Building on our strengths: 2024–2025 Annual Report

Each day at the NRC, we explore new ideas through innovative research and help companies discover new possibilities that will affect Canada's future and the world. Our commitment to empowering our own people to also discover the possible within themselves is reflected in our new employee value proposition (EVP).

Developed through consultations with employees and leaders, the EVP reflects our commitment to fostering a workplace that supports new ideas, collaborative excellence, career development and work–life harmony, while offering competitive benefits for our people.

In 2025, the NRC was named one of Canada's top employers for young people, was on the National Capital Region's list of top employers and was named a Forbes Canada best employer.

Ensuring the safety and security of our people, contractors and visitors is our top priority, which we are pursuing through our Hazard Prevention Program and our ongoing "Make it safe!" campaign. The campaign promotes safety-consciousness whether working on or off site, and encourages employees to raise health and safety concerns with management. As a result, we have seen an increase in hazard reporting, indicating a high degree of safety consciousness and engagement among our teams.

A diverse workforce and a workplace where everyone can reach their full potential are key to achieving our vision of a stronger Canada and a better world through excellence in research and innovation. Our 2024–2027 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy supports this vision by promoting a diverse and barrier-free workplace for equity-deserving groups. The strategy will guide recruitment and career development, strengthen access to employee communities and resources that promote belonging, and drive inclusive innovation in research and program delivery.

To support the career success of all NRC employees, we also made available a career development toolkit for employees and supervisors. The employee toolkit includes a worksheet that helps employees define their career aspirations and identify the steps to achieving them, in collaboration with their supervisor. There is also a tool that helps document existing skills and strengths, as well as guidance on the 70-20-10 model of learning, which recommends development plans be made up of 70% experiential learning, 20% social learning and 10% formal learning. The supervisor toolkit provides access to several tools and templates that assist with career development conversations, coaching and planning.

Modernization of our research infrastructure, made possible by funding from the Government of Canada that began 2 years ago, continued throughout 2024–2025. This included a significant milestone: $100 million in procurement dedicated to supporting our facility renewal projects.

This year, we completed over 70% of the upgrades to our photonics facilities, installing nearly 30 new pieces of unique equipment that will enhance our capacity to develop and manufacture semiconductors for AI, quantum and defence applications. We initiated construction of a new acoustic facility in Ottawa that will house several specialized labs and support Canadian industries in developing quieter, healthier environments. In Saguenay, Quebec, we added new equipment to our Aluminum Technology Centre, including a hydrogen concentration measurement device, a vertical digital milling machine and an ion beam polisher.

We also opened the call for proposals for the second wave of major capital investments, with the selection of projects to be done in 2025–2026. Collaboration will be an important part of the renewal projects, including with industry and university partners. The projects will help further enhance Canada's scientific infrastructure and capabilities in key research areas.

Being able to respond quickly to the needs of partners in industry and academia is key to our success. An amendment to the National Research Council Act enhances our agility by granting us increased authority in the procurement of goods and services. The Act also established a Procurement Oversight Board to oversee and govern procurement within the NRC. With this increased authority and associated oversight, we are in a stronger position to work hand-in-hand with industry and renew Canada's research infrastructure at the NRC.

In February 2025, the NRC and the Office of the Chief Science Advisor co-hosted the annual Celebrating the Success of Women in STEM Symposium. More than 1,800 people registered for the 2-day virtual event, which included expert panels and networking sessions reflecting on and celebrating the pivotal role of women and inclusion in transforming research into innovation.

In 2024–2025, we also selected the second recipient of the NRC Luise and Gerhard Herzberg Postdoctoral Fellowship, which is awarded each year to a PhD graduate who identifies as a woman and has demonstrated research excellence. As the new Herzberg postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Kate Fenwick of Calgary, Alberta, will continue her explorations into ultrafast photonics, a research pathway that could one day be key to quantum computer development.

The first 2 recipients of the Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowship were awarded in March 2025. Working with the Quantum and Nanotechnologies Research Centre, Andrew Tanentzap of Trent University will study the use of disruptive environmental monitoring technology to transform water-quality monitoring. Linda Nazar of the University of Waterloo, in collaboration with the Clean Energy Innovation Research Centre, will explore the use of nickel in lithium-ion battery technology to reduce the costs of battery production.

A collaboration between the NRC and Killam Trusts, the fellowship creates opportunities for mid- to late-career scholars to advance research aligned with NRC Challenge programs. Along with an annual grant paid to the institution of each fellow, recipients get the opportunity to partner with NRC researchers, use NRC facilities and resources, and share knowledge through new collaborations. The name of the fellowship recognizes the contributions of Dr. Paul Corkum to Canadian research on attosecond molecular imaging.