Canada invests millions of pounds in leading edge medical research

The province of Ontario, Canada is supporting groundbreaking genomics and medical research in cancer.

The provincial government is investing £51.5m (US$94m) to support 31 research projects and more than 300 researchers in seven communities across Ontario. More than half of the funding will support medical research.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said researchers at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute would receive £9.95m to help move genomics research forward and develop new treatments for cancer that would spare patients the toxic effects of chemotherapy.

The funding will also support numerous projects dealing with basic science and research into information and communications technologies, clean technologies and digital media - all sectors where Ontario has significant strengths.

Ontario is the largest hub of biomedical activity in Canada and the fourth largest biomedical research centre in North America.

The life sciences sector employs 43,000 people at more than 800 companies across the province, generating annual revenues of more than £7.53bn.

Ontario's Innovation Agenda is a £1.72bn strategy to make the province one of the best places in the world to turn knowledge and ideas into companies and jobs.