Canadian Science Gets Biggest Boost To PhD and Postdoc Pay in 20 Years (nature.com) 23
Researchers in Canada got most of what they were hoping for in the country's 2024 federal budget, with a big boost in postgraduate pay and more funding for research and scientific infrastructure. From a report: "We are investing over $5 billion in Canadian brainpower," said finance minister Chrystia Freeland in her budget speech on 16 April. "More funding for research and scholarships will help Canada attract the next generation of game-changing thinkers."
Postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers have been advocating for higher pay for the past two years through a campaign called Support Our Science. They requested an increase in the value, and number, of federal government scholarships, and got more than they asked for. Stipends for master's students will rise from Can$17,500 (US$12,700) to $27,000 per year, PhDs stipends that ranged from $20,000 to $35,000 will be set to a uniform annual $40,000 and most postdoctoral-fellowship salaries will increase from $45,000 to $70,000 per annum. The number of scholarships and fellowships provided will also rise over time, building to around 1,720 more per year after five years.
"We're very thrilled with this significant new investment, the largest investment in graduate students and postdocs in over 21 years," says Kaitlin Kharas, a PhD student at the University of Toronto, Canada, and executive director of Support Our Science. "It will directly support the next generation of researchers." Although only a small proportion of students and postdoctoral fellows receive these federal scholarships, other funders tend to use them as a guide for their own stipends. Many postgraduates said that low pay was forcing them to consider leaving Canada to pursue their scientific career, says Kharas, so this funding should help to retain talent in the country.
Postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers have been advocating for higher pay for the past two years through a campaign called Support Our Science. They requested an increase in the value, and number, of federal government scholarships, and got more than they asked for. Stipends for master's students will rise from Can$17,500 (US$12,700) to $27,000 per year, PhDs stipends that ranged from $20,000 to $35,000 will be set to a uniform annual $40,000 and most postdoctoral-fellowship salaries will increase from $45,000 to $70,000 per annum. The number of scholarships and fellowships provided will also rise over time, building to around 1,720 more per year after five years.
"We're very thrilled with this significant new investment, the largest investment in graduate students and postdocs in over 21 years," says Kaitlin Kharas, a PhD student at the University of Toronto, Canada, and executive director of Support Our Science. "It will directly support the next generation of researchers." Although only a small proportion of students and postdoctoral fellows receive these federal scholarships, other funders tend to use them as a guide for their own stipends. Many postgraduates said that low pay was forcing them to consider leaving Canada to pursue their scientific career, says Kharas, so this funding should help to retain talent in the country.
Wow! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Wow! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Here in the USA, the idea of the government actually doing anything for citizens is viewed by Congress and the Executive Branch as welfare and something bad. Investing in citizens is against what they believe in, while giving money away to the wealthy and international corporations that ship jobs out of the USA to other countries is perfectly worthy of the government giving them tax breaks.
FTFY
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I'm currently enrolled in a US PhD program and my stipend is 40,000 per year. We are going to be receiving a raise to 47k-48k soon. Not sure when the GP did their PhD but times, prices, and stipends change quickly.
As to your other point, the US spends over twice as much as Canada on R&D as a fraction of GDP. In fact, in absolute numbers it is the world's greatest spender, and very high in relative terms as well. While I dislike the GOP's spending priorities as much as the next person, let's not jump ont
Well... (Score:3)
These are only for federal scholarships. Most students don't get those. Also, for the postdocs it comes after a big cut ten years ago when they decided the fellowships were taxable. Retroactively in many cases.
Good, but what about inflation? (Score:1, Troll)
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These massive deficits are driving inflation, Canada is well into "run out of other people's money" phase.
Fortunately the people seem to be quickly catching on to that fact. The next election can't come too soon.
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These massive deficits are driving inflation, Canada is well into "run out of other people's money" phase.
Fortunately the people seem to be quickly catching on to that fact. The next election can't come too soon.
And PP and the Cons will roll back this funding increase as soon as they are in power. So if you are in favour of funding scientific research or are a student, get ready to wave bye-bye to the money JT just made available to you.
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But that's where it ends. Look at the dental care thing.
Gov says there's money for seniors, etc... but it pays so poorly, Dentists are losing money, so they don't want to sign up to participate.
$10 Daycare? No takers on that either because, the subsidy isn't enough to attract providers. I read that half the money isn't spent because providers don't want to participate.
Same thing with billions "announced" for housing. Fuck. There's lots of available rentals around here.
"Wal
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Anyone who has been paying attention knows our health care system has serious issues.
The bulk of which aren’t due to the Federal government, as in Canada the provision of healthcare services is the domain of the Provinces.
It’s notable that two of the Provinces with the worst problems are led by Conservative Premiers, who have been dismantling health care systems in their Province as a way to try to bring in more American-style private for-profit healthcare.
Yaz
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Anyone who has been paying attention knows our health care system has serious issues.
The bulk of which aren’t due to the Federal government, as in Canada the provision of healthcare services is the domain of the Provinces.
It’s notable that two of the Provinces with the worst problems are led by Conservative Premiers, who have been dismantling health care systems in their Province as a way to try to bring in more American-style private for-profit healthcare.
Yaz
Constitutionally yes health care belongs to the provinces. I'm sure you are aware that in reality that is not the case. The Canada Health Act firmly inserts the feds into the system and has for most of my life.
And nobody wants a US style system with its insurers sucking value out of the system for nothing, but the more successful systems in Europe use a mix of public and private provision of services quite effectively while maintaining the principles of universality and a single payer. Ideology on eith
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Constitutionally yes health care belongs to the provinces. I'm sure you are aware that in reality that is not the case. The Canada Health Act firmly inserts the feds into the system and has for most of my life.
Running the health systems is completely the purview of the Provinces. The major requirements of the Canada Health Act are mostly in terms of what services are offered (so that we don’t have a nationally fractured system where basic procedures aren’t universal).
Other than that, there is the health transfer from the Federal Government down to the Provinces — but the Provinces aren’t supposed to rely solely on that transfer to fund their health care systems. And that money typically
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For the sake of argument, lets just look at one part, hospitals and how they are imagined and how they are run. I know a highly placed hospital administrator, at one of the large hospitals in TO... and am using her attitudes to guage here. I also read news, and know many people using health services. I've also interviewed at several hospitals for IT positions, and know a former network administrator for the Red Cross. I'm no
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Running the health systems is completely the purview of the Provinces. The major requirements of the Canada Health Act are mostly in terms of what services are offered (so that we don’t have a nationally fractured system where basic procedures aren’t universal).
The feds sure like to take credit. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/n... [pm.gc.ca]
In any case, adding more services on top of the ones already struggling is not going to help. In the end there is only one taxpayer and only so big a pool of money available. Spreading it thinner does nobody any service.
Crumbling systems are entirely the fault of the Provinces.
I don't disagree insofar as our former MB premier (Brian Pallister) was a horrible thing for our health care system. Of course Greg Selinger's NDP before them were pretty awful as well. But all the provinces are stru
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I have no doubt you'd blame the Conservatives for rolling any of that back and not the Liberals or the NDP for all the scandals, gross misuse of funds, everything they'd done during covid-19, and the lavish expenses of the MPs. This is straight out of the Liberal election time playbook, pledge to spend piles of money the government can't afford to make the Conservatives look bad when they have to show fiscal prudence because we're broke.
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Buying voters (Score:1)
McDonalds (Score:2)