National Research Council (Canada)

Mandate

NRC is a Government of Canada organization. It’s mandate is set out in the National Research Council Act.

Under the Act, NRC is responsible for:

Programs

In 2011, NRC President John R. McDougall, began to oversee a change in research focus away from basic research and towards industrial-relevant research. This included the development of multiple "programs", shifting research budget out of existing research and into a number of focused programs. Approved programs are:

Algal Carbon Conversion Flagship Program

The Algal Carbon Conversion Pilot Program, development of an algae system to recycle carbon emissions from the oil sands, with plans for a $19 million facility to be constructed in Alberta, in partnership between the NRC and industry partners, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (Canadian Natural) and Pond Biofuels.

In 2008 researchers from five I-CAN organizations were developing a Carbon Algae Recycling System (CARS) to "feed waste heat and flue gas containing CO2 from industrial exhaust stacks to micro-algae growing in artificial ponds." The "Algal Carbon Conversion", is related to prior interests of Mr. McDougall, as he previously headed Innoventures, a company involved in lobbying for the development of an algae system to recycle carbon emissions. The Algal Carbon Conversion Pilot Project, with plans for a $19 million facility to be constructed in Alberta, is a partnership between the NRC and industry partners, Canadian Natural Resources Limited (Canadian Natural) and Pond Biofuels. The NRC was not involved in this area of research prior to the arrival of Mr. McDougall.

The Canadian Wheat Improvement Flagship

The Canadian Wheat Improvement Program is a "strategic collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre and the province of Saskatchewan." With a budget of approximately $97 million (2013-2018), the Canadian Wheat Alliance will be conducting research on improving the yield of Canadian wheat crops and on the most efficient use of chemical fertilizers. Working with breeders and scientists at the Crop Development Centre and at AAFC, they will be integrating long term research with genetic improvement of wheat.

Gallium Nitride (GaN) Electronics Program

The GaN Electronics program supports partner research and development activities with a goal of ensuring that GaN technology will create wealth and a greener future for Canadians. NRC is the only Canadian foundry for GaN electronics, and offers both normally-on and normally-off devices. The GaN500v2 Foundry Design Kit was released on June 28, 2014.

Governance

The NRC is managed by a governing council. Current members of the council are: Patricia Béretta, PhD. Biomedical Engineer; Louis Brunel, President International Institute of Telecommunications Montreal, Quebec; John McDougall (President and Chairman), CEO of I-CAN, former petroleum engineer; Delwyn Fredlund, Senior Geotechnical Engineering Specialist, Golder Associates Ltd; Dr. Wayne Gulliver, dermatologist, President Newlab Clinical Research Inc.; James P. Hatton, a commercial solicitor specializing in intellectual property assets; Joseph Hubert, PhD, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Université de Montréal; Pascale Michaud, PhD, President of Business Families Foundation; Gilles Patry, PhD, Rector and Vice-Chancellor University of Ottawa; Alan Pelman, PhD, Former Vice-President, Technology Canada, Weyerhaeuser Ltd.; Louise Proulx, PhD, Vice-President, Product Development, Topigen Pharmaceuticals Inc.; René Racine, OC, PhD, professor emeritus with the physics department at the University of Montreal, director of the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope project; Salma Rajwani, CIO of Acrodex, president of Arcspan Solutions, (PSA) program; Inge Russell, PhD, brewing yeast and fermentation scientist, London, Ontario; Barbara Stanley, corporate solicitor; President BESCO Holdings 2002 Inc. Rothesay, New Brunswick; Howard Tennant, PhD, President Emeritus University of Lethbridge; Jean-Claude Villiard, Special Advisor, Privy Council Office, Government of Canada and Louis Visentin, PhD, President Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba. Opposition questioned the reduction in size of the council advising the president from 18 to 10 in October 2013, given "the large geographic diversity in this country and the large diversity of research in the natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, and social sciences."

Employment

Close to 4,000 people across Canada are employed by the NRC. In addition, the Council also employs guest workers from universities, companies, and public and private-sector organizations.

History

The NRC was established in 1916 under the pressure of World War I to advise the government on matters of science and industrial research. In 1932, laboratories were built on Sussex Drive in Ottawa.

With the impetus of World War II, the NRC grew rapidly and for all practical purposes became a military science and weapons research organization. It undertook a number of important projects, which included participation with the United States and United Kingdom in the development of chemical and germ warfare agents, the explosive RDX, the proximity fuse, radar, and submarine detection techniques. A special branch known as the Examination Unit was involved with cryptology and the interception of enemy radio communications. According to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service website, the NRC headquarters in Ottawa "was a prime espionage target" during the Cold War. The NRC was also engaged in atomic fission research at the Montreal Laboratory, then the Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario.

Post-WWII, the NRC reverted to its pre-war civilian role and a number of wartime activities were spun off to newly formed organizations. Military research continued under a new organization, the Defence Research Board, while inventions with commercial potential were transferred to the newly formed Canadian Patents and Development Limited. Atomic research went to the newly created Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. Foreign signals intelligence gathering officially remained with the agency when, by Order in Council, the Examination Unit became the Communications Branch of the NRC in 1946. The CBNRC was transferred to the Department of National Defence in 1975, and renamed the Communications Security Establishment. During the 1950s, the medical research funding activities of the NRC were handed over to the newly formed Medical Research Council of Canada.

Finally, on May 1, 1978, with the rapid post-war growth of Canadian universities the NRC's role in university research funding in the natural sciences was passed to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Under financial pressure in the 1980s, the federal government produced what popularly became known as the Neilson Report, which recommended across-the-board financial cuts to all federal government organizations, including the NRC. This led to staff and program cutbacks.

