshot programs) research?

• SSHRC and other federal research funding agencies are taking several actions to develop, attract and retain talent to help ensure Canada has the skills needed to respond to global challenges.
• SSHRC, on behalf of the federal research funding agencies, administers internationally recognized funding opportunities, such as the new competitions of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, which draw leading scientists from around the globe to Canada. SSHRC also administers the Canada Research Chairs Program. This program aims to attract and retain world-class researchers, to reinforce academic research and training excellence in Canadian postsecondary institutions, and support research in various areas that can contribute to Canada's global competitiveness and well-being.
• Through its funding for research and research training, SSHRC helps maintain a strong, diverse base of fundamental research activity in Canada, which gives us a strategic reserve of skills, talent and ideas that can be marshalled to future challenges that we cannot predict now. In 2020-21, SSHRC supported:
  • over 4,800 students directly through scholarships and fellowships;
  • more than 24,000 researchers directly; and
  • approximately 5,200 additional students indirectly through grants at postsecondary institutions across Canada.
• The federal research funding agencies are developing a training strategy to renew and guide our investments in scholarships and fellowships. Tri-agency investments in research talent ensure Canada can address the labour shortage, fill next-generation jobs in emerging industries, and fuel the recovery and improve diversity in the talent pipeline. SSHRC, in collaboration with other federal research funding agencies, is also working to increase opportunities for Indigenous students, through the implementation of a strategy to promote Indigenous research and research training.
• The agencies are also in the final phase of evaluating scholarship and training support programs. The Talent Evaluation is a strategic evaluation of funding from SSHRC, NSERC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), covering both direct funding (i.e., scholarships and fellowships) as well as indirect funding with explicit training objectives (for example, SSHRC Insight Grants and Partnership Grants).
• Research-based training has an impact on all sectors of the economy, as researchers are increasingly moving towards public- and private-sector roles. As a research support ecosystem, we must prepare trainees for a wide range of possible career paths that will strengthen the connections between academia and other sectors, as well as bolster the economy and the scientific culture within Canada.
• To that end, SSHRC’s Partnered Research Training Initiatives bring together institutions from the academic, public, private and/or not-for-profit sectors to support the research training experience of students and postdoctoral researchers in the social sciences and humanities, while facilitating their transition to academic or non-academic workplace settings.

4. How do the federal research funding agencies ensure that the results of government-funded research are accessible and can be used by other actors to support progress on complex challenges?

• SSHRC offers several programs designed for cross-sectoral / user-engaged research, which is an effective way to promote the use of the research outside academia and involve non-academics in the research itself. Our programs supporting intersectoral collaborations include:
  • Partnerships, which fund curiosity-driven research with collaborators and partner organizations from all sectors. In 2020-21, 13% of partners were from government, 8% from industry, 42% from not-for-profit organizations, and 37% from the postsecondary sector.
  • The Connection program, which is designed to support knowledge mobilization and enables non-academic researchers to participate as co-applicants or collaborators. In most of SSHRC’s other programming, collaborators can be from non-academic sectors, including the private sector.
  • The Imagining Canada’s Future initiative supports foresight and knowledge mobilization on key challenges, which can be used by government departments and other policy makers. We also use Ideas Labs to bring together multisector groups to bring new perspectives on key challenges, such as Canada and the circular economy.
• The federal research funding agencies recognize the importance of making readily available publicly funded scientific results to help accelerate progress on tackling complex and pressing challenges in Canada and around the world.
• To that end, in 2015, the agencies launched the Tri-Agency Open Access (OA) Policy on Publications, to make the results of agency-funded research as widely available and accessible as possible.

5. How do the federal research funding agencies determine which (moonshot) research priorities to support? How much support do they provide relative to investigator-led research?

• SSHRC and TIPS fund two types of research: (1) curiosity-driven / investigator-led research, and (2) priority / mission-driven research.
• Both types of research are crucial, since investigator-led, curiosity-driven research has fueled invaluable discoveries, which have in turn contributed to greater understanding of some of the most important issues in Canada. It is based on fundamental research that the Government of Canada identifies the research priorities that should be funded. Fundamental research also provides the strategic reserve of skills, expertise and ideas needed to respond to complex challenges as they arise.
• That being said, there are areas where priority-led research is critical and contributes to finding solutions to challenges such as climate change and postpandemic recovery. At SSHRC, both are compatible. We fund extensive research through open competitions on researcher-led topics, as well as targeted initiatives. We support the critical mass so that they can respond when there is a need (such as a pandemic), as research takes time to deliver outcomes. In order to be ready for any emergency and crisis, we need a strong academic force that can respond to any priority-driven call. To that end, we also deliver many joint opportunities with different organizations in Canada and abroad.

6. How do the federal research funding agencies support international collaborations needed to enable successful moonshot research programs?

