Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Like my colleagues, I'd like to provide a quick overview of NRCan and the S and T we do there.
Natural Resources Canada is a science-based policy and program department, so science and technology plays a critical role in addressing the challenges and opportunities in the resource sectors. We've organized the work within NRCan around three strategic outcomes: the natural resource sectors are internationally competitive, economically productive, and contribute to the social well-being of Canadians; Canada is a world leader on environmental responsibility and the development and use of natural resources; and natural resources and land-mass knowledge strengthen the safety and security of Canadians and contribute to the effective governance of the country.
Working to that agenda, we have the three major components of sustainable development, which is the driving force for Natural Resources Canada. Our goal is to provide our policies and programs based on strong research and evidence. S and T clearly is at the core of that evidence.
We are a significant science performer in the Government of Canada. Our S and T budget runs more or less, on average, at $500 million per year, with some 3,000 people in the department working on S and T, of whom 475 are actual research scientists. The scientists are fully engaged in the global science community, contributing new knowledge through significant peer-review publications and through work in their academic settings, where they're helping to grow the next generation of Canadian scientists.
I would note that two-thirds of our research scientists hold adjunct professorship status with universities across the country, and the dialogue box on the bottom of page 3 gives you a sense of Canada's long tradition of natural resources-based S and T.
The map that follows on page 4 gives you a sense of NRCan S and T happening across the country, literally coast to coast to coast. I would point out that these facilities act as important home bases, but that we have a significant contribution in the area of seasonal field camps, permanent survey plots, and other research outposts. So the NRCan S and T presence is felt right across the country.
We have a variety of research activities that are, for the purpose of discussion, broken down on slide 5: doing the actual development of new knowledge associated with natural resource-based activity; applying that knowledge to generate new use and activity in both the economy and by natural resources industries and the provincial government, given the dynamic of resource ownership in jurisdictional issues between federal and provincial roles; monitoring, which is a significant role; and then transferring new knowledge and new technologies to the industry for both commercialization and use.
We work with a variety of stakeholders.
If there is a key word as regards science and technology in Canada at this time, it is certainly “collaboration”. It is absolutely essential that we have partners and establish partnerships in order to implement the results of our science and technology strategy.
NRCan is fully engaged in the innovation system. We have well over 1,000 S and T collaborative arrangements. You'll notice on that slide that besides our $500 million, we leverage about another $300 million through collaboration every year. That's done both in kind and in cash. Whatever collaborative arrangements might be appropriate in a given circumstance are used. Many of those collaborations, indeed, are with my colleagues sitting here at the table.
As a final wrap-up slide, I've identified as examples four successes of the different components of our S and T program.
In innovation in forest research, I'd be happy to discuss, either today or at a future opportunity, the creation of FPInnovations, which is a partnership collaboration with the private sector institutes in forestry and with the government, whereby we have taken what we think is a bold step in creating a somewhat unique partnership to help that particular sector of the economy.
In carbon capture and storage, we are partnering with a number of public and private organizations in moving that whole idea and the whole technology to support it forward.
In the area of synergies in manufacturing research, I'm sure committee members are familiar with the move of one of our laboratories to McMaster. That is much more than a co-location; it is the opportunity to create a really dynamic, multi-partnered collaboration.
Concerning alternative supplies of natural gas, we've just been through a partnership with Japan, as a matter of fact, in terms of the proof of concept for producing natural gas from gas hydrates in Arctic permafrost. That too is an aspect of the work we're involved in.
This is just a sprinkling of some of the activities of NRCan's S and T.
Thank you.