The 2010 federal budget, released on Thursday, includes moderate funding increases for research, youth employment, promoting college and university education to low-income students, and First Nations schools.

Overall, $108 million is to be spent over three years to help youth gain skills and work experience. This includes a $30 million increase each for programs targeting at-risk youth and funding internships for recent graduates, both part of the Youth Employment Strategy program. Another $30 million will go towards improving governance and accountability in First Nations elementary and secondary education. A $20 million boost will go to the Pathways to Education program, which works to lower the high school dropout rate and increase access to post-secondary education.

Approximately $517 million will be devoted to research over the next two years, outstripping increases to government spending in virtually all other sectors. In his speech Thursday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty highlighted the push for research.

“We are supporting innovation in our colleges and universities, research hospitals and other research institutions,” he said. “These investments will help create clusters of great new jobs on the frontiers of knowledge.”

A total of $32 million will go to the three major granting councils, with the majority going to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research ($16 million), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council ($13 million). The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council will pick up the remaining $3 million. A new grant gives the three councils $45 million over five years for post-doctoral fellows.

This increase comes in the wake of last year’s highly controversial budget, which stipulated cuts of $148 million to the granting councils over three years. These cuts, which far outstrip this year’s modest $32 million increase, have not been suspended.

Adam Awad, VP university affairs at the U of T Students’ Union, argued that the funding did not go far enough, especially for U of T students. “As a principle, we know that the amount of money available from the granting councils is not enough and it’s been hugely problematic,” he said, calling last year’s cuts regressive. “Particularly at U of T where the overriding goal is to increase graduate studies, but the funding has not been any more.”

Awad also pointed to a lack of increased funding for the Post-Secondary Student Support Program, which helps First Nations and Aboriginal students access post-secondary education, as a major problem for U of T students.

“Each band council is given a certain amount of money to allocate as they see fit, which has been capped at two per cent per year, whereas tuition fees have been increased across the country,” he said.

The budget got a better reaction from Lyse Huot, director of communications for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. Huot cited the increased funding for post-doctoral fellows as a good sign.

“At the maturity of the program, that will fund about 40 fellowships annually, valued at about $70,000 each for two years,” she said.

With files from Jane Bao

Where the money goes

$1 billion: For post-secondary educational infrastructures for the 2010-2011 year, as stipulated in 2009 Budget

$600M: Of funding for the Canada Foundation for Innovation remains to be spent; details to be released in coming months

$75M: Increase to Genome Canada’s budget

$45M: To the three granting research councils over five years, to establish a new post-doctoral fellowship program

$16M: Canadian Institutes of Health Research

$13M: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

$3M: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

$8M: Indirect costs of research