ARCHIVED - NRC Townhall Update – Draft

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1. Protecting NRC Staff

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Current state of operations (Dale)

Telework for the majority of employees for the coming year

• At any given time, 70% of staff telework offsite.
• 30% work onsite – onsite should be strategic, supporting productive offsite work.

Ensuring a safe onsite work environment will require delivering our SCOPs:

• Physical distancing and proper hand hygiene – NRC providing disposable masks that should be worn when physical distancing cannot be maintained. Recommend use when in groups.
• Piloting new innovative options (e.g. thermometry).

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Current state of operations (Dale)

Client visits and limited travel within Canada only

For the time being, we will avoid/minimize travel.

• DG direction and approval for day-trips – only where remote engagement is
  ineffective or not possible.

Travel will be almost all day-trips – overnight travel for VP approval on exception basis:

• Where no other options available to complete assigned work
• No international travel, or travel where isolation is required upon arrival or return

Participation in virtual conferences only – no in-person conference attendance.

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Current state of operations (Emily)

Remote work and ergonomics support

• Leading Virtual Teams Webinars and Supervisor Townhalls
• Regular employee updates/communications – email, Echo, Intercomm
• Ergonomic tips/tools and virtual ergonomic assessments

Managing work and home balance

• Evolving context as schools have reopened and daycare is more readily available
• As needed, employees and their supervisors to work together to determine approach to work hours (i.e. remote work, flexible hours etc.)

Mental health

• Over 50 interactive mental health and wellness sessions delivered across the NRC with more planned
• 2-hour foundational mental health training sessions for NRC supervisors
• Employee Assistance Program and LifeSpeak
• MyZone Mental Health and COVID-19 Toolbox and regular features in Echo/Intercomm

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Internal services deliver during COVID-19 (Iain)

Essential to our success

• Knowledge, Information and Technology Services (KITS) enabled shift to telework, adding critical VPN licenses, hardware, and digital tools such as MS Teams.
• Real Property Planning and Management (RPPM) has kept our buildings, equipment and labs operational, while continuing to drive the construction of new builds in Winnipeg and Mississauga.
• Heath, Safety and the Environment (HSE) has provided us with guidance, direction and support to ensure that employees returning to work to perform critical tasks, do so in a safe environment.
• Communications has been extremely busy ensuring that Canadians are aware of what we're doing to address the current crisis, while also keeping staff informed and engaged during remote working.
• Office of the Secretary General has successfully secured policy approval and funding to launch priority COVID-19 initiatives such as the Pandemic Response Challenge Program, IRAP initiatives to support SMEs, building Canada's domestic biomanufacturing capacity through Royalmount. 

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2. Protecting Canadians

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NRC applying S&T to COVID challenges

Examples

COVID-19 testing (JF and Dave)

• Supply chain solution for NML / national testing labs e.g. >9000L buffer to date with 26000L target for March 2021.
• Canadian made Swabs solution – IRAP/AST/MD/PHAC potential capacity 2M/week.
• Canadian made plastics (DFS, Exacad, Plastiques Moore) will allow Public Health Labs
  to carryout > 30M tests.
• Self-administered/point-of-care diagnostic kits (NB-based LuminUltra Technologies Inc.).

Personal protective equipment and sterilization (Michel and Dave)

Mask Materials and Manufacturing

• ISC Challenge on filtration material: 2 SMEs in Phase 2
• Upcoming ISC challenges on environmental impact/green masks

Sterilization

• PPE Decontamination User Group launched July 16

Testing

• Metro/CONST: 500 lots representing more than 160 million N95 respirators

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Royalmount vaccine production (Lakshmi/Maria)

Building a biomanufacturing facility in NRC Royalmount (Montréal):

• Phase A: by October 2020, producing 500 litres / month of vaccine candidate (cGMP).
• Phase B: by Summer 2021, producing 4000 litres / month of vaccine (cGMP).

