Canada's Government Proposes Increased Spending on Higher Education

Canadian higher education leaders on Tuesday praised their federal government's budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which, unlike those put forward by its counterparts in the United States and Britain, would significantly increase spending on higher education and research. The 2011 budget would spend tens of millions of new dollars to create research chairs and invest in brain research, and provide additional funds for student financial aid and study abroad. "[T]oday’s budgetary commitments to higher education are in line with a growing consensus among Canadians that Canada’s research universities play an integral role in advancing our economy and improving the social and economic well-being of all Canadians,” said Stephen Toope, president of the University of British Columbia. “These investments are all the more notable when we are seeing significant budgetary cuts to higher education sectors in other countries."