These unique partnerships among universities, industry, government and not-for-profit organizations are aimed at turning Canadian research and entrepreneurial talent into economic and social benefits for all Canadians. These nation-wide, multidisciplinary and multisectorial partnerships connect excellent research with industrial know-how and strategic investment. By involving thousands of talented young Canadians in their work, NCEs are training tomorrow’s scientific leaders and ensuring Canada’s continued role as a world science and technology leader.

Three Canadian federal granting agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) – and Industry Canada combine their efforts to support and oversee the NCE initiative.

The funding for research and training in Canadian universities through the
agencies' peer-reviewed research programs is the foundation upon which the successful network approach is built.

The Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program has been operating successfully for fifteen years. In February 1997, the government established the NCE as a permanent program. Two years later, it increased the program's budget by $30 million bringing it to $77.4 million per year. The 2004 federal Budget identified additional funding of $5 million a year, starting in 2005-2006 to support the creation of a new NCE for research on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), bringing the NCE program budget to $82.4 million.

What's In Our Name?

Excellence defines the individual researchers who have distinguished themselves through a record of peer-reviewed research. The Centres are created from this pool of excellent researchers who work together on common research projects. The Networks are institutes without walls, formed by Centres coming together to assemble a critical mass of intellectual capacity and to address strategic research questions deemed vital to Canada's social and economic development. Together, the Centres are capable of achieving more than the sum of their individual efforts.

What's Our Impact?

Currently the NCE Program supports more than 6,000 researchers and highly qualified persons in 71 Canadian universities. The program partners include 756 Canadian companies, 329 provincial and federal government departments, and 525 agencies from Canada, along with 430 international partners – making it a truly national and international program.

In 2005-2006, the networks stimulated outside cash and in-kind investments totaling almost $70 million, including more than $27 million by the participating private sector companies. With the program’s own investment, the total dedicated to research, commercialization and knowledge transfer was almost $150 million.