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Colleges - Research

This year, the federal government announced more than $37-million to fund 37 projects at Canadian colleges, polytechnics and CEGEPs to help increase research and get more technologies to market.

A map of selected colleges that get research funding across Canada. Source: Research Infosource Inc.

Students and faculty at Canadian colleges and polytechnic institutes are taking on even more innovative research, thanks to more funding.

An increase in partnerships between Canadian businesses and the country's colleges has resulted in a rise in applied research across the nation for the past few years.

According to a 2015-16 survey by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CIC), "colleges and institutes worked with over 6,800 partners from the public and private sectors last year on a variety of applied research projects."

Traditionally, universities have been partnered with the bigger businesses and multinationals, but CIC's survey reports there is a 51-per-cent increase in partnerships between colleges and these large enterprises. The survey also notes that in the past five years, college partnerships with small and medium-sized enterprises have also risen, by 23 per cent.

An increase in government funding is also fuelling innovative research, but remains behind its university counterparts. This year, the federal government announced more than $37-million to fund 37 projects at Canadian colleges, polytechnics and CEGEPs to help increase research and get more technologies to market. Around the same time, the Canadian government gave $328.5-million to 17 research facilities run by 12 universities nationwide.

Here are selected research centres and the funding they receive.

1. Northwest Territories

College: Aurora College

Research Centre: Aurora Research Institute

Project example: Neutron monitoring

Research: Analysis of high-energy space particles and their impacts on Earth.

Funding Income: $2,367,000

2. Yukon

College: Yukon College

Research Centre: Yukon Research Centre

Project example: Ecological monitoring protocols for protected areas

Research: Devising standardized protocols for protected areas through continuing research at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, Kusawa Territorial Park and Age Mene Territorial Park.

Funding Income: $4,695,000

3. British Columbia

College: British Columbia Institute of Technology

Research Centre: Rehabilitation Engineering Design Laboratory

Project example: Exoskeleton research

Research: Looking at the benefits and limitations of powered walking exoskeletons (powered orthotic frames that support and move a user's body).

Funding Income: $6,300,000

4. Alberta

College: Olds College

Research centre: Olds College Centre for Innovation

Project example: Prairie turfgrass research

Research: Focuses on maintaining turfgrass in a cold and dry climate (weed control, biostresses etc.).

Funding Income: $4,220,000

5. Saskatchewan

College: Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Research Centre: Digital Integration Research Group

Project example: Puck perfection

Research: Development of new puck with sound pulses for use in blind hockey.

Funding Income: $1,595,000

6. Manitoba

College: Red River College

Research Centre: Building Envelope Technology Access Centre (BETAC)

Project example: Thermally broken concrete balconies

Research: Conducting thermal and structural tests on different forms of thermal insulation materials and different types of rebar for balconies to reduce heat loss.

Funding Income: $4,876,000

7. Ontario

College: Lambton College

Research centre: Centre of Excellence in Energy and Bio-Industrial Technologies

Project example: Bluewater Technology Access Centre and Lamperd Less Lethal

Research: Development of "less lethal" non-metal munition used in Canadian munitions company Lamperd's 40 MM launcher for training purposes, crowd control and peace-keeping activities.

Funding income: $7,025,000

8. Quebec

College: Collège Shawinigan

Research Centre: Centre National en Électrochimie et en Technologies Environnementales

Project example: Industrial Bioprocesses

Research: Development of biological processes for sectors including bioenergy and nutraceuticals.

Funding Income: $2,369,000

9. New Brunswick

College: Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick

Research Centre: CCNIB-INOV Matériaux composites/Composite Materials

Project example: Agroforestry

Research: Develop and demonstrate agroforestry techniques – use of trees in agricultural production – throughout Atlantic Canada.

Funding Income: $2,623,000

10. Nova Scotia

College: Nova Scotia Community College

Research Centre: Applied Geomatics Research Group

Project example: Community mapping

Research: Develop community maps that can be updated via the internet.

Funding Income: $3,319,000

11. Prince Edward Island

College: Holland College

Research Centre: Canada's Smartest Kitchen

Project example: Food product development

Research: Team of product developers research snack trends and develop flavours.

Funding Income: $1,659,000

12. Newfoundland and Labrador

College: College of the North Atlantic

Research Centre: Applied Minerology and Chemistry Analysis Lab

Project example: Soil Gas Geochemistry

Research: Developed a technique for detecting underlying hydrocarbon deposits or mineral deposits by examining microscopic concentrations of hydrocarbon gas trapped in soil.

Funding Income: $1,821,000

13. Nunavut

College: Nunavut Arctic College

Research Centre: Nunavut Research Institute

Project example: Lightning detection

Research: Monitors lightning patterns in the Arctic to detect influence of climate change.

Funding Income: N/A (individual researchers use grants from their organizations)

Source: Research Infosource Inc.