| Type | Crown Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Research |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Headquarters | Saskatoon, Regina & Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Products | Research |
| Employees | 475 |
| Website | www.src.sk.ca |
The Saskatchewan Research Council is a provincial treasury board crown corporation conducting research and business on behalf of the provincial government and private industry[1]. It focuses on applied research and development projects that generate profit[2]. Some of its funding comes from government grants, but it generates the balance from selling products and services[3].
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The Province of Saskatchewan established SRC in 1947[4]. SRC carried out its work through grants-in-aid to specific applied research activities at the University of Saskatchewan[5]. SRC’s first Director of Research was Dr. T. T. Thorvaldson, head of the university’s chemistry department[6].
In 1954, SRC expanded its mandate to incorporate independent research[7]. Dr. T.E. Warren, director of the Fuels Research Laboratory in Ottawa, was appointed to oversee the construction of a new building and hire employees[8]. Under Warren’s direction, SRC opened its own laboratories in 1958 and then expanded in 1963[9].
With newly appointed SRC President Dr. T.P. Pepper leading, in 1972 SRC changed its structure, then based on academic disciplines, to one based on industry sectors[10]. By 1973, SRC was earning more money from research contracts than it received from the provincial government[11].
In 1983, J.P. Hutch, a former Deputy Minister of Industry and private sector engineering executive, became SRC’s president[12]. Hutch guided SRC as it took over operating the heavy oil lab in Regina from Saskatchewan Energy and Mines[13].
SRC has grown to 370 employees[14] and $41 million in annual revenues[15]. Its five divisions—Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food; Alternative Energy and Manufacturing; Energy; Environment and Forestry; Mining and Minerals—provide applied research and development services[16].
Since its inception, SRC has published 2,600 research reports that are available to the public[17]. It has produced another 2,700 confidential research reports for clients[18].
SRC’s research history includes developing a residential energy conservation research report that was used in the National Building Code of Canada[19]. SRC also mapped the groundwater resources in Saskatchewan south of the Precambrian Shield[20]. Its scientists evaluated Saskatchewan’s extensive lignite (coal) resources. SRC’s GenServe Laboratories were involved in testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow disease)[21]. SRC is also known for building the Factor 9 home, which uses 90 per cent less energy and 50 per cent less water than a similar home built during the 1970s[22].
Current research is conducted in a range of laboratories and test facilities[23]. SRC’s environmental analytical laboratories provide environmental monitoring and other tests to clients[24]. They house a SLOWPOKE-II nuclear research reactor that performs analytical tests[25]. Its geoanalytical lab provides geochemical analyses for the mineral exploration industry. SRC’s GenServe Laboratories carry out DNA-based testing for plants, cattle and other livestock[26]. Its other labs include Petroleum Analytical Laboratories, an Outdoor Testing Facility, a Biofuels Test Centre, a Fermentation Pilot Plant, a Pipe Flow Technology Centre, a 3D Virtual Reality Centre, a diamond testing facility and a natural gas vehicles facility[27].
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