The federal government and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada have agreed to a framework agreement on federally funded research.

Under the terms of the agreement, AUCC members say they will double the amount of research their institutions perform and triple their commercialization efforts over the next decade in exchange for guarantees of increased federal funding.

The announcement was made at a national summit on innovation and learning in Toronto last month that brought together more than 500 participants to discuss Ottawa's plans to encourage more research and innovation in Canada.

"Additional funding should bring advances in research and commercialization and must be matched by a commitment to advance knowledge transfer, commercialization and innovation for the benefit of all Canadians," Industry Minister Allan Rock said.

"This will benefit all Canadians," said Robert Best, AUCC's vice-president for national affairs. "This framework commits AUCC to report publicly to Canadians on collective results of university research."

But some observers say the agreement's emphasis on the commercialization of research may in fact inhibit innovation.

"We're not opposed to the commercialization of research per se, but we are very concerned that we don't privilege commercial research over basic research," said CAUT president Victor Catano. "The irony is that the really innovative discoveries that ultimately lead to important commercial applications stem from basic research, and initially don't have any anticipated commercial outcomes."

He says scientific inquiry flourishes best when it is unimpeded by special interests. "By putting the emphasis on commercial research we're in danger of killing the goose that lays the golden egg."

Catano, who was one of the delegates invited to the national summit, said there were other worrisome developments emerging from Ottawa's innovation agenda.

In a speech delivered at the summit opening, Human Resources Development Minister Jane Stewart said the government will be speeding up the drug approval process.

Catano said given the recent controversies in clinical drug trials, "any change in regulations must not compromise patient safety."

As well, the federal government is planning to develop an arms-length Canadian Learning Institute to report on "learning outcomes" at all levels of education and to analyse new approaches to learning.

"The proposal remains vague at this point, but we're in touch with Stewart's office," Catano said. "We've been assured that CAUT will be directly involved in the planning process."