• Canada is leading the International Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, with several international research funding organizations responding to Canada’s call for interest. Research funders from Brazil, Germany, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US, among others, have joined as partners. The initiative leverages international expertise to tackle global challenges caused by climate change. Launched in January 2023, the initiative will fund transformative research with potential to deliver game-changing impacts. Funded international projects will further the design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies for vulnerable groups—those currently most affected by climate change impacts, owing to both their physical and socio-economic vulnerability.
• Our ongoing relationships with research funding agencies around the world make Canadian research agencies a trusted partner and enable cooperation to fund research to address global challenges. The International Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation was built on those relationships. During the pandemic, they also allowed SSHRC to work with partners of the Trans-Atlantic Platform to rapidly launch an international call on Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Postpandemic World, addressing key gaps in our understanding of the dynamic and complex interaction of medium- and long-term societal effects of COVID-19. This network will soon serve again, with a new call being developed on Governance, Democracy and Trust.

Main themes from previous sessions of the committee

Curiosity and mission-oriented research

• MPs and witnesses spoke of the complementary benefits of curiosity and mission-driven research.

Public and private sector R&D

• Dr. Yoshua Bengio pointed out the lack of private sector funding for R&D on complex problems with social benefits that are not profitable and/or too risky (e.g., antimicrobial resistance, environment, education or social justice) and the need for government incentives to address those market failures.

Models and priority setting

• Committee members and witnesses spoke of international and domestic examples of moonshot programs that could be referred to as models (e.g., Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Canada Space Agency, US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority).
• Committee members also asked about how research priorities should be established for moonshot programs, and witnesses provided various suggestions, most commonly focusing on things that have social and economic benefits, and/or where Canada has a competitive advantage. Dr. Kevin Smith also suggested having a national moonshot strategy.

Complex challenges

• Several witnesses spoke of the need for greater funding for climate science, as well as government and industry mobilization, to address the climate crisis.
• Witnesses also put forward other complex challenges on which the government should support research (e.g., one health, pandemic preparedness, biomanufacturing, cancer research, stem cells, AI in agriculture, food security, ocean science, renewable energy, nuclear fusion, small modular nuclear reactors, astrophysics, etc.).

International research and top talent

• Witnesses highlighted the importance of international research collaborations, international student mobility, and talent development and recruitment to pursue moonshot research. This included increasing funding for fundamental research at postsecondary institutions to help them attract and retain top talent, as well as improving the recognition of foreign credentials.

Ethics and public trust

• Committee members asked about the ethical considerations in developing moonshots (e.g., AI) and how to ensure public trust in these ventures. Witnesses emphasized the importance of transparency on what is funded and how, and government regulation and incentives to avoid misuse.

Open access / open science

• Several committee members and witnesses referred to open science, and the importance of research results being readily available to enable greater collaboration across sectors and drive innovation forward.

Research and Scientific Publication in French

Scope of study

• It was agreed, — That, pursuant to standing order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of research and scientific publication in French, in Quebec, and in the rest of Canada […].

Preparatory Q&A

Q&As prepared for Valérie La Traverse’s supporting role at the October 31, 2023, meeting:

1. How does SSHRC ensure that French-language applications are assessed for their full value in the merit review process?

• SSHRC disseminates information about its application processes and funding opportunities in both official languages, and applicants may submit their applications in the official language of their choice.
• SSHRC's merit review process has the capacity to evaluate applications in English and French on an equitable basis. With the exception of a small number of unilingual panels formed as part of larger funding opportunities, all SSHRC merit review members are recruited with the requirement to be functionally bilingual and 25% of reviewers use French in their correspondence.
• SSHRC's ability to deliver merit review in French depends on francophone researchers accepting our invitation to review a proposal or to serve on an adjudication committee. Merit review burden is real, and so we have to acknowledge the service that francophone researchers voluntarily provide. SSHRC is very grateful to the service provided by all members of the research community; we certainly need them to continue to say "yes" when SSHRC calls.

2. How does SSHRC support publishing in French?

• SSHRC funds scholarly communications directly through the Aid to Scholarly Journals funding opportunity and the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program.
• SSHRC monitors the application and award rates for English, French and bilingual publications.
  • Recent evaluations of these mechanisms provide important observations. In the Aid to Scholarly Journals funding opportunity (journals), the distribution of awards is: bilingual—30.33%; French—31.15%; and English—38.52%. In the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (books), in 2020-21 the program reviewed English and French applications separately and funded 64% of English publications applying for funding and 67% of French publications applying for funding. 21% of the total awards granted went to French applications.

