Investing in research infrastructure to create a cleaner, greener future is a strategic and essential step toward addressing environmental challenges and fostering sustainable development. From how we produce and use energy, to how we build our homes and communities, to how we confront the peril increasingly stressed resources place on humans, the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is supporting researchers as they take on the extraordinary challenges facing our environment. The CFI has invested in hundreds of labs across Canada that are devoted to finding solutions such as equipment that monitors the impacts of a shifting climate, the development of net-zero emissions building practices, and facilities that create clean-technology innovations. CFI-funded infrastructure not only supports innovation that benefits people in Canada and around the world, but they are also the training ground and inspiration for generations to come whose future will be shaped by our response to a changing world.

Carleton University and Efficiency Canada's Partnership Envisions an Energy-Efficient Future Carleton University's James Meadowcroft is the Academic Director of an innovative partnership -- Efficiency Canada. Housed in Carleton's Sustainable Energy Research Centre, the independent pan-Canada think tank aims to bring together a diverse array of allies - from academic researchers and private-sector businesses to utilities and governments - to research and advocate for public policies that move us toward a more energy-efficient future. Under the practical guidance of its Executive Director, Corey Diamond, Efficiency Canada serves as the national voice for an energy efficient economy. The partnership envisions a future where Canada uses energy efficiency - a critical tool to accelerate the decarbonization of our economy - to its fullest potential. For example, the deployment of electric heat pumps to heat homes can improve energy efficiency while reducing building related GHG emissions. Maximizing the benefits of energy efficiency can contribute towards a sustainable environment, a productive net-zero economy, and a just and equitable society.

Supporting Business Growth Through Collaborative Innovation
The Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform (OCIP), launched by eCampusOntario, supports research partnership between companies and Ontario's public postsecondary institutions (PSIs). OCIP is a matchmaking service, connecting companies to PSIs to form collaborative innovation partnerships. We know that companies that do R&D are more likely to survive and grow, hire more people, export more goods and services, and have a bigger economic impact in their communities. We also know that companies need help navigating the R&D landscape. OCIP helps Ontario businesses find R&D support, workforce training and IP support with Ontario's 56 colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes. It is one way we are filling a gap in the innovation pipeline.

The B²C Lab at Humber College is a front-facing industry research lab offering leading edge infrastructure including an ATSC 3.0 broadcast system, three 5G core networks, and RF anechoic test chamber. The lab explores multi-sectoral data delivery applications of ATSC 3.0 including convergence with 5G networks and other global IP data delivery standards including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Aiming to position Canada as an ATSC 3.0 technology leader, the lab collaborates with key stakeholders such as Sinclair Broadcast, Synamedia, Pelmorex Corp., Avateq Corp., and is part of a global research consortium with the Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC), Ottawa, University of the Basque Country, Spain, and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Seoul, South Korea. Published articles showcase contributions to wireless backhaul solutions and the development of an Inter-Tower Communications Network (ITCN) using ATSC 3.0. Exciting events include hosting a Broadcast Positioning System (BPS) Seminar, and hosting the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Broadband Multimedia Systems and Broadcasting (BMSB) 2024 conference for the first time in Canada.

By applying physics to health care, Dr. Alla Reznik, Canada Research Chair in the Physics of Radiation Medical Imaging, and her team at Lakehead University are making significant advances in cancer screening. Through the spin-off company, Radialis Inc., Reznik's team developed a Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) scanner that is more effective than X-ray mammography at diagnosing early-stage breast cancer in those with dense breast tissue. This compact, plug-in device is designed to easily travel to under-serviced communities where it provides more accurate and precise images with shorter scanning times and at a lower cost. Now, supported by a $740,000 grant from the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Reznik and her team are upgrading their technology to scan diagnostic images of other organs. With the goal of commercialization following clinical trials, the innovations of Radialis Inc. will enhance the accuracy of cancer diagnosis and treatment monitoring in patients.

