Story by CBC/Radio-Canada • May 1,2023
Canadian academics and graduate students from across the country came together on Monday to call on the federal government to increase financial support for graduate and doctoral students out of concern talented young researchers may leave the industry.
Led by the grassroots organization Support Our Science, hundreds of students, professors and supporters walked out of their classrooms and labs May 1 at dozens of postsecondary institutions in cities across the country, including Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Toronto, Montreal and St. John's.
The organization has previously penned an open letter calling on the federal government, specifically Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and François-Philippe Champagne, the minister of science, innovation and industry, to boost graduate student funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
A Canada graduate scholarship from one of the three federal research funding agencies is $17,500 per year for a master's student or $21,000 per year for a doctoral student.
Those amounts have not changed since 2003, despite increased inflation and cost of living over the past 20 years.
Students say they're living below the poverty line on the current amount provided by the federal government.© Ben Nelms/CBC
Luis Ramirez, a master's student at Simon Fraser University (SFU), says the amount he is afforded is barely enough to cover his rent, tuition and food.
"We're getting less than $30,000 [per year], even the PhD students.
"We have to pay rent, we have to pay tuition, and we have to pay groceries and clothing and so on. So it's almost impossible to continue with this. We are on the poverty line right now."
UBC graduate student Katrina Bergmann says the low scholarship amounts are "unacceptable."
"We are the major workforce for Canadian science and innovation," she said.
Katrina Bergmann, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia, said the amount of the current scholarships for student researchers is 'unacceptable.'© CBC
Lisa Koetke, who is with CUPE 2278 union representing teaching assistants at the University of Northern B.C. in Prince George, said that federal research stipends are lower in smaller regions — which made the spike in the cost of living difficult to deal with.
"Proportionally speaking, graduate students and post-docs here have all the same struggles when it comes to getting paid quite low relative to the cost of living," she said.
Students using food banks
Nancy Forde, a professor at SFU, said federal funding is not meant to make anyone rich but is instead there to ensure researchers can focus on their work without worrying about finances.
But, she says no one can survive on the amount provided in these scholarship funds, adding that many are using food banks to get by.
"I have students in my own research group who are leaving research because they can't afford to live," she said. "They came into the program with savings, and they've depleted their savings."
"Only the privileged can survive."
She worries that as the cost of living continues to increase, more students will be forced to leave their fields, leaving gaps in Canada's research community.
"We're losing amazing talent who could be responsible for the next big scientific breakthroughs and discoveries, help us through the next pandemic and help us figure out climate change. These people are leaving."
Hundreds of students showed up at the walkout at the University of B.C.© Ben Nelms/CBC
In December, Champagne said he was aware of the call for more funding for graduate researchers and that it would be part of discussions with the finance minister.
"It's clear that if we want to own the podium, we need to do more to support the researchers, the students and the scientists," Champagne said.
The students at the protest said that the money committed to student aid in the 2023 budget did not come close to meeting the needs of students.
© Ben Nelms/CBC
In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal Science Ministry said it had provided $114 million over five years in the 2019 budget to granting agencies to create 500 master's scholarships every year, in addition to an $813.6 million increase to student grants in the most recent budget.
The 2023 budget also included commitments to raise the student loan limit from $210 to $300, as well as to waive the requirement for mature students to undergo credit screening before applying for a federal student grant.
"The government remains committed to investing in Canadian research and is focused on how it can continue to support Canada's world-class researchers, scientists and students," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not specifically respond to a question about whether the scholarship amounts would increase.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the federal Science Ministry said it had provided $114 million over five years in the 2019 budget to granting agencies to create 500 master's scholarships every year, in addition to an $813.6 million increase to student grants in the most recent budget.
The 2023 budget also included commitments to raise the student loan limit from $210 to $300, as well as to waive the requirement for mature students to undergo credit screening before applying for a federal student grant.
"The government remains committed to investing in Canadian research and is focused on how it can continue to support Canada's world-class researchers, scientists and students," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not specifically respond to a question about whether the scholarship amounts would increase.
Research awards pay scholars less than minimum wage: U of M protesters
Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday
Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars abandoned their labs at the University of Manitoba Monday, calling on Ottawa to top up prestigious research awards, the majority of which have remained unchanged for 20 years and are now the equivalent of poverty-line salaries.
Support Our Science, a national advocacy campaign, has formed out of academics’ building frustrations about stagnant scholarship dollars and inflationary pressures.
“It’s a struggle. I worked it out and if I was to work a 40-hour week, it would be equivalent to making about $10 an hour,” said Levi Newediuk, describing his PhD salary via the sum he won to do research at the U of M.
“But, of course, we don’t work 40-hour weeks — we’re working more than that.”
On International Workers’ Day, researchers at more than 40 universities held simultaneous walkouts to draw attention to their concerns that current funding levels are making higher education inaccessible and causing brain drain.
The campaign’s demands target Tri-Council, an umbrella term that refers to the three main granting agencies: the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Recipients of the Canada Graduate Scholarship Masters and Postgraduate Scholarship Doctoral receive annual sums of $17,500 and $21,000, respectively. Those allotments have been intact since 2003.
The highly competitive awards, which are meant to cover a recipient’s tuition and living expenses for an entire year so they can focus on their research, set the benchmark for research funding across the country.