3. How does SSHRC support the mobilization of research knowledge in French?

• SSHRC has also recently renewed a partnership with the journal Québec Science to promote the mobilization of French-language research knowledge while providing a showcase for SSHRC-funded researchers featured in the journal.
• SSHRC supports the Érudit platform, which provides an infrastructure for open access to scientific production in French as part of the Pan-Canadian Access to Knowledge Initiative.
  • This initiative funds the Publica Coalition, which is a partnership between the Public Knowledge Project and the Érudit platform.
  • Annual funding of $1 million was granted in 2020 for three years, and is in the process of being renewed for the next three years (2023-26).
  • This initiative also aligns with SSHRC's strategy on promoting open access to science.

4. What does SSHRC think about the proposal of Acfas for a service to support the preparation of research funding proposals in French, the Service d'aide à la recherche en français (SARF)?

• SSHRC is aware of Acfas’s recent studies and the creation of SARF, and of their call for action by the federal government in the context of the renewal of the Official Languages Act.
• We see the value in this service and watch its evolution with interest. We understand the need it is trying to fill, and are interested in discussing where and how, within the broader postsecondary research system, such support may be found.

5. At SSHRC, do you have data indicating the application rate as well as the success rate of applications in French versus English?

• Yes, we do monitor this data and publish the results of our analyses annually in the Competitions Report.
• In general, these numbers have remained relatively stable for both English and French applications over the past 10 years, with variations by program.
  • From 2011 to 2021, the application rate for French-language grants for SSHRC programs was around 16% for Talent grants, 15% for Insight grants, and 19% for Partnership grants.
  • During the same period, the award rate for French-language applications for SSHRC programs was around 17% for Talent grants, 14% for Insight grants, and 26% for Partnership grants.

6. How does SSHRC support research in official language minority communities?

• SSHRC recognizes the important role that postsecondary institutions play in the vitality of many official language minority communities. As a result, several programs for institutions are weighted to support these often small institutions.
  • For example, SSHRC institutional grants, as well as chairs and fellowships, support this type of institution. They are also eligible to receive a supplement to institutional grants.
  • The allocation formula for the Research Support Fund (RSF) also favours small institutions, with the aim to increase their research capacity. Some small institutions receive RSF funds equivalent to approximately 46% of their total funding, while most large institutions receive funds equivalent to approximately 18%.
  • As of December 2021, the Canada Research Chairs Program, administered by SSHRC, is funding 66 active chairs in institutions in official language minority communities, representing investments of $62 million.
• SSHRC's investments in research on official languages, bilingualism and related issues represent an amount of $24.1 million over the last five years (2016-20).
  • This includes six Canada Research Chairs, 246 projects, 465 researchers and 115 graduate students.
    
    

7. What more can SSHRC do to promote French-language research and publishing?

• SSHRC is monitoring the data available to us on official languages. We are currently undertaking a review of new data from the self-identification questionnaires, which now contain questions on the languages learned and spoken by applicants, aligned with the census questions. This data will allow us to better understand the language profile of applicants and, thus, better target our initiatives.
• SSHRC is currently developing its framework for international initiatives. These are relevant to promoting Canada's linguistic duality by creating links with other partners in the Francophonie. For example, we recently met with partners in France, Switzerland and Wallonia (Belgium) to discuss opportunities for collaboration.
• In recognition of the burden that participation in merit review places on reviewers, SSHRC is continually working to improve its processes so that reviewers have a more positive experience and we can expand our pool of francophone researchers willing to participate.

8. Data on SSHRC's language capacity:

• 99.7% of SSHRC employees meet the language profile of their position.
• 97% of employees in positions that serve the public can do so in both official languages.
• SSHRC staff is very representative of both official languages, with 45% francophones and 55% anglophones.

Main themes from previous sessions of the committee

Decline in applications and publications in French

• Some stakeholders (such as Acfas) presented evidence of the decline in rates of application in French, including in the social sciences and humanities over the last 30 years. SSHRC’s data analysis, which has been focusing on the last decade, does show a slight decline, but does not present as negative a portrait as the 30-year trends, as the decline in application rates in French at SSHRC has lessened during that period compared to the previous 20 years.

Trying to pin down the obstacles to research and publication in French

• Many questions from the committee members focused on trying to assess what the obstacles to research and publication are in French. The funding agencies posited that they are not obstacles and that their review is fair, but the agencies may not have established how they can address the systemic issues.
• Various stakeholders tend to pass each other the ball, with government agencies suggesting some of the obstacles are more on the institutions’ side or with the professional associations or researchers themselves, while representatives from organizations and postsecondary institutions point to the role of the government and the funding agencies.

Confidence in review process

• Stakeholders shared that researchers are concerned about the capacity of the federal research funding agencies to review applications in French. These concerns seem to remain despite reassurances that the processes are equitable and that success rates are comparable in both languages, and even better in French in some cases.
• This suggests that even with equitable processes in place, additional work is needed to convince researchers to apply in French.