McMaster researcher Ali Emadi and his multidisciplinary research team are powering a new paradigm in green transportation. Emadi leads CERC@MARC - one of the world's leading academic research programs in transportation electrification and smart mobility. The program is pioneering sustainable energy-efficient solutions, many of which have been brought to market by Emadi's start-up company, Enedym.

Headquartered at McMaster Innovation Park and co-founded by Emadi, Enedym has ownership of more than 50 patents, pending patent applications and related inventions developed by Emadi and his research group. With a focus on switched reluctance motor (SRM) technologies, the company supplies sustainable, lower cost electric motor and propulsion solutions to a wide range of industries.

Most recently, Emadi and his team created the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence and Smart Mobility - focused on building fully integrated, intelligent transportation systems that incorporate diverse accessibility needs to make travel more inclusive, equitable and sustainable.

Ontario Tech University's emergence as a powerful voice in Canada's research sector stems from its strategic commitment to listen to industry, community and government partners to fully understand their most pressing needs and challenges. Our differentiated research approach is industry-responsive, results-driven and guided by our tech-with-a-conscience ethos.

We apply and integrate the social and ethical implications of technology in our research enterprise by tackling global challenges such as the reduction of carbon pollution by contributing to Canada's transition to net-zero emissions.

Our unique research facilities include the ACE Climatic Aerodynamic Wind Tunnel and the Clean Energy Research Lab. The university's Brilliant Energy Institute supports our mission to generate innovative clean-energy technologies, integrate low-carbon energy into our communities, and promote climate resilience across the globe.

For Ontario Tech, it's not only about the next tech breakthrough. We lead with our conscience. We've achieved a solid reputation through the company we keep and by adapting to our partners' needs.

The Ottawa Hospital's Biotherapeutics Manufacturing Centre (BMC) is the most experienced and successful facility of its kind in Canada - and the only one with a track record of both virus and cell manufacturing.

Thanks to the BMC, Ottawa is becoming a destination city for developing new therapies that have the potential to cure disease - not just treat it.

The centre has manufactured more than 20 different therapeutic products and vaccines for human clinical trials in Canada, the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Over the last five years, there has been an unprecedented surge in demand for biomanufacturing to produce innovative treatments for cancer, cardiovascular disease, COVID-19 and other conditions.

The BMC can play a key role in strengthening Canada's biomanufacturing ecosystem and supporting made-in-Canada solutions to global health challenges, together with partners such as BioCanRx and the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub.

For almost a decade RRC Polytech's Prairie Research Kitchen (PRK) has been developing innovative advancements in food production, so it was natural for the PRK team to produce a research report like no other. From Lab to Table is a Culinary Research Review in the form of a cookbook that shares the delicious outcomes of applied research conducted since PRK began collaborating with partners in 2014 while documenting the history of Manitoba's only Technology Access Centre that blends food science and culinary arts.

Sustainability is a driving force behind many of PRK's projects. From discovering and developing novel uses for pulse and soybean products to upcycling food industry by-products and embracing insects for protein, the cookbook available at researchrecipes.ca encourages readers to taste the success of eight years of research.

RRC Polytech proudly works with industry to make things possible while providing students with the experiential learning required to drive change.

Sheridan's Centre for Elder Research (CER) is renowned for its applied research expertise, innovative approaches and creative partnerships that focus on enhancing the well-being of older Canadians. An integral part of Generator at Sheridan and its longest-running research centre, CER celebrated its 20th anniversary in September. CER's two decades of sustained excellence include completing more than 150 applied research projects; engaging more than 1,000 students; and establishing more than 100 industry, community and academic partnerships. A current collaboration, supported by the Ontario Brain Institute, with industry partners Soul Machines and Winterlight Labs, exemplifies CER's commitment to creative interdisciplinary solutions. This project is exploring the use of virtual human characters, combined with sophisticated machine learning algorithms for speech analysis, to offer remote mental and cognitive health monitoring for older adults.

As climate change intensifies, the need to address the risks and threats from wildfires is urgent. Thompson Rivers University (TRU) understands this urgency and, with two research chairs dedicated solely to wildfire science, has prioritized research in the field.

