Continued investment in fundamental science is necessary: Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau

These investments—and the investments made during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic—have sent a clear signal to our community that the Government of Canada recognizes the critical importance of health research and innovation to our post-COVID recovery and our future economic and health prosperity. [...] As the pandemic has shown us, health research and the people who conduct it are integral to our ability to protect and improve the health and well-being of all of the people of Canada, both in relation to pandemics like our current one and the myriad of health concerns that we continue to face every day across the country. [...] Fundamental science provided the building blocks for the scientific community’s response to the COVID- 19 pandemic and was the foundation for the rapid development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines to combat the virus. [...] Researchers and clinicians at all career stages are integral to the health research workforce, and these people rely on investments in fundamental science to support their top-flight research projects and, in the case of early-career researchers—including graduate students, trainees and post-doctoral fellows—to support their career- and skills-development as the highly qualified personnel necessar. [...] Similarly, the Banting Research Foundation has “proposed creating a discovery- investigator program on par with our global competitors for Canada’s most-talented young scientists who can contribute to the fields of health and biomedicine.” COVID-19 has showcased the strength of Canada’s health research and innovation ecosystem and the vital role it will play as our nation seeks to restart—and grow.