Building a framework for MRFs: An op-ed from Sylvain Charbonneau, President and CEO of the CFI.
Read the op-ed
Major Research Facilities: Canada’s innovation edge
Canada’s Major Research Facilities are engines of innovation, performing at the highest levels of science, accelerating discovery and technology development and delivering results for Canadians.
Sustaining the country’s portfolio of Major Research Facilities (MRFs) over the long-term represents a significant shift in Canada’s approach to funding research facilities, and a major step forward in growing our capacity to lead on the global stage.
Dedicated funding for future success
Far-reaching benefits to Canada in key economic sectors including health, defence and energy
Helping Canada navigate future risks, build resilience and support our global innovation leadership
Attracting highly skilled talent, creating jobs and training the next generation of innovators
Keeping Canada at the leading edge of research and technology development through sustained investment
Meet Canada’s six Major Research Facilities
Major Research Facilities serve researchers in fields ranging from infectious disease, to ocean science to dark matter physics.
What makes MRFs unique?
Large and complex
They require significant, sustained investment to build, operate and modernize.
A long lifespan
They operate on a decades-long lifecycle and require support from start to finish to realize their full potential.
A broad scope
They are national in scope and international in reach, addressing questions that are a priority for the whole country, and serving researchers from across Canada and around the world.
Unique capabilities
Their capabilities are unique in Canada; no other research facility can do what they do.
Providing value to Canada
- Their broad scope and capability means they can readily respond to mission-driven priorities.
- They serve as hubs for multiple disciplines to converge around problems that require many lenses of knowledge to solve.
- They generate spin-off companies and new technologies and provide research services to businesses.
- They are powerful tools to attract international collaborators.
- They are unparalleled training centres for a new generation of researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs.
- They produce and store enormous amounts of data, a valuable asset for the country.
MRFs from coast to coast to coast: Explore their achievements
“MRFs play a key enabling role within the Canadian and international Science, Technology, and Innovation ecosystems by concentrating major equipment and instrumentation for leading-edge research.”
How will the CFI support Major Research Facilities?
The unique value, capabilities and needs of the MRFs require a unique approach to funding them. The CFI is working in partnership with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and the research community to implement a new decision-making framework that:
- Coordinates capital and operating and maintenance funding to keep the facilities at the cutting edge and running smoothly
- Takes a life cycle view to ensure they realize their full potential from start to finish
- Adopts a portfolio-based approach for investment decisions to make sure Canada has what it takes to remain a research leader on multiple fronts.
Rolling out a new approach to funding Major Research Facilities