Industry committee  Yes, it's $6 million divided by $400 million or $500 million. That ratio is as good as you can see in all major U.S. universities, except maybe the University of California. So we're performing quite well.

Industry committee  Thank you for your question. I must speak from an NRC perspective, if you will allow me. We have been quite successful in the past and still today in hiring key scientists. Every time we make a job announcement, for instance, on the public networks, we receive a fair number of applicants interested in working at the NRC.

Industry committee  I cannot say we have observed that yet, at least at the NRC, because we still have A-base funding that is allowing us to do long-term research programs; and roughly speaking, year over year, NRC has been investing 25% of its assets in long-term research programs. The difference is that those long-term research programs still have a purpose.

Industry committee  I do believe there are a lot of benefits. When we transfer technologies to industry through, let's say, a licensing agreement--that would be technology that we develop; we own patents on this and we'd like to license it--when we find a company interested in acquiring those technologies, we would be signing a licensing agreement whereby the company would be paying royalty fees back to NRC.

Industry committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Carrie. Mr. Chairman, the NRC has been and is still very active in the area of commercialization. We have two broad programs. The first one is IRAP, which directly supports private companies in moving to changes in innovation by either using technology they acquire from abroad by licensing or allowing them to develop their technologies in order to transfer those things to products that get to the marketplace.

Industry committee  Very quickly let me tell you about IMRIS, a company working in the field of magnetic resonance imaging that was created by the NRC in Winnipeg. When the company was first founded several years ago, it had only a handful of employees and its sales were almost non-existent. Today, sales of magnetic resonance imaging systems, all of which are manufactured in Winnipeg, total $60 million.These systems are manufactured and integrated in Winnipeg.

Industry committee  In terms of the revenue that the NRC generates through its research activities arising from contracts with the industry or other federal departments, the figure is somewhere between $160 million and $180 million, as I said earlier. Of this total amount, between $80 million and $90 million is derived from industry.

Industry committee  That is an interesting question, sir. The NRC enters into different types of contracts with the Canadian industry. There are fee-for-service payment arrangements where industry officials approach us, use our infrastructures and then leave. There are also research projects that are carried out with industry people.

Industry committee  That's an important question. Consider the example of nuclear energy in Canada. This goes back a ways. Nuclear energy technologies were developed by the NRC in the late 1940s. This led to the creation of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited in 1952. Today, AECL posts sales of about $5 billion or $6 billion a year, the bulk of which are made in Canada.

Industry committee  Once the NRC has obtained a license for certain technologies, it must always contend with a so-called Canada clause governing technology use in Canada. Obviously, technology is a global phenomenon and it cannot easily be contained at the border. In order to move forward, companies must invest elsewhere.

Industry committee  Thank you again for your question. You may appreciate that those stations do not report to NRC but rather to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Industry committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we met with Mr. Naimark. We participated in all the round tables that took place across Canada. I think six cities were visited. So we participated with a group of various stakeholders that met on those occasions. But the Naimark report is still with the Treasury Board, so I don't really know the outcome.

Industry committee  Well, we expressed an opinion to Dr. Naimark primarily about the role of the NRC in the Canadian S and T landscape. We did not express an opinion to Dr. Naimark about other departments or agencies having responsibility for scientific activity, because it was not part of our mandate.

Industry committee  Again, it is difficult for me to comment, because I'm not very well aware of how Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is having these facilities spread out all across the country.

Industry committee  The NRC has a budget of approximately $850 million. Funds are divided into three major envelopes: envelope A which totals about $500 million; envelope B, which represents funding in the amount of $100 million which is renewed every five years; and the revenue envelope, which totals between $160 million and $180 million.