NSERC’s Prairie Office Officially Open for Business in Winnipeg

Ottawa, Ontario, June 6, 2006 – The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry and Dr. Suzanne Fortier, President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), today announced the official opening of NSERC’s second regional office. Located in Winnipeg, the office will serve the three Prairie provinces.

“With this regional office, the Government of Canada is better placed to achieve its objective of further strengthening the research capacity of the Prairie region and thus helping the region build a more innovative and sustainable economy,” said Minister Bernier.

“This is the second of five regional offices that NSERC is establishing across Canada,” explained Dr. Fortier. “Through this new office, NSERC will be able to keep in closer touch with the research being conducted across the Prairies, building stronger ties with local communities and facilitating access to NSERC programs.”

“We see ourselves as champions for NSERC to this region, and advocates for the people of this region within NSERC,” said Ray Hoemsen, who heads the new office. “We want to promote science and engineering in this region and celebrate the successes achieved by researchers and innovators at universities, colleges, and private firms throughout the Prairies.”

NSERC is a federal agency whose role is to make investments in people, discovery and innovation for the benefit of all Canadians. The agency supports some 22,000 university students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 10,000 university professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging more than 800 Canadian companies to participate and invest in university research projects.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Dwyer
NSERC Public Affairs
Tel.: (613) 992-9001
Cell: (613) 794-9170
E-mail: michael.dwyer@nserc.ca

Isabelle Fontaine
Office of the Honourable Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry
Tel.: (613) 995-9001