Public
Contact
André Chabot Director - Strategic Development + 1 514 987-9352As the R&D capital of Canada, Greater Montréal enjoys the privilege of having several hundred high calibre public research centres within its region. Government, universities, CEGEP's and university hospital research centres are where the future is discovered every day. High technology sectors such as aerospace, life sciences and information and communications technologies (ICT) are widely represented in these centres.
Below is a list of the major public research centres in Greater Montréal.For a complete list of these research centres, consult the Québec Government’s Directory of Research Groups and Chairs.
Aerospace
Since its creation in 1989, the Canadian Space Agency has been committed to ensuring all Canadians learn and benefit from the innovations developed by space and sciences technologies. Its mandate is to promote the use and development of space, to advance the knowledge of space through science and to ensure that Canadians benefit from space science and technology in a social and economic setting.
Location: Saint-Hubert
Expertise: Science and space programs and space technologies
Centre technologique en aérospatiale (Collège Édouard-Montpetit)
The Centre technologique en aérospatiale (CTA) is dedicated to technology applications in the aerospace industry. The CTA is an applied research and technology transfer centre that includes approximately 30 professionals, engineers and technicians who help companies with their innovative projects and productivity improvement. The CTA is located in the École nationale d’aérotechnique (ÉNA), which includes a fleet of 28 aircrafts, 35 laboratories and more than $60 million worth of equipment.
Location: Saint-Hubert
Expertise: Physical and mechanical processes, tooling and assembly, composites, metrology, prototypes
The centre aims to develop core competencies and demonstrate modern aerospace manufacturing technologies for the aerospace industry.
Expertise: Forming and joining of metallic products, fabrication and joining of composite structures, automation, robotics and intelligent manufacturing systems, and advanced material removal
Life Sciences
McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Centre
The McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Centre is a world class research facility for genomics and proteomics. Large-scale projects at the Centre are highly integrated together on three platforms: sequencing, genotyping and functional genomics supported by an infrastructure and unique expertise in bioinformatics. High-quality protein separation and analysis services are also provided by the proteomics platform.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Complex genetic disorders such as cardiac disease, asthma and Type 2 diabetes
Genome Québec and Montreal Heart Institute Pharmacogenomics Centre
Through its technology and development platforms, the Pharmacogenomics Centre provides opportunities to expand and enhance existing research programs through the inclusion of genetic information at all phases of drug development.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Pharmacogenomics and clinical genetic research, pharmacology and proteomics
The INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, a component of the Institut national de recherche scientifique (INRS) affiliated with the Université du Québec, contributes to Québec’s research, education and technology transfer activities in the human, animal and environmental health sectors.
Location: Laval
Expertise: Immunology, microbiology, epidemiology, toxicology, the environment, environmental biotechnology, and molecular pharmacochemistry
Institut du cancer de Montréal (ICM) - (Montréal Cancer Institute)
The mission of the ICM is to promote basic and clinical cancer research, and to prepare future generations in this field through education and training.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Cancer
The Montreal Heart Institute is an ulra-specialized hospital centre in cardiology, affiliated with the Université de Montréal, and is devoted to patient care, research, teaching, prevention, and the development and evaluaton of new technologies in cardiology. Research is an inherent part of its mission. The Institute draws upon its dynamic and boasts the latest in scientific advances, the international forefront for knowledge development through its innovative ideas proposed by its basic, research clinical and technological research teams.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Acute or chronic coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, heartbeat trouble, congestive heart failure, rehabilitation and prevention, diagnostic and therapeutic technology
NRC Biotechnology Research Institute (BRI)
The BRI is the most important biotechnology research centre in Canada. It fosters, supports and conducts R&D in the fields of health, bioprocesses and the environment. In addition to its research laboratories, the BRI possesses an Industry Partnership Facility (IPF), which houses biotechnology R&D companies.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Infectious and immunitary diseases, biotechnology, cells, enzymes and proteins
Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM) - (Montréal Clinical Research institute)
Devoted to biomedical research, the IRCM’s mission is to improve health through the understanding of the causes of diseases, and the development of new diagnostic tools and means of prevention and treatment.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Bioethics, cancer, bio-organic chemistry, genetics and developmental biology, hematology, immunology, neuroscience and endocrinology, and the cardiovascular system
Greater Montréal also has many other research hospital centres, including:
Le Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM)
CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre (Mother and Child University Hospital Centre)
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI MUHC)
The Research Institute at the Montréal Children’s Hospital
Le Centre de recherche de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal
L’Institut de recherche en immunologie et en cancérologie de l'Université de Montréal (IRIC)
The Douglas Mental Health University Institute
Information and Communication Technology
McGill Centre for Bioinformatics
The McGill Centre for Bioinformatics focuses its research efforts on the application of computational solutions to biological problems.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Bioinformatics protocol, parasitology, comparative genomics, phylogenesis, biological networks, molecular biology, etc.
Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM)
The CRM is an international leader in mathematical science research, thanks to its internationally-renowned program, its scientific workshops and transfer and training activities, its 1,500 researchers who are invited each year from the four corners of the earth, and its nine laboratories that welcome 170 researchers from 12 major universities in Québec and Ontario.
Location: Montréal
SYTACom, Centre for Advanced Systems & Technologies in Communications (SYTACom)
The SYTACom Centre aims to foster innovation in Québec in the area of communications systems and technologies via advanced research and training of highly qualified personnel. To mobilize distributed expertise and promote a ‘systems’ approach, the Centre has formed inter-disciplinary teams of university researchers in signal processing, transmission technologies, networks, and software engineering and computer science.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Intelligent signal processing, broadband transmission, advanced networks and communications software
Centre de recherche informatique de Montréal (CRIM)
CRIM is an Information Technologiy applied research centre that develops and transfers technologies and knowledge in order to add value to the products and services of businesses and organisations and contribute to their commercialization. A non-profit organization, for the past 20 years, the CRIM has played a major role in reaching the many benchmarks that have characterized the development of the IT sector in Québec: introduction of the first Internet network, development of the multimedia sector, making Montréal an international centre for speech recognition, etc.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Distributed systems analysis, Internet technologies, speech, vision and image recognition
NSERC/Ericsson Industrial Chair in Next Generations Mobile Networking Systems
This Chair results from a partnership between École Polytechnique and the firm Ericsson. Its goal is to create a home for excellence in fundamental and applied research, to train highly qualified personnel, to ensure technological monitoring and knowledge transfer for next generation mobile networking systems. The main concerns of this Chair are centred on wireless and Internet technologies and their interactions with mobile computing, the direction many applications will take in the years to come.
Expertise: Telecommunications networks
INRS-Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications (INRS-EMT)
The primary objectives of the INRS-EMT are to develop research programs, to encourage scientific innovation and to provide quality education at graduate levels (M.Sc. and Ph.D.), in sectors strategic for Québec’s economy.
Location: Montréal and Varennes
Expertise: Advanced materials, nanoscience and nanotechnologies, photonics, telecommunications and energy
Québec Institute of Graphic Communications (Collège Ahuntsic)
The Québec Institute of Graphic Communications (QIGC) is a world-class integrated innovation and expertise centre, dedicated to pro-actively supporting the graphic communications industry, its partners and their employees, in their technological and commercial evolution. The QIGC supports, finds solutions, innovates, trains and informs the graphic communications market, and is a resource centre for the industry. Its team recommends solutions for businesses: training needs, productivity improvement, new materials or consumables.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Practical consultations, independent laboratory services, printing analyses, applied R&D projects, infrared technology and technological monitoring in graphic communications
Hydro Québec’s Research Institute (IREQ)
The IREQ is an innovative leader in the fields of energy production, transportation and distribution.
Location: Varennes
Expertise: Mechanics, metallurgy and chemistry; network analysis and management; electrical equipment; chemistry and materials; automation and measurement systems; energy use
Laboratoire de communications et d’intégration de la microélectronique (LACIME)
The LACIME’s main activities focus' at the intersection of two major research sectors: communications and microelectronics, while exploiting their natural complementarity. The blueprint of the group’s research activities is based on improving current communications and telecommunications systems through the appropriate use of opportunities offered by microelectronics.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Micro- and nanoelectronics – telecommunications systems
Laboratoire de recherche en génie logiciel (GELOG)
The GELOG works on the development of an international consensus in software engineering (SWEBOK project, Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge), on developing the second generation of method measurements for the operational size of software and its use in industry for productivity analysis, computer project assessment, and the analysis of software quality.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Software development
Mobile Computing and Networking Research Laboratory (LARIM)
LARIM welcomes a large number of master’s and doctoral students, as well as post-doctoral interns and others from foreign universities. Its research activities focus primarily on network infrastructures, services and applications subject to severe flow and service quality constraints, taking into account the many possible effects of mobility.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Performance evaluation, distributed systems, mobile computing, artificial intelligence and learning machines, agent-based systems, tele-learning, knowledge representation, expert systems, and optical networks
McGill Centre for Intelligent Machines (CIM)
The CIM excels in the field of intelligent systems, stressing basic research, technology development and education.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Robotics, design, artificial intelligence, medical imaging, etc.
