Universities in Canada will receive up to C$2 billion (Rs.10,312 crore) to help them modernise their infrastructure, the government has announced.

The new Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund, which will be given to higher education institutions over three years from 2016-17, was announced on March 22 in the first budget of Canada’s new Liberal government, led by Justin Trudeau. It will support up to 50 percent of the “eligible costs” of on-campus infrastructure projects at universities and affiliated research and commercialisation organisations. The government also earmarked an additional C$95 million (Rs.490 crore) a year for the country’s research-granting councils from 2016-17 — the highest amount of new annual money for discovery research in more than a decade, it said.

Elizabeth Cannon, chair of Universities Canada and president of the University of Calgary, welcomes the announcements. “This government understands that universities are best able to drive immediate economic stimulus and longer-term prosperity through infrastructure projects, through research and by ensuring students have the skills they need,” she says.

In a statement, the Canadian Association of University Teachers says that it had raised concerns about “the former government’s direction in science policy that favoured narrow commercial interests at the expense of basic research and the broader public interest”. It added that the budget announcements from the Liberal Party were “a first step in the right direction”.

The budget also included a number of measures designed to make higher education more affordable for students. From 2016-17, state-funded bursaries, known as Canada Student Grants, will be increased from C$2,000 to C$3,000 (Rs.1.06-1.59 lakh) per year for students from low-income families, and from C$800 to C$1,200 for students from middle-income families. Part-time students will also receive a C$600 annual increase to C$1,800. These increases were promised by the Liberal Party in its election pledges in 2015. Moreover the student loan repayment threshold will also be increased from C$20,210 to C$25,000.