Phase A: clinical trials

• Drug discovery
• Bioprocessing systems
• Clinical trial

Phase B: vaccine production

• Bulk vaccine production
• Formulation + fill + finish
• Packaging + logistics

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Supporting SMEs in uncertain times (David)

Sustaining firms – liquidity

Innovation assistance program

• $250M to assist innovative, early-stage companies that are unable to access existing COVID-19 business support
• Wage subsidy (liquidity) program
• Will support over 24,000 jobs
• Announced April 17, launched April 22
• As of Sep 10, just under $242M has been disbursed to over 2200 SMEs

Supporting innovation

IRAP portfolio

• Have engaged with >4200* firms ytd
• Advisory Services:  have provided >2800* advisory services to firms ytd
• Funding support to >2200* firms ytd
• Placed >130* young Canadians in jobs with SMEs ytd
• 2 Virtual PDAs hosted ytd by IIO (48 SMEs). 7 more planned by FYE (~70+ SMEs).
• Supported >2000* jobs ytd

*Based on FY2020-21 (Apr-Jul) – excluding IAP

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3. Supporting our Clients and Collaborators

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Supporting our clients and collaborators (Iain)

Protecting ourselves

• Means telework, 30% onsite, and "SCOPs" while onsite.

Protecting the health of Canadians

• Involves a wide range of NRC lab and IRAP efforts re: personal protective equipment, testing and diagnostics, vaccines and therapies.

Supporting our clients and collaborators

• Will require that we focus our energy on key partners and key initiatives …

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Focusing our efforts on key partners (Serge)

February/March 2020

• Finished the 2019/20 year in good financial form.
• Original 2020/21 Operating Plans were approved at SEC.

COVID-19

• March 13: shift to >90% telework.
• Summer 2020: we did business plans and SCOPS for onsite work.
• September 1: plans in place for >70% telework, 30% onsite to work in facilities.

Now
All CBIs have adjusted / refocused operating plans in light of COVID:

• Who are the key clients and research collaborators we need to be there for?
• What are the key projects to sustain these relationships?
• What do we need to do on campus, in our facilities to enable?
• What can't we get done this year in light of the foregoing?

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Three trends we can expect to continue (Iain)

1. COVID and health innovation
Responding to COVID will continue to be national priority, along with supporting the health innovation required to fight it.

2. Climate adaptation
Climate warming and its impacts continues apace, and the NRC has much underway to help Canada respond to the challenge.

3. Ongoing digitalization of society and the economy
COVID is shifting society and the economy more and more online, increasing the demand on software and hardware, and underlining the need to continue to make advances at the forefront of the digital revolution (e.g., AI, quantum).

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1. COVID to health innovation (JF)

Protecting Canadians from COVID and making healthcare innovation an economic and societal driver

Examples of initiatives underway

• NRC/University Toronto: Medical Devices Collaboration Centre
• NRC/Ste Justine Collaboration Centre
• Build out NRC Royalmount into vaccine biomanufacturing facility

Current and forthcoming Programs

• Disruptive Technology Solutions for Cell and Gene Therapy
• Forthcoming April 2021: Aging in Place

Examples of collaborations across the NRC

• HHT, MD, ACRD, AST: Canadian supply chain for diagnostic testing.
• EME, HHT: reagents for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
• CONST, DFS, METRO: mask testing for Canada.

You can reach out to JF or Denise Leblanc-MacDonald to see how you can participate.

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2. Low carbon economy (Michel)

Supporting Canada with achieving our 2030 and 2050 climate change commitments

Examples of initiatives underway

• Climate Resilient Buildings & Infrastructure with INFCAN
• Mississauga; collaborations with XEROX, Uof T, NRCan/Labs Canada
• NRC/Memorial Karluk Ocean Engineering Collaboration Centre
• Whole-of-NRC dialogue on contributions to environmental research and innovation, Ocean health and sustainability, and Agriculture and food health and sustainability
• Planning stage: Terra Canada Campus

Current and forthcoming Programs

• Materials for Clean Fuels Challenge Program
• Forthcoming in April 2021: Arctic Challenge Program
• Potential: Clean Transportation and Low-Carbon Buildings

Reach out to Michel to find out how your RC can participate.

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3. Next generation information & communications technology (Genevieve/Carolyn)

Supporting Canadians with the continuing shift to our digital society and economy.