Regroupement Stratégique en Microsystèmes du Québec (ReSMiQ)
The ReSMiQ, known originally as GRIAO, was founded in 1991 by four Montréal institutions: Concordia University, École Polytechnique de Montréal, McGill University and Université de Montréal. The centre is geared toward applications such as telecommunications, biomedical devices, RF circuits and signal processing algorithms and circuits.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: System architecture, circuit design and digital, analog and mixed-signal Microsystems, testing and verification
Other public research centres
Centre collégial de transfert technologique en optique-photonique (Optech)
The OPTECH’s mission is to familiarise and promote the implementation of empowering technologies related to optics-photonics, in order to support the efforts to improve the productivity and innovation of Québec's businesses.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: New product development, optic metrology, digital analysis and processing of images, computer services, etc.
Centre d’études des procédés chimiques du Québec
The Centre d’études des procédés chimiques du Québec (CÉPROCQ) is a college centre for the transfer of technology (CCTT) that provides affordable and innovative solutions to SMEs through access to funding programs. Its team of researchers possess various expertises able to offer technical and applied research support services.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Chemistry and related sectors, packaging and agri-food processing
Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en analyse des organisations (CIRANO)
CIRANO is an interuniversity centre of research, liaison, and transfer of knowledge on the analysis of organizations. It provides access to the best researchers in this field to any firm or organization, private or public, seeking innovative ways to improve the efficiency of its activities.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Public policy, experimental economics, risk, finance, sustainable development
Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ)
The CRIQ is a leading source of innovation and expertise in the areas of manufacturing technologies, the environment, industrial information and standardization. The CRIQ plays an important role in the economy by providing industries with the means to become leaders on national and international markets leaders.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Wood product processing, pulp and paper, agri-food, transportation, aluminum, environmental biotechnologies, electricity, electronics, aeronautics, medical, construction materials, manufacturing (welding, plastics, metals), and health and safety
Centre des technologies de l’eau (CTE-Cégep Saint.-Laurent)
The CTE concentrates its efforts on the rational use of water and its proper treatment through the introduction of new technologies, pilot tests and optimization, for operators, suppliers and manufacturers of products and equipment, as well as stand-alone system installers.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Diagnostic studies, treatability studies, technical improvement of current systems, revamping of process and equipment controls, introducing more effective processes, preventive maintenance, technical assistance, operating support, training of operational personnel, water distribution and collection, operation and maintenance of networks and reducing water use
Fashion Technology Transfer Centre (FTTC – Lasalle College)
The mission of the FTTC is to provide the industry with access to the latest, most innovative technologies and a full range of services, including subsidized research and development programs, with the aim of improving the productivity and profitability of businesses in a tangible way.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Combat visor cover protector, uniforms, flotation jackets, heating apparel, ‘greffe’ clothing, and supply chain management project
Montréal International Logistics Institute (MILI)
The MILI is a para-public, non-profit agency. It offers SMEs wishing to innovate in logistics, access to results and technological applications produced by the research sector and the additional expertise of universities and college-level Centres of Technology Transfer (CCTT). The services the MILI and its subsidiary the Centre d'excellence en traçabilité Québec-Canada (CETQC) enable customers to better manage the supply chain and access to innovative solutions. The MILI and the CETQC assist SMEs as trends and technologies advance. A technology showcase, open to the public, allows partners of the MILI to promote the use of new technologies and leading technological solutions.
Location: Montréal
Expertise: Optimization and re-engineering of logistics processes, traceability, technology monitoring, applied research, technology transfer and customized training
Industrial Materials Institute of the NRC
The National Research Council's Industrial Materials Institute (NRC-IMI) is a research and development centre focused on materials, their formulation and forming, as well as the control of their processes. The NRC-IMI works primarily in the metallurgy, polymer, aerospace, automotive and biomedical sectors. The technologies developed at the IMI since its inception have resulted in more than 110 patents, which triggered the creation of 15 new companies.
Location: Boucherville
Expertise: Composites – Ceramic and glass - Modelling and simulation – Metals and alloys -Polymers - Preparation and transformation
