[Ottawa, ON]
CANARIE is delighted to announce the signing of an amendment of its Contribution Agreement with the Government of Canada, through the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), to extend its current mandate for an additional year, to March 31, 2025. This amendment comes as CANARIE works with the Government towards a new 5-year funding agreement and mandate that would advance CANARIE’s infrastructures and services from 2025 through to 2030.
The amendment provides CANARIE with an additional $37 million in funding for FY25, bringing the Government of Canada’s total investment in CANARIE for the period of April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2025, to $174 million. This funding has enabled several key outcomes, including:
- Expanding the capacity and resiliency of the ultra high-speed backbone of Canada’s National Research and Education Network (NREN), including internationally, to further support Canada’s impact on global research collaborations;
- The connection of Nunavut to Canada’s NREN;
- The launch of the Cybersecurity Initiatives Program to help improve cybersecurity in the research and education sector;
- The launch of the CanSSOC Pilot – a federated shared security operations centre for the research and education sector, delivered with the provincial and territorial partners in Canada’s NREN;
- The launch of the National Cybersecurity Assessment – an annual, comprehensive assessment of cybersecurity capabilities and capacities of research and education organizations, to help identify organizational, regional, and national strengths and priorities for support;
- Increased participation in the Digital Accelerator for Innovation and Research (DAIR) Cloud Program to over 2,000 Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing access to cloud resources and curated packages of learning resources and sample code at no cost;
- An increasing number of public, non-academic locations that are broadcasting eduroam, the secure, global Wi-Fi service for the research and education (R&E) community, expanding access to libraries, municipal offices, arenas, and airports;
- Authenticating over 450 million logins per year to eduroam, keeping the R&E community connected securely, wherever they roam across Canada.
“We are grateful for the trust and confidence the Government of Canada has placed in CANARIE through this investment,” said Dr. Larry Rosia, Chair of the Board of Directors. “This funding will support the ongoing delivery and evolution of our programs and initiatives, ensuring that CANARIE continues to serve its vital role in Canada’s research, education, and innovation sectors.”
“This funding will support a number of mission critical activities, including key upgrades to the ultra-high speed CANARIE Network, which is the digital foundation of Canadian leadership in research and innovation, and evolving cloud services for small and medium-sized enterprises,” added Kathryn Anthonisen, CANARIE’s President and CEO. “It will also help strengthen the cybersecurity of Canada’s research and education sector through the continuation of essential services that benefit all organizations, regardless of size or existing capability and capacity.”
Notably, this additional year’s funding will enable the completion of the NREN CanSSOC Pilot to validate the operational needs of a shared, multi-jurisdictional Security Operations Centre for Canada’s research and education sector.
Together, this amendment and the upcoming 5-year renewal will help enable Canada’s participation in critical global science initiatives such as the Square Kilometre Array, continue to strengthen the cybersecurity of Canada’s research and education sector, and evolve services supporting Canadian entrepreneurs.
For more information, please contact:
Lesley McElroy
Director, Communications
CANARIE
[email protected]