Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, joined Anja Karliczek, Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, to celebrate 50 successful years of the Canada-Germany Science and Technology Agreement.
May 7, 2021 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada
Science and technology collaboration between Canada and international partners is critical to maintaining the country’s competitiveness and to creating and sustaining good middle-class jobs as it builds back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, joined Anja Karliczek, Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, to celebrate 50 successful years of the Canada-Germany Science and Technology Agreement.
Minister Ng praised the strong and dynamic relationship between the 2 countries, which has led to more than a thousand joint research projects in priority areas, such as industrial cooperation, life sciences, sustainable energy, the oceans and the Arctic since the agreement came into force in 1971.
The ministers noted that this rich and successful cooperation, which spans all fields of science, is further strengthened by the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and by the recent energy partnership that positions Canada as a clean-energy partner of choice for Germany, notably for hydrogen, critical minerals and liquefied natural gas.
“This year, we celebrate 50 successful years of cooperation between Canada and Germany in the fields of science, technology and innovation—helping solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges to build a better future. We have collaborated in over a thousand joint projects, and as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, our collaboration will continue to benefit our communities and our economic recovery on both sides of the Atlantic.”
– Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade
“50 years ago Germany and Canada agreed to cooperate closely in science and technology in order to shape the future together. Today Canada is one of our most important partners in scientific cooperation worldwide with a variety of activities and on many different levels: between our governments, universities, numerous companies and many organizations. We also support the exchange of students and young researchers from both countries, which lays a decisive foundation for our future cooperation. Over 50 German-Canadian events to celebrate the anniversary in the coming months will make it clear: We still have a lot to do together!”
– Anja Karliczek, Germany’s Minister of Education and Research
Germany is Canada’s largest export market in the EU and its sixth-largest trading partner globally, with the value of 2-way merchandise trade totalling $23.7 billion in 2020.
Canada is seeking to strengthen cooperation in applied research and innovation-based business activities with Germany, whose world-leading export performance is driven by industrial innovation.
Over the past few years, German research organizations, such as Max Planck, Helmholtz, the Fraunhofer Society and Leibniz, have established research partnerships with Canadian organizations that include joint research, technology development, and commercialization of R&D.
The most recent partnership is the recently launched Max Planck-University of Toronto Centre for Neural Science and Technology. The initiative will train over 25 PhD students in both Canada and Germany, aiming to create advanced technologies for the study of brain circuits to improve human health.
Cooperation between German federal states and Canadian provinces is an element of the bilateral research relationship. It includes cooperation between Bavaria and Quebec, the Ontario/Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange program, and the Alberta-Saxony Intercultural Internship Alliance, all of which support the mobility of researchers and students between Canada and Germany.
Youmy Han
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade
343-551-0246
Youmy.Han@international.gc.ca