In 2000, there were about 1000 NRC researchers with Ph.D.s conducting research in a many areas.

Recovery was slow, but the NRC has managed to regain its status as Canada's single most important scientific and engineering research institution among many other Canadian government scientific research organizations.

As President of the National Research Council Canada, chemist Arthur Carty, revitalized the organization. In 2004 he left the NRC when then prime minister Paul Martin appointed him as independent, non-partisan advisor on science and technology.

Nobel Prizes

Several Nobel Laureates have been associated with the NRC at various points of their careers

Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear 2008-2013

Today, much of the NRC's focus is on developing partnerships with private and public-sector technology companies, both nationally and internationally. Under the federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, the NRC became a "toolbox for industry" and dented basic-research infrastructure.

Planning and reporting

The NRC reports yearly within the Treasury Board Secretariat's Results-Based Management Framework. The NRC is currently guided by a strategic plan for 2006-2011: Science at Work for Canada.

Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)

The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) was introduced in the 1950s to support product developments in small to medium-sized businesses. The NRC provides grants and financial support to business' looking to bring new and innovative technologies to the market.

Some of the many innovations by NRC personnel included the artificial pacemaker, development of canola (rapeseed) in the 1940s, the Crash Position Indicator in the 1950s, and the Cesium Beam atomic clock in the 1960s.

Since 1974 Paul Barton of PSB Speakers used the NRC's world-class measurement facilities, their anechoic chamber. By the 1980s more companies began to use this incredible resource and began to develop at the NRC. Even small companies had access to these facilities for loudspeaker measurements of high quality, offering them a competitive edge. Eventually almost every major Canadian company including Energy Loudspeakers and Paradigm Electronics, tested their loudspeakers at the NRC. Electrical engineer, Floyd E. Toole, who worked at the NRC was at the centre of this research. By the year 2000 most companies had their own sound chambers, but Paul Barton continued to use the NRC's facilities. In about 1990, PSB and other Canadian companies worked with the NRC on Athena to evaluate digital signal processing (DSP) for loudspeaker design.

The metal walls of the NRC’s anechoic chamber are located about a foot and a half from the internal walls that surround it. The whole chamber is suspended on springs. This makes it a building within the M-37 building. The purpose of all this is to provide a completely isolated environment that, according to Barton, registers a noise level that is less than 0dB. (0dB is a statistical average of the lowest level of human hearing.) Wedges made from fiberglass are inside the chamber, and they help create the reflection-free environment. No sound gets in, none gets out, and what occurs within gets completely absorbed with nary a bounce.

From 2002 to 2006, John R. McDougall, who was appointed President of NRC in 2010, was a member of the NRC-Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) Advisory Board.

In 2011 Bev Oda Minister of International Cooperation and Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) announced the grant recipients. These included small to medium-sized businesses, such as, Nortek Solutions a privately owned Canadian software company. They received a $30,000 grant from NRC to hire a young graphics design graduate to work on their "CUROS" people management software. Oasys Healthcare, a company that provides "innovative audio and video solutions for the medical marketplace" received a $13,000 NRC grant for its new technology for operation rooms. Jeffrey Ross Jewellery's product called Dimples, imprints fingerprints in silver using an innovative process and material, developed through a NRC $35,750 grant.

Transition of NRC to industry-driven, program-based research

In a press conference held in Ottawa, 7 May 2013, with Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) and Deputy Leader of the Government at the Senate, Claude Carignan, John R. McDougall announced the transition of the NRC to an industry-driven, program-based research and technology organization.

Restriction on government scientists to communicate with media

Under the tenure of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canadian Government research organizations began to restrict the ability of government scientists to communicate with the public. This includes restricting scientists within the NRC to communicate with the public through non-scientist communications personnel. Harper's focus as an economist was on his action plan, creating jobs and building the economy. There were widespread concerns that the progress in development was at the cost of the environment.

In 2012, the federal government moved "to defund government research centers in the High Arctic." In the same year National Research Council environmental scientists "were barred from discussing their work on snowfall with the media.

"Scientists for the governmental agency Environment Canada, under threat of losing their jobs, were banned from discussing their research without political approval. Mentions of federal climate change research in the Canadian press have dropped 80 percent. The union that represents federal scientists and other professionals has, for the first time in its history, abandoned neutrality to campaign against Mr. Harper.

Appointment of John McDougall as NRC Director 2010

The appointment of John McDougall as President of NRC, who has a long and successful career in partnering science and technology research and development with industry partners, was a cause of concern.

Bill C-38

Bill C-38 raised the ire of many who opposed unfettered industrial growth and who argued that science was being gutted and silenced to open the way for development in ecologically sensitive areas in the north.

In June, 2012, the federal opposition made a motion in parliament,

That, in the opinion of the House, Canadian scientific and social science expertise is of great value and, therefore, the House calls on the Government to end its muzzling of scientists; to reverse the cuts to research programs at Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Library and Archives Canada, National Research Council Canada, Statistics Canada, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; and to cancel the closures of the National Council of Welfare and the First Nations Statistical Institute.

Agencies with special relationships with the NRC

Specialized agencies and services which have branched out of the NRC include:

Emerging Technologies

Life Sciences

Engineering

NRC's Current Fleet of Research and Test Aircraft

The NRC has a fleet of aircraft for their research purposes:

NRC's Past Fleet of Research and Test Aircraft

Research Aircraft