Emerging technologies

Select examples of major areas of work underway already

• NRC-University of Ottawa Joint Centre for Extreme Photonics

Current and forthcoming Programs

• High-throughput and Secure Networks (HTSN) Challenge Program
• Forthcoming in April 2021: Internet of Things: Quantum Sensors Challenge Program

Special initiatives of note

• Revitalization of the Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (CPFC)

Digital technologies

Select examples of major areas of work underway already

• NRC-Waterloo Collaboration on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Cybersecurity
• NRC-UNB Collaboration Centre on Cybersecurity

Current and forthcoming Programs

• AI4Design and Pandemic Response Challenge Programs
• AI4Logistics and Digital Technology Cluster Support Programs

Special initiatives of note

• Expanding University of Waterloo collaboration
• Quantum Software capability development
• AI Accelerator

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And supporting research excellence (Dan)

Ongoing investments in reinforcing research excellence

Excellent people

• Student program: 330 opportunities since April 1, 2020
• Postdoctoral Fellows program: 12 projects approved (round 4); 48 new PDFs engaged in first four rounds

Transformational ideas

• Update: New Beginnings round 3, planned call for round 4
• Update: Small Teams round 2, planned call for round 3

Significant external recognition

• Two new Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada: Pavel Cheben, Laura Ferarrese
• Guggenheim Fellowship: Christian Marois
• Governor General's Innovation Award: Mark Halpern, as part of the CHIME team
• Reminder: nomination deadlines

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4. The Service Agenda

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The internal service agenda (Iain)

Delivery improvements to save time and improve outcomes for everyone

Select examples of major areas of work underway already

• Differentiating service offerings from compliance functions
• Continuing to grow our internal service culture

Special initiatives of note

• NRC Dialogue closure -> "Finitiative"
• Looking at creating a role like a "Chief Internal Service Officer"

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Finitiative update (François)

Making it easier to transact within NRC and freeing up time for everyone

Select examples of major areas of work underway already

• Project management process implementation
  • Over 60 staff involved in the implementation. All RCs represented
  • ACRD is first RC to implement in November, followed by all
• 2nd wave of projects
  • Hiring, Onboarding, Procurement and Client Agreement processes all started
  • All in Measure phase, i.e. acquiring feedback from staff on current process
  • Will not only simplify the process but also review the delivery model

Special initiatives of note

• Series of over 20 town halls to meet over 1200 staff on the changes with PM
• Series of surveys ongoing to understand pain points related to 2nd wave processes

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Chief Internal Service Officer (Dale/François)

Reinforcing service excellence in support of our business lines

Select examples of major areas of work underway already

• Identifying service enablers vs. compliance functions:
  • Service enablers – activities planned and executed in direct support to the needs of the business (e.g. Procurement)
  • Compliance functions – activities designed to ensure compliance with legislation or policy (e.g.  Hospitality)
• Examining the best delivery model for service excellence:
  • Centralized services – those best managed in a consolidated manner and disseminated across the organization (e.g. Client Service Centre)
  • Business line – services best managed at the business level

Special initiative of note

• Review of services being performed by Dale MacMillan and Francois Cordeau

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A couple of final words (Iain)

Leadership changes

• Roger Scott-Douglas asked to be Secretary for the Vaccine Task Force, Serge Bijimine now Secretary General
• Roman Szumski asked to be co-lead vaccine procurement negotiator, Lakshmi Krishnan now A/VP Life Sciences
• J-F Houle asked to coordinate NRC Labs COVID initiatives as Assistant VP Life Sciences.

NRC Finances

• NRC met all 2019-20 financial targets and objectives.
• For 2020-21:
  • Revenue projecting $40M below this time last year.
  • Expenses trending $345M compared to last year.
  • CFO has identified [$xxM]^{Footnote *} reserve in retained earnings to cushion if required.

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5. Questions

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Questions?

• Protecting our staff
• Protecting Canadians
• Supporting our clients and collaborators
  • Supporting innovation SMEs
  • COVID and health Innovation
  • Low carbon economy
  • Information and communications technology
• The internal service agenda

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Thank You

Iain Stewart • President, NRC • Iain.Stewart@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca