'The future of science in Canada is at risk': Researchers call for pay raise
In a University of Ottawa lab, Sarah Laframboise is hoping to advance cancer research by studying a gene that causes the disease in humans. Her research works with a "model organism": tiny fungi that have a surprising amount in common with us.
"Yeast and humans share about 20 to 30 per cent of the same genes," she said. "The goal of that is really to find underlying mechanisms that cause different disease states."
The 27-year-old has always dreamt of being a scientist. After a decade in university, she's nearly finished her PhD and has amassed around $100,000 in student debt.
"I've often worked many jobs at once just to make ends meet," she said. "When I started my master's, I had to take out additional loans because you're then not allowed to work outside of the lab."
Funding for research students in Canada comes mainly through scholarships and fellowships from the three federal granting agencies: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
But the awards have not increased in years. Laframboise earned $21,000 annually until last year, when she got a scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for $35,000.
She's not alone — funding has become a central issue for the on-campus group she leads, called the Ottawa Science Policy Network.
The group says many scholarships amount to less than minimum wage.
They also say graduate students have not seen a raise since 2003, and post-doctoral scholars have only had wages rise by 12.5 per cent in those 19 years.
That's the reason for an online petition calling on the federal government for raises. It has more than 1,000 signatures and will be presented to Parliament in the fall.
At a rally on Parliament Hill Thursday, dozens of researchers carried an open letter signed by thousands of their colleagues, printed out on sheets of paper joined to make a 60-metre-long train, to symbolically present to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Science and Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.
They're asking for award funding amounts to be increased by 48 per cent to match inflation since 2003, and to be indexed to inflation to keep up. They also want government to create 50 per cent more graduate scholarships and post-doctoral fellowships.
Jeanette Whitton, an associate professor of botany at the University of British Columbia and president-elect of the Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution, said she benefited from financial support as an early career scientist, but in today's financial reality "I don't think I could have made it."
"I'm worried, because never before have graduate students and post-doctoral researchers been so financially stretched that their future careers are at risk. And this means the future of science in Canada is at risk."
Champagne was not made available for an interview. In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for his office said the value of post-doctoral fellowships has been increased to $45,000 a year.
Asked to respond to the group's raise requests, Laurie Bouchard said the government "will continue to work with (the research community) to explore ways in which we can continue to support our next generation of researchers."
"We're going to lose highly trained individuals to other locations that will pay them," Laframboise said. "I don't have aspirations to stay in academia, but if I did, it would not be in Canada."
A House of Commons science and research committee report released in June recommends creating more scholarships and fellowships, giving researchers a 25 per cent raise, and indexing the award amounts to the consumer price index.
It also called on the government to review and increase its funding of the three granting councils and to find ways to improve the continuity of funding they provide to researchers.
The committee said it heard from Universities Canada that doubling the number of available awards and increasing their value by a quarter would cost an estimated $770 million over five years.
"Many people my age are thinking about starting a family, getting married, buying a house," Laframboise said.
"My younger brother, he's doing his apprenticeship in trades. He's 20 years old and has way more savings than I can even imagine having. So I think that just gives a really good example of the disparity."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2022.
IN DEPTH
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Trudeau, key election players to testify at foreign interference hearings. What you need to know
The public hearings portion of the federal inquiry into foreign interference in Canadian elections and democratic institutions are picking back up this week. Here's what you need to know.
Who is supporting, opposing new online harms bill?
Now that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's sweeping online harms legislation is before Parliament, allowing key stakeholders, major platforms, and Canadians with direct personal experience with abuse to dig in and see what's being proposed, reaction is streaming in. CTVNews.ca has rounded up reaction, and here's how Bill C-63 is going over.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
TREND LINE What Nanos' tracking tells us about Canadians' mood, party preference heading into 2024
Heading into a new year, Canadians aren't feeling overly optimistic about the direction the country is heading, with the number of voters indicating negative views about the federal government's performance at the highest in a decade, national tracking from Nanos Research shows.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for "all parties" to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Taylor Swift drops 15 new songs on double album, 'The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology'
On Friday, the pop star released her 11th album and at 2 a.m. Eastern, she released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," featuring 15 additional songs.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
Local Spotlight
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly on a mission: N.S. student collecting books about women in sport for school library
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
Marmot in the city: New resident of North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale a 'rock star rodent'
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
Relocated seal returns to Greater Victoria after 'astonishing' 204-kilometre trek
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Ottawa barber shop steps away from Parliament Hill marks 100 years in business
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
'It was a special game': Edmonton pinball player celebrates high score and shout out from game designer
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
'How much time do we have?': 'Contamination' in Prairie groundwater identified
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.