Archived - This content has been developed for the transition binder for the NRC President, December 2020
Media coverage
In November 2020, 424 news items directly mentioned the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), our programs, or researchers.
Source of coverage and topics discussed
The NRC and NRC‑related topics were covered by traditional (television, radio, print), and online media. Coverage was generated by international, national, regional, and local media.
Topics of interest for traditional and online media included:
- Québec's Nouveau Monde was selected as the mining partner to develop electric systems and rapid recharging infrastructure for heavy vehicles used for open pit mining. Engineering News, Canadian Mining Journal, Mining Magazine, and International Mining reported that the NRC is one of the co‑founding partners that will evaluate and test the electric mining vehicle.
- The Energy, Mining and Environment research centre hosted the NRC's first virtual event on November for the grand opening of the NRC's Clean Energy facility in Mississauga. The news release was picked‑up by Canadian Manufacturing, In Sauga, Construction Canada.
- Following the Prime Minister's announcement that Canada may not be at the front of the line to receive a COVID‑19 vaccine, questions arose about previous announcements regarding Canada's vaccine production capacities. Reporter Matt Gurney wrote an article that was published by the National Post, The Ottawa Citizen, The Montreal Gazette and The Vancouver Sun where he recaps the commitments made by the government and the current status of those promises. These articles included a timeline of the upgrades of the NRC's Royalmount facility and the progress of the new NRC Biologics Manufacturing Centre (BMC) facility.
- The Toronto Star, The National Observer, The Globe and Mail, Le Devoir and La Presse published articles mentioning the now ended collaboration between the NRC and CanSino. The topic returned to the news cycle following a statement by the leader of the opposition that the government put too much emphasis on the partnership and did not seek other options early into the pandemic.
Most of the media coverage in November was neutral and informative in tone, apart from 49 articles that were negative and 12 articles that were positive.
- Canadian Manufacturing, In Sauga, and Construction Canada, published positive articles about the new NRC Clean Energy facility in Mississauga.
- Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun and Occupational Health and Safety Online published a neutral article about a pilot project for an electric Low‑Speed Automated Shuttle launched in Ottawa. The NRC is one of the project's key partners.
- Re$earch Money Inc, Nation Talk, Markets Business Insider and Science Mag shared a neutral article about a report by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) stating that gene therapies offer life‑changing treatments but pose several challenges in terms of their introduction into the Canadian healthcare system. The NRC asked the CCA to examine key challenges specific to the approval and use of somatic gene and engineered cell therapies in Canada.
- The Globe and Mail, McGill News, Le Journal de Québec, Le Journal de Montréal, and EurekAlert! published neutral articles about the Canadian‑led team of researchers at the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) who collected data that strongly suggested some fast radio bursts could originate from magnetars ‑ a type of neutron star with extremely powerful magnetic fields. The NRC is a partner at the CHIME.
- The Globe and Mail, The Province, The Vancouver Sun and Burnaby Now published neutral articles about Symvivo Corporation, a Burnaby, BC biotech company who dosed its first volunteer with an oral DNA vaccine to prevent COVID‑19. The company received a $2.8‑million grant from the NRC to support the study of the drug.
- Charlottetown Guardian, Cape Breton Post and St. John's Telegram shared a neutral article about Kraken Robotics of St. John's who tested its self‑launching and recovering seabed scanning system for the first time in the rough and frigid North Atlantic. Kraken received a grant from the NRC.
- BetaKit shared a neutral article about the NRC and Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) who have signed a new memorandum of understanding to launch a partnership supporting highly innovative Canadian tech SMEs.
- The Globe and Mail, The Logic, BetaKit, Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec published neutral articles about Ottawa's announcement to add $155 million to the Innovation Assistance Program.
- CBC Radio, Toronto Star, Charlottetown Guardian and Cape Breton Post published neutral articles where VTF member Alan Bernstein spoke about the announcement from Pfizer that its COVID‑19 vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective.
- CBC News, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, St. John's Telegram and Cape Breton Post published neutral articles where VTF member Alan Bernstein likens lipid nanoparticles to small soap bubbles that protect the messenger RNA from degrading, facilitate getting it into cells, and enable it to act like a booster to the immune system.
- Re$earch Money Inc published a neutral article about the federal government's 25‑year master plan to revitalize federal research laboratories. The Laboratories Canada initiative's first project includes the TerraCanada collaborative facility to which the NRC is a participant.
- Toronto Sun, Ottawa Sun, Winnipeg Sun, Edmonton Sun, published a negative article criticizing the government's COVID‑19 vaccine strategy. The NRC's collaboration with China's CanSino Biologics, and the issues that arose are mentioned.
- The National Post, The Ottawa Citizen, The Star Phoenix, Vancouver Sun, London Free Press, Montreal Gazette, Edmonton Journal, Windsor Star, Calgary Herald, Regina Leader‑Post, published a negative article by Ryan Tumilty claiming that the expansion to the NRC BMC facility in Montréal was delayed by months and added that the project work should've been completed this month and been able produce up to 250,000 doses a month.