Need to promote, support and encourage research and publication in French

• Some of the obstacles relate to the fact that research and publication in English seem to be a better return on investment, since it will be easier to obtain higher visibility in English.
• Stakeholders suggest that an approach that focuses on treating French and English equally may not succeed in compensating for uneven grounds. As publishing in English provides greater opportunity, some measures may need to be put in place to promote research and publication in French, although the nature of these incentives is not defined (quotas, requirements, incentives, additional support for journals, etc.).

Open access and its impacts on publication in French

• There is interest in how open access policies will impact publication in French. Platforms such as Érudit are involved in open access.
• Tanja Nieman, director general of the Érudit Consortium, testified on October 31 and acknowledged that Érudit benefits from federal support, while also pointing out that the recurring funding applications are onerous and more stable sources of funding would be preferable.
  • Nieman testified that additional funding targeted toward publication in French would be helpful to increase the attractiveness of publishing in French and compensate for the fact that publishing fees can be higher in French because of the need for translation.

Translation

• There was a series of questions related to translation as part of the solution, but with mitigated feedback. Translation is seen as an option, but it can be an additional cost and burden to researchers for limited added value. Publishing the same article in two languages in different journals can also be seen as a form of “double-dipping”.

Université Laval and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Canada Research Chairs Program

Key messages

• The Government of Canada and the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) are committed to excellence in research and research training for the benefit of Canadians. Achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to seize opportunities and for responding to global challenges. Therefore, the program is committed to the federal government’s policies on nondiscrimination and employment equity.
• The CRCP strives to be inclusive, which is exactly why the program has taken measures to ensure its researcher pool reflects the population.
• The CRCP’s equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) targets are legally required under the 2006 Canadian Human Rights Settlement Agreement and the Federal-Court-ordered Addendum signed in 2019. The new provisions build on the program’s current EDI measures and achieve the objective of attracting and retaining a diverse cadre of world-class researchers at Canadian postsecondary institutions to reinforce excellence in research and training.
• The program’s equity targets are meant to address the underrepresentation of members of the four designated groups. These individuals have been underrepresented since the program’s inception in 2000, providing evidence of systemic barriers (e.g., biases) in the research ecosystem that hinder their career progression.
• Canada Research Chairs are awarded based on excellence. Prospective chairholders undergo a rigorous review process to assess their merit and excellence.
• Men represent 50.8% (n=1,981) of active Tier 1 and Tier 2 chairs (as of September 2022), with women accounting for 47.3%, and genderfluid, nonbinary and trans people accounting for 0.7%.
• White men are eligible for multiple Canada Research Chair positions across many Canadian universities. White male representation is currently 38%.
• The CRCP, which is housed within SSHRC and also represents CIHR and NSERC, maintains that diversity is a cornerstone of research excellence in Canada.
• As a result, the CRCP has taken measures to work with Canadian educational institutions to ensure the program’s representation of Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized minorities, and women among chairholders is reflective of Canada’s population by 2029.
• The Canadian Human Rights Commission considers equity targets and strategic hiring as best practices for addressing the historical and continuing underrepresentation of members of the four designated groups outlined in the Employment Equity Act―i.e., women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and racialized minorities―and dismantling the systemic barriers they face.
• Université Laval did not meet its equity targets for 2019 and faced the following consequences:
  • The university will not be able to submit new nominations to the program unless the candidates self-identify as belonging to one or more of the four designated groups (as per the legal agreement).
  • The university may still submit renewal nominations, even if the chairholders are not members of the targeted groups.
  • The university agreed to make efforts to increase faculty diversity and meet the CRCP’s requirements for improving the representation of the designated groups among Canada Research Chairs.

December 2019 deadline equity target results

• By May 2022, 88% (57/65) of institutions had met their December 2019 equity targets.
• By March 2022, 86% (56/65) of institutions had met their December 2019 equity targets.
• By December 2019, 77% (50/65) of institutions had met their December 2019 equity targets.
• When the program’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan was launched in May 2017, 31% (20/65) of institutions had met their targets.
• The CRCP’s 2016 evaluation found that, despite the actions that had been taken to date to address the underrepresentation of members of the four designated groups—women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples and racialized minorities—within the program, the majority of institutions had still not met their equity and diversity targets.
• Universities need to develop their own action plans and annually report their progress in meeting their representation targets for the designated groups within the program.
• Institutions that fail to meet their representation targets for the designated groups, as was the case for Université Laval, will face a number of consequences. Such institutions can submit new chairholder nominations only for applicants who self-identify as belonging to one or more of the four designated groups. 
• In 2017, the CRCP implemented the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, which focuses on improving the governance, transparency and monitoring of equity and diversity within the CRCP.
• The Action Plan requires that institutions be more transparent in how they award chair positions and how they select and renew chairholders to uphold the program’s commitment to addressing the historical underrepresentation of members of the four designated groups in Canada’s research community.