The Canada Research Chairs Program stands at the centre of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top five countries for research and development. In 2000, the Government of Canada allocated $900 million to establish 2,000 research professorships—Canada Research Chairs—in universities across the country.

The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program is a federal tax incentive program to encourage Canadian businesses of all sizes and in all sectors to conduct research and development (R&D) in Canada that will lead to new, improved, or technologically advanced products or processes. The SR&ED program is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial research and development.

The National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) is Canada's premier innovation assistance program for small and medium-sized Canadian enterprises (SMEs).

The Canadian Biotechnology Strategy (CBS) was launched in 1998 as the Canadian government's framework to advance and communicate federal interests in biotechnology. The objective of the Canadian Biotechnology Strategy (CBS) Fund is to support horizontal policy development under the Canadian Biotechnology Framework across federal government departments and agencies.