Early this month, the North-South Institute quietly announced that it will soon have to close its doors.
NSI, an Ottawa-based think tank, had been supporting its domestic and international partners in policymaking through evidence-based research since 1976. The institute is considered one of the best research centers even outside of Canada; the Global Go To Think Tank Survey ranked NSI as one of the world’s leading think tanks with a budget of under $5 million. Its annual Canadian International Development Report, which provided a number of policy briefs on various issues regarding international development, trade and foreign affairs, was highly regarded as well.
NSI relied mainly on funding from what was then the Canadian International Development Agency. Its grant ended in 2013 — the same year CIDA and Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade were “amalgamated” into what is now known as the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.