E-Paper
Canada will stop funding research with risks to national security
The Canadian government has announced that it will halt funding research in sensitive technology areas if any of the researchers are “connected to military, national defence or state security entities that pose a risk to Canada’s national security”
Toronto: The Canadian government has announced that it will halt funding research in sensitive technology areas if any of the researchers are “connected to military, national defence or state security entities that pose a risk to Canada’s national security”. Ottawa also published a blacklist of over 100 of these institutions, with nearly 90 of them in China.
The list of the proscribed Named Research Organisations (NROs) also include those from Russia and Iran.
“While Canadian-led research is defined by its excellence and collaborative nature, its openness can make it a target for foreign influence, increasing the potential risks for research and development efforts to be misappropriated to the detriment of national security,” a joint statement from Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Health Mark Holland and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, said.
These measures will be implemented under the Policy on Sensitive Technology Research and Affiliations of Concern which lists the NROs and the sensitive technology research areas. “We encourage researchers and institutions to continue to exercise due diligence in all of their research partnerships,” the ministers said.
The release said that the research areas identified are for “advanced and emerging technologies that are important to Canadian research and development, but may also be of interest to foreign state, state-sponsored, and non-state actors, seeking to misappropriate Canada’s technological advantages to our detriment.” The list has 11 broad heads including digital infrastructure, energy, weapons, artificial intelligence, life sciences, quantum science and robotics and autonomous systems.
“While advancement in each of these areas is crucial for Canadian innovation, it is equally important to ensure that open and collaborative research funded by the Government of Canada does not cause injury to Canada’s national security or defence,” the statement noted.
The Chinese institutes named include, among others, the Academy of Military Science, Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, China Academy of Electronics and Information Technology, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Hunan University, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, National Defense University, Tianjin University and University of International Relations.
“This list is composed of research organizations and institutions that pose the highest risk to Canada’s national security due to their direct, or indirect connections with military, national defence, and state security entities,” the release said.
