When COVID‑19 disrupted the world in early 2020, the NRC pivoted to support the massive government‑wide response — and help protect the health and safety of Canadians. The support that the NRC was called on to provide falls into three categories — healthcare, business, and innovation — and includes both NRC‑supported government efforts and NRC‑led initiatives.
- Total New Funding: 792.7M
NRC‑Supported Government Response
Healthcare
Medical countermeasure (MCM) 1 – Royalmount Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Certification
Enables compliance with GM standards for emergency vaccine production - $15M 2020‑2021
MCM 2– Royalmount Expansion
Allows critical upgrades needed for production of vaccine candidate batches for clinical trials and fill and finish for vaccines – [REDACTED]
Royalmount Biomanufacturing Facility
Funds a new biomanufacturing facility to develop capacity to produce vaccines domestically and support global vaccine access - $126 M 2020‑2022 [REDACTED]
Business
MCM 3 - IRAP Support for Vaccines and Therapeutics
Support for businesses that are in the early stages of COVID‑19 vaccine and therapeutic development – [REDACTED]
IRAP Innovation Assistance Program (IAP) I
Assists innovative, early‑stage SMEs that are strategic to Canada's economy and unable to access other support - $250M 2020‑2021
IRAP Innovation Assistance Program (IAP) II
Extends IAP I support for innovative SMEs that are strategic to Canada's economy and unable to access other support - $155.2M 2020‑2021
IRAP Youth Employment Program (YEP)
Part of the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS), helps young people gain skills, work experience and abilities - $15M 2020‑2021
Innovation
MCM 1 - Pandemic Response Challenge Program
Brings together the best Canadian and international researchers to fast‑track R&D aimed at specific COVID‑19 challenges - $15M 2020‑2021
MCM 1 - IRAP / Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC)
Funds challenges to accelerate development of COVID‑19 diagnostic tools and personal protective equipment - $15M 2020‑2021
MCM 3 – IRAP / Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC)
Funding additional challenges to enable research that focuses on the users needs and responds to essential policy priorities – [REDACTED]
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Career Kickstarter
Enhances Canada's support for students, grads, post‑docs affected by COVID‑19 by providing STEM opportunities at the NRC – [REDACTED]
NRC‑led Initiatives
Healthcare
Additional noteworthy efforts within the NRC:
- Delivered 9 pallets of its own PPE (sterile nitrile gloves, N95 masks, and sterile coveralls) for use by frontline health workers in NRC communities across Canada.
- Supporting PHAC on quality assurance of N95 masks from suppliers, and Health Canada on evaluating sterilized or new N95 masks, as well as COVID test swabs.
- Working with two partners developing COVID‑19 vaccine candidates: VBI Vaccines Inc. and VIDO.
- Working with numerous other healthcare firms on potential vaccines, vaccine support materials, and therapeutics to treat COVID‑19.
- Supporting Industry, Science and Economic Development (ISED) and Health Canada on domestic vaccine production capacity.
Business
Additional noteworthy efforts within the NRC:
- Supporting requests for technical advice and providing short‑term support to companies, ranging from manufacturing ventilators to testing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
- Providing $1M in funding support through IRAP to VBI Vaccines Inc. for production technology transfer and scale‑up.
Innovation
Additional noteworthy efforts within the NRC:
- Launched projects at IRAP focused on short‑ and medium‑term responses to COVID‑19 and aligned with priority areas (PPE, sanitization, diagnostics, etc.).
- Shared filtration testing protocols with Canadian research institutes.
- Supporting external partners and clients with established expert teams within NRC in thematic areas (sterilization, PPE testing, diagnostics and testing, manufacturing, etc.) to provide efficient, effective communication and assistance.