The Saskatchewan Research Council is a provincial treasury board crown corporation conducting research and business on behalf of the provincial government and private industry. It focuses on applied research and development projects that generate profit. Some of its funding comes from government grants, but it generates the balance from selling products and services.
History
The Province of Saskatchewan established SRC in 1947. SRC carried out its work through grants-in-aid to specific applied research activities at the University of Saskatchewan. SRC's first Director of Research was Dr. T. T. Thorvaldson, head of the university's chemistry department. In 1954, SRC expanded its mandate to incorporate independent research. Dr. T.E. Warren, director of the Fuels Research Laboratory in Ottawa, was appointed to oversee the construction of a new building and hire employees. Under Warren's direction, SRC opened its own laboratories in 1958 and then expanded in 1963. With newly appointed SRC President Dr. T.P. Pepper leading, in 1972 SRC changed its structure, then based on academic disciplines, to one based on industry sectors. By 1973, SRC was earning more money from research contracts than it received from the provincial government. In 1983, J.P. Hutch, a former Deputy Minister of Industry and private sector engineering executive, became SRC's president. In 1986 the research and development branch of SaskOil was transferred to SRC. Hutch guided SRC as it took over operating the heavy oil lab in Regina from Saskatchewan Energy and Mines. SRC has grown to 370 employees and $41 million in annual revenues. Its five divisions—Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food; Alternative Energy and Manufacturing; Energy; Environment and Forestry; Mining and Minerals—provide applied research and development services.
Research
Since its inception, SRC has published 2,600 research reports that are available to the public. It has produced another 2,700 confidential research reports for clients. SRC's research history includes developing a residential energy conservation research report that was used in the National Building Code of Canada. SRC also mapped the groundwater resources in Saskatchewan south of the Precambrian Shield. Its scientists evaluated Saskatchewan's extensive lignite resources. SRC's GenServe Laboratories were involved in testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. SRC is also known for building the Factor 9 home, which uses 90 per cent less energy and 50 per cent less water than a similar home built during the 1970s. Current research is conducted in a range of laboratories and test facilities. SRC's environmental analytical laboratories provide environmental monitoring and other tests to clients. They house a SLOWPOKE-II nuclear research reactor that performs analytical tests. Its geoanalytical lab provides geochemical analyses for the mineral exploration industry. SRC's GenServe Laboratories carry out DNA-based testing for plants, cattle and other livestock. Its other labs include Petroleum Analytical Laboratories, an Outdoor Testing Facility, a Biofuels Test Centre, a Fermentation Pilot Plant, a Pipe Flow Technology Centre, a 3D Virtual Reality Centre, a diamond testing facility and a natural gas vehicles facility.