Citing that reality, organizers are demanding increases to the value and number of Tri-Council scholarships and fellowships, which they say will trickle down and result in hiked ceilings for other awards, and raise related research grants so professors can offer higher wages.
Associate professor Colin Garroway noted members of his current research team earn the same amount of money as he did when he started pursuing graduate studies. The cost of living has increased about 50 per cent during that period.
“It was great in 2005. It’s below the poverty line today, and it’s really, really difficult to attract students within Canada and to Canada with this pay because other countries are paying more than double, in some instances,” said Garroway, who was one of more than 150 individuals who rallied at U of M’s Fort Garry campus Monday.
Federal politicians’ claims that the 2023 budget will drive innovation and research “ring entirely hollow,” given it does not address the dollars that support the scholars who are almost entirely responsible for producing research at universities such as U of M, he added.
Scientists rallied on Parliament Hill in support of the cause before the 2022-23 school year got underway. The group later submitted a petition outlining their demands.
In October 2022, the government launched a panel to probe ways to modernize the federal system that supports academic research. Ottawa recently released the final report, including the authors’ conclusion that the future of Canada’s research landscape is bleak in contrast to the commitments that peer countries and competitors have made.
“While Canadians can be rightfully proud of their country’s achievements in science, technology, research and innovation, we currently find ourselves in a precarious situation,” the report states.
It recommends core funding for granting councils be “significantly increased” to address the growth of graduate students, the effects of inflation and “the importance of nurturing a globally competitive research and talent base.”
“Canada wants to be on the forefront of science and research, and all of these students and post-docs standing here are the ones who are putting those papers out, who are putting in the work, and we should be supporting them so that we can be (there),” said PhD student Teassa MacMartin, surrounded by protesters Monday.
MacMartin said prestigious prizes may look great on a resumé, but the reality is that they do not currently allow students to “put all of ourselves into our work.”
The U of M researcher, who is the primary caregiver of her 10-year-old, currently works as a tutor and teaching assistant to supplement her income.
The office of MP François-Philippe Champagne, the federal minister of innovation, science and industry, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press
Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday
Graduate students and post-doctoral scholars abandoned their labs at the University of Manitoba Monday, calling on Ottawa to top up prestigious research awards, the majority of which have remained unchanged for 20 years and are now the equivalent of poverty-line salaries.
Support Our Science, a national advocacy campaign, has formed out of academics’ building frustrations about stagnant scholarship dollars and inflationary pressures.
“It’s a struggle. I worked it out and if I was to work a 40-hour week, it would be equivalent to making about $10 an hour,” said Levi Newediuk, describing his PhD salary via the sum he won to do research at the U of M.
“But, of course, we don’t work 40-hour weeks — we’re working more than that.”
On International Workers’ Day, researchers at more than 40 universities held simultaneous walkouts to draw attention to their concerns that current funding levels are making higher education inaccessible and causing brain drain.
The campaign’s demands target Tri-Council, an umbrella term that refers to the three main granting agencies: the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Recipients of the Canada Graduate Scholarship Masters and Postgraduate Scholarship Doctoral receive annual sums of $17,500 and $21,000, respectively. Those allotments have been intact since 2003.
The highly competitive awards, which are meant to cover a recipient’s tuition and living expenses for an entire year so they can focus on their research, set the benchmark for research funding across the country.
Citing that reality, organizers are demanding increases to the value and number of Tri-Council scholarships and fellowships, which they say will trickle down and result in hiked ceilings for other awards, and raise related research grants so professors can offer higher wages.
Associate professor Colin Garroway noted members of his current research team earn the same amount of money as he did when he started pursuing graduate studies. The cost of living has increased about 50 per cent during that period.
“It was great in 2005. It’s below the poverty line today, and it’s really, really difficult to attract students within Canada and to Canada with this pay because other countries are paying more than double, in some instances,” said Garroway, who was one of more than 150 individuals who rallied at U of M’s Fort Garry campus Monday.
Federal politicians’ claims that the 2023 budget will drive innovation and research “ring entirely hollow,” given it does not address the dollars that support the scholars who are almost entirely responsible for producing research at universities such as U of M, he added.
Scientists rallied on Parliament Hill in support of the cause before the 2022-23 school year got underway. The group later submitted a petition outlining their demands.
In October 2022, the government launched a panel to probe ways to modernize the federal system that supports academic research. Ottawa recently released the final report, including the authors’ conclusion that the future of Canada’s research landscape is bleak in contrast to the commitments that peer countries and competitors have made.
“While Canadians can be rightfully proud of their country’s achievements in science, technology, research and innovation, we currently find ourselves in a precarious situation,” the report states.
It recommends core funding for granting councils be “significantly increased” to address the growth of graduate students, the effects of inflation and “the importance of nurturing a globally competitive research and talent base.”
“Canada wants to be on the forefront of science and research, and all of these students and post-docs standing here are the ones who are putting those papers out, who are putting in the work, and we should be supporting them so that we can be (there),” said PhD student Teassa MacMartin, surrounded by protesters Monday.
MacMartin said prestigious prizes may look great on a resumé, but the reality is that they do not currently allow students to “put all of ourselves into our work.”
The U of M researcher, who is the primary caregiver of her 10-year-old, currently works as a tutor and teaching assistant to supplement her income.
The office of MP François-Philippe Champagne, the federal minister of innovation, science and industry, did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press
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