Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) are Canadian university research professorships created through the Canada Research Chairs Program.
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The program, established in 2000, is an integral part of a Government of Canada plan to drive Canadian research and development excellence, to create world-class centres of research and to enhance Canada's competitiveness in the global knowledge-based economy. Through the CRC program, $300 million is spent annually to attract and retain outstanding scholars and scientists.
Chairholders aim to achieve research excellence in natural sciences, engineering, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences. They improve Canadians’ depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen the country’s international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of highly skilled people through student supervision, teaching, and the coordination of other researchers’ work.
There are two types of Canada Research Chair:
The number of CRCs allocated to a university is proportional to the amount of research grant funding that university has received in the three years prior to the year of the allocation. Grant funding must originate from the three federal granting agencies (NSERC, CIHR, and SSHRC).
Of the total 2000 Chairs, 1880 are regular allocations, distributed as follows:
The program sets aside a special allocation of 120 Chairs for universities that have received one per cent or less of the total funding paid out by the three federal granting agencies over the preceding three years.
Roughly 66% of Chairs are allocated to member institutions of the G13, a group of the top research-intensive universities in Canada.
| Institution | # of Chairholders |
|---|---|
| University of Toronto | 253 |
| University of British Columbia | 147 |
| McGill University | 139 |
| Université de Montréal | 103 |
| University of Alberta | 97 |
| Université Laval | 81 |
| University of Calgary | 77 |
| McMaster University | 67 |
| University of Western Ontario | 64 |
| Queen's University | 54 |
| University of Ottawa | 53 |
| University of Waterloo | 52 |
| Dalhousie University | 50 |
Other universities participating in the CRC Program are:
The Canada Research Chairs Program maintains an online database of profiles of each chairholder, which include detailed descriptions of each of their research projects.[1]
On March 27, 2008, the Government of Canada's Ministry of Industry, as well as the presidents of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research presented each chairholder with a Canada Research Chair insignia at a national celebration of the program held at the Université du Québec en Outaouais in Gatineau, Quebec. The lapel pin is made of sterling silver, symbolizes the pursuit of knowledge and research excellence and is available exclusively to chairholders. As of November 2007, there are 1,851 Canada Research Chairs. Seventy Canadian universities are participating in the program.