The university has growing expertise in wildfire - it's home to BC's first fire science research chair as funded by the province (the BC Innovation Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science), a Canada Research Chair in Fire Ecology and an NSERC Industrial Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation. Additionally, TRU's campuses in Kamloops and Williams Lake are located in the epicentre of wildfire response activity.

These world-renowned experts are leading research on various fire-related topics, including wildfire behaviour, landscape fire modelling and ecosystem changes resulting from wildfire. Their research is supported by undergraduate and graduate students at TRU.

Without question, TRU is advancing world-class wildfire research and is committed to wildfire science research that will make a difference in how we mitigate and adapt to the effects of future wildfire seasons.

Researchers:
Dr. Mike Flannigan, BC Innovation Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management and Fire Science
Dr. Jill Harvey, Canada Research Chair in Fire Ecology
Dr. Lauchlan Fraser, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation

Enabling Optimization Through Digital Twins
By optimizing buildings and cities, carbon emissions can be reduced, unusual events or disasters detected, and environments adapted to the needs of the people who live and work there. Toronto MetropolitanUniversity's Dr. Jenn McArthur is creating cognitive digital twins - up-to-date digital versions of buildings that integrate data streams such as sensors or computerized systems that are capable of learning, predicting and optimizing building performance.

From supporting campus management to tracking energy consumption across cities, Dr. McArthur's digital twins can provide interactive data viewing, providing tools that can be used to monitor and respond to issues in real time. These tools can also be used for scenario simulation, testing the impacts of new technologies or procedures before implementation. Working with industry and academic collaborators from across Canada, Dr. McArthur leads TMU's Smart Campus Integration and Testing Hub, the world's first fully digitally-enabled building, to advance smart and sustainable building research.

University of Manitoba's health research impact is far reaching, attracting high profile support. UM sits as one of the top 10 universities receiving funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worldwide, #1 in Canada. Dr. Jamie Blanchard and Dr. Meghan Azad have received transformational support for maternal and child health initiatives. Azad established and leads the International Milk Composition (IMiC) Consortium - a team of milk, global health, and data science researchers studying breast milk in four countries (Tanzania, Pakistan, Burkina Faso and Canada). Blanchard, Director of UM's Institute for Global Public Health, received funding for a maternal-neonatal health program in India, creating 30,000 public health centres, tackling life-threatening outcomes. Each centre tracks events digitally via front line workers (160,000) equipped with smart phones contributing to the web of community-level information. Since 2018, this program has saved 300,000 lives. UM has received $384 million to date from the Foundation.

Canadian companies are paying an average of nearly $7 million in data breach costs - the third highest in the world, according to IBM's 2023 Cost of a Data Breach Report. The University of Ottawa teamed up with IBM Canada to launch the uOttawa-IBM Cyber Range, IBM's very first university-based cybersecurity training hub for uOttawa students, governments and businesses. This unique lab offers highly realistic cyber response training exercises that will prepare students entering the workforce and help businesses as well as government organizations across the country strengthen their defences against real-world cyber threats by teaching them how to plan, respond, manage, contain, and remediate cyberattacks. Bringing together some of the university's top experts from numerous fields - engineering, law, social sciences, and business - the uOttawa-IBM Cyber Range will also allow for interdisciplinary research and collaboration. In a digital landscape as vast as Canada, this facility has the potential to be a game-changer.

Through interdisciplinary education, research and innovation, York University's leading scientists and scholars are working to understand the complex ways that climate change is globally affecting pollinators, particularly bees. Led by Amro Zayed, the Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation (BEEc), one of York's 31 organized research units, is advancing critical research in these fields to ensure the long-term sustainability of the insect, which plays an integral role in nature and in agriculture. Conservation scientist Sheila Colla is among the first to quantitatively document the decline of native bee species in Canada, which has led to federal and provincial policy to protect important pollinator species. Bee expert Laurence Packer studies native bees and has built the largest Canadian bee collection, currently estimated at over 500,000 specimens from around the world. He also spearheads the Bee Barcode of Life project, an international effort to develop genetic barcodes for bees on Earth.