CRC announces $121.6M for new and renewed chairs

The Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program has announced awards totalling $121.6 million to support 155 new and renewed chairs at 42 post-secondary institutions. The funding includes $7.1 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation for research infrastructure associated with the chair awards. Women made significant gains in the latest competition, taking 34.8% of the chair positions. Women did best with the entry-level Tier II chairs, taking 47 or 44.3% of the 101 chairs awarded. Men continue to dominate the senior Tier I chairs taking 42 or 82.3% of the 51 chairs awarded. The historical average for women in the CRC program is 26%. The latest competition saw 34 of the 121 chairs going to researchers from outside Canada. Ex-patriate Canadians secured 15 chairs while international researchers were awarded 19 chairs. Over the life of the program, 242 chairs have gone to ex-pat Canadians while 259 have gone to international candidates. Currently, more than 1,800 chairs are filled in a program designed to fund a maximum of 2,000. The provincial breakdown for the latest funding is as follows: Ontario ($47.8 million), Quebec ($35.3 million), Alberta ($15.8 million), British Columbia ($13.9 million), Nova Scotia ($4.9 million), New Brunswick ($1.5 million), Manitoba ($1.4 million), Newfoundland ($500,000) and Saskatchewan ($500,000).