CFI Funded Icebreaker Sets Sail On Its First International Mission

August 26, 2003

Quebec City, August 26, 2003—Today, Dr. David Strangway, President and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) was joined by Hélène Scherrer, Member of Parliament for Louis-Hébert on behalf of Industry Minister Allan Rock, as well as Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault, and Dr. Tom Brzustowski, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Chair of the Steering Committee for the Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE), for the official inauguration ceremony of a Canadian research icebreaker.

The ship, which received $27.7 million from the CFI in April 2003, provides Canadian and international researchers with a world-class facility to undertake a variety of environmental and marine science projects. The icebreaker sets sail today on its first international scientific mission to study the ecosystem impacts of melting ice in the Western Arctic.

The CFI congratulated the NCE Program on its new ArcticNet initiative designed to help further develop the powerful research partnership between university, government, and industry in this research area.

“Today’s inauguration is a prime example of what’s possible when people and organizations from a variety of backgrounds all come together as partners with a shared goal for research and innovation,” said Dr. Strangway. “These researchers are now equipped to carry out the leading-edge research that they have been working toward. Through the environmental impacts, their findings will have great potential to improve the quality of our lives.”

This international icebreaker is one of nine large-scale research infrastructure projects funded by the CFI. All projects are aimed at promoting Canada’s position in the areas of marine and environmental sciences, infectious diseases, astronomy, light sources, and particle physics.

The CFI is an independent corporation established by the Government of Canada in 1997 to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and other non-profit research organizations to carry out world-class research and technology development.

For more information:

Valérie Poulin
Coordinator, Media Relations
Canada Foundation for Innovation
(613) 996-3160