Good evening, Madam Chair and committee members.
Thank you so much for inviting TRIUMF to appear before you on this important study. My name is Nigel Smith and I am the executive director of TRIUMF, Canada's particle accelerator centre.
I would like to first acknowledge that TRIUMF is located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people, who for millennia have passed on their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next on this site. This land has always been a seat of learning.
Located on the campus of the University of British Columbia, TRIUMF is a world-class subatomic physics and accelerator facility that, using world-unique infrastructure, carries out fundamental science and applied research that is changing the world. Founded more than 50 years ago, TRIUMF plays a significant role in Canada's science and innovation ecosystem as one of the largest major research facilities colloquially known as “big science” facilities.
These enterprises—SNOLAB and the Canadian Light Source being other examples—provide infrastructure that no single university can support and, by bringing together a critical mass of researchers and engineers, can develop new ways of addressing problems and enable Canada to compete at scale in the global science and innovation enterprise.
TRIUMF is owned and operated by a consortium of Canadian universities, with operations primarily supported by federal investment over the last 50 years, for which we are highly grateful. Over the last five decades, well over a billion dollars of capital has been invested into TRIUMF, including the largest conventional cyclotron in the world and a new $100-million accelerator complex in final construction.
Collectively, the massive investment in TRIUMF has created the opportunity for many successes in Canadian science. From advancing our understanding of the origins of the universe to developing next-generation materials and cures for cancer, we are at the forefront of research domestically and act as the portal to other world-class international facilities like CERN in Geneva. We have enabled Nobel Prize-winning research, addressed emergent crises and played a leading role in Canada's effort to establish itself as a global innovator for medical isotopes. We are currently developing radioisotopes for both diagnostics and therapy, with a new $60-million facility coming online later this year, supporting both federal and provincial needs around isotope security and innovation.
The pandemic has also highlighted the requirements of having resilience within the national research and development ecosystem. Major research facilities play a critical role in this regard, sitting at the interface between academia, industry and government, with the ability to be agile in addressing these emergent issues. As an example, in the face of the COVID pandemic, several Canadian major research labs joined forces, led by Nobel laureate Art McDonald, to rapidly design, prototype and move to market a new type of ventilator to assist in the pandemic response. This also demonstrates the benefit of having that strong network of major research facilities within Canada.
There are challenges in delivering these successes, however. Canada has a globally unique approach to major research facilities, and the associated challenge of managing the full life cycle of these labs has been identified for many years. Much work has been done on this topic over several decades—and we understand ISED has taken up the matter again recently—but it does remain pressing. From the perspective of the major research facilities, we are national assets, here to help, but we require established frameworks and champions to plan and execute effectively over the long time scales required to develop these types of infrastructure.
This challenge is also an opportunity. By optimizing the support mechanisms for the major research facilities, Canada can extract maximum value from the major investments already made, provide a multidisciplinary environment to train highly qualified personnel, attract leading talent to Canada and continue the legacy of world-leading research and benefits for our society.
In summary, TRIUMF and Canada's other major research facilities have a demonstrable track record for delivering world-class science, enabling the success of the research community in Canada, translating this research into societal benefits and providing valuable training to highly qualified personnel. There are challenges in optimizing the investment being made in these facilities, but these national assets can and do deliver for Canadians.
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to invite the committee to tour TRIUMF should such a visit be possible as part of your deliberations or simply during the next time you find yourself in Vancouver. The scale of our infrastructure really should be seen in person to be appreciated.
Thank you very much for your time and the opportunity to speak to this committee.