New centre of excellence to focus on ocean research and commercialization

Victoria, BC – A new Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR), the Oceans Network Canada Centre for Enterprise and Engagement (ONCEE), has been established in Victoria.

The ONCEE will manage two highly sophisticated underwater laboratories that will support transformative research on oceans. The federal government, which is funding the centre with $6.5 million over five years, says its innovations will dramatically improve the scientific communities’ ability to plan for and respond to sea-based disasters, including improved risk assessments and a better understanding of seismic and tsunami hazards.

The NCE program is an initiative of the three federal granting agencies-the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)-in partnership with Industry Canada.