- The above‑mentioned sources issued a correction note to confirm that the new bio‑manufacturing facility is set to be complete by July 2021.
Media coverage from interviews and enquiries
The following news items resulted from media enquiries to the NRC:
- Global Times published an article by Hu Yuwei discussing the NRC and CanSino Biologics collaboration.
- The Globe and Mail's Ivan Semeniuk published an article featuring an interview with COVID‑19 Vaccine Task Force co‑chairs Joanne Langley and Mark Lievonen discussing Canada's vaccine strategy and the challenges countries face in vaccinating the entire globe.
- Re$earch Money published an interview featuring NRC Acting President Roger Scott‑Douglas on the NRC's collaborative research and development projects.
- CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks aired a segment and published an article featuring COVID‑19 Vaccine Task Force co‑chair Joanne Langley discussing the announcement by Pfizer regarding the efficacy of its vaccine.
- CBC Radio's Mainstreet with host Jeff Douglas welcomed Joanne Langley to discuss the world of COVID‑19 vaccines including mRNA vaccines and storage requirements. *link no longer available
- InSauga and Mississauga News published articles announcing the NRC's new advanced materials research facility in Mississauga.
- Canadian Contractor published an article featuring an interview with NRC's Grace Zhou on radon mitigation in energy‑efficient homes. *media call answered in October
- The Globe and Mail published an article by Marieke Walsh and Jeff Gray on the NRC's Royalmount facility vaccine manufacturing capacity and upgrades.
- The National Post's Ryan Tumilty published an article on the construction delay at the NRC's Royalmount facility.
- The Canadian Press published an article by Mia Rabson on Canada's biomanufacturing capabilities – the NRC's Biologics Manufacturing Centre is referenced.
- Le Devoir published an article by François Desjardins discussing the reasons behind the construction delays at the Royalmount facility.
- The National Post's Matt Gurney published an article on the vaccine manufacturing capabilities of the NRC's Royalmount Avenue facility. The article also discusses the challenges met by the NRC to upgrade the existing facility and meet good manufacturing practices (GMP).
Announcements
The NRC issued four news release in November 2020:
- Government of Canada invests in research collaborations to generate game‑changing discoveries (November 2)
- The National Research Council of Canada and BDC sign new memorandum of understanding to launch partnership supporting highly innovative Canadian tech SMEs (November 6)
- Minister Bains announces extension of Innovation Assistance Program (November 6)
- National Research Council of Canada opens new advanced materials research facility in Mississauga (November 16)
Media relations
The NRC received 37 media enquiries in November from international, national, regional, and local outlets. Four requests were for television, five requests came from radio, and twenty‑eight came from print and online media.
Figure 1 - Text version
The image is of a table, with data about media requests by topic on a scale from 0 to 30. The data points are as follows: Human Health Therapeutics – 24; Energy, Mining and Environment – 3; Construction – 2; NRC in General – 2; Oceans, Coastal and River Engineering – 1; Other (Referred Calls) – 1; President's Office – 1; Astronomy and Astrophysics – 1; Industrial Research Assistance Program – 1; Knowledge, Information and Technology Services – 1
Topics of interest of media included:
- The construction and manufacturing capabilities of the Royalmount Avenue facility in Montreal.
- The funding allotted to the NRC for upgrading the Human Health Therapeutics facility and the new Biologics Manufacturing Centre.
- Interview requests with COVID‑19 Vaccine Task Force members on the science of vaccines and recent announcements on the efficacy of vaccines.
- The new advanced material research facility in Mississauga
Social media
The NRC published 239 tweets, 86 LinkedIn posts and 2 Instagram posts in November 2020. The NRC Twitter account earned 354.2K impressions for the month of November, up from up from 215.5K impressions in October. [REDACTED]
Figure 1 - Text version
The image is of a post on Twitter, which includes a photo of a scientist working with lasers, and the following text: André Staudte, one of our senior scientists and a fellow of the Joint Centre for Extreme Photonics, adjusts one of the most powerful lasers in Canada. Don't just dream of working with us, apply now! https://t.co/lCMMVVhGmA #CoolJobs #DiscoverTheNRC https://t.co/3gp3JmTj5R
On November 16, the NRC Twitter account shared a tweet about Radon Action Month and how the NRC's Construction research centre has been working with Health Canada since 2011 to develop cost‑effective and safe solutions to minimize health risks. [REDACTED]
The NRC LinkedIn account generated 228.6K post impressions during the month of November. These posts covered:
- Minister Navdeep Bains announced $44.5M to academia, industry and non‑profit recipients for collaborations with the NRC on disruptive R&D technologies to address issues that affect Canadians.
- The Vehicle Propulsion Technologies R&D Program team announced, in collaboration with the Institut du Véhicule Innovant and Propulsion Québec, the launch of a mining vehicle electrification project.
- A Quantum Collaboration – The NRC‑uOttawa JASLab Pushes the Boundaries of Attosecond Science.
- The NRC hosted a virtual event with the Embassy of Canada to Germany and Natural Resources Canada named "A Carbon‑Free Fuel: Hydrogen Can"
- The finalists at the Falling Walls event.
- The Aerospace Research Centre virtually hosted the 11th International Forum for Aviation Research (IFAR) Summit.
- Official announcement of the launch of the #METALTec R&D Industrial Group.
- Recruiting Canadian firms interested in joining the virtual advanced manufacturing technology partnership mission to India, taking place January‑February 2021.
- The Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre has been working around the clock perfecting solutions to engineering challenges in marine and arctic environments.
- Remembrance Day.
- Webinars organized in collaboration with Hacking Health Global and Prompt that NRC employees participated in.
- The NRC Advanced Manufacturing team was announced as a finalist for the ADRIQ‑RCTi Innovation Awards Gala in the Partnership Awards and 2020 Sectoral industrial research coalitions.
- Announcement of a new opportunity for Canadian small and medium‑sized enterprises (SMEs) to partner with innovative firms in Israel through the bilateral call for proposals for joint R&D projects.
- Multiple posts for the Canadian Science Policy Conference over the week of November 16, 2020.
- Posts for Radon Action Month.
- Grand opening of the NRC's Clean Energy research Mississauga facility.
- World Antimicrobial Awareness Week.
- Marianna Kulka, Biomedical Nanotechnologies team lead, and Andrew Myles, Director of R&D, from our Nanotechnology Research Centre hosted a virtual booth at the WiSER Edmonton industry mixer.
- The collaboration with CHU Sainte‑Justine to improve treatment, modernize and improve diagnosis for mother and children.
- NRC researcher profiles who've had an important impact on COVID‑19 research.
- The NRC is Canada's National Office for the EUREKA network.
- The NRC participated in the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) #EDIAdvantage virtual forum.
- The 50th anniversary of the 9‑metre wind tunnel.
- The NRC's pandemic Response Challenge program to unite researchers, industry and government to fast‑track R&D aimed at overcoming this crisis.
- The NRC took part in the Virtual Smart Mining Partnering Mission to Brazil.
By the end of November, the NRC Instagram account had 3,140 followers, up from 2,964. The most popular post on Instagram was an image of a sample of boron nitride nanotubes shared on November 13.
The following table shows the top‑five NRC social media posts according to engagement rate:
| Platform | Post | Date Posted |
|---|---|---|
| André Staudte, one of our senior scientists and a fellow of the Joint Centre for Extreme Photonics, adjusts one of the most powerful lasers in Canada. Don't just dream of working with us, apply now! https://t.co/lCMMVVhGmA #CoolJobs #DiscoverTheNRC https://t.co/3gp3JmTj5R | 20 Nov | |
|
Anyone travelling along the Airport Parkway in Ottawa, Ontario has passed a giant white tube feeding into a large building. Few passersby realize that inside the tube is one of the world's largest wind tunnels, where manufacturers conduct pre‑market tests on the designs of vehicles, buildings, bridges and other structures. Although it doesn't look a day over twenty, our 9 metre wind tunnel turns 50 this year! The cherished member of the Aerospace Research Centre family remains a crucial tool in aerodynamic research to this day, providing critical validation of digitally simulated testing and a necessary step to calibrate models in order to secure certification by regulatory agencies. Learn more about the fascinating history of this giant, here: http://ow.ly/9wEq50CvNJ9 http://ow.ly/kvw450CvNJa #DiscoverTheNRC #NRCAero |
26 Nov | |
|
Log on to an Open mic with Peter Mason, NRC Director of Quantum Sensing Challenge program. The new Challenge program focuses on the science that will spawn a new generation of sensors based on #Quantum #technologies. #CSPC2020 #NRCChallengeAccepted https://t.co/l1qpoAGjUU https://t.co/dpMNckAafL |
20 Nov | |
|
2/2 To add to this, this month also sees the launch of the Materials for Clean Fuels Challenge program, which will be housed at our new facility! This program focuses on advancing technologies to produce chemicals and fuels from air and water, rather than from fossil‑based resources. Last but certainly not least we are pleased to introduce the Collaboration Centre for Green Energy Materials with the University of #Toronto. This joint 7‑year initiative aims to support the reduction of environmental impacts on the storage of energy and development of materials. Thank you to all our partners. We look forward to collaborating with you to address Canada's clean energy challenges! Read more: http://ow.ly/YHZo50CmORI #DiscoverTheNRC #NRCMississauga #CleanEnergy #CleanTech #GreenEnergy #Collaboration NRCChallengeCleanFuels |
17 Nov | |
| That's a wrap on the virtual #SmartMining partnering mission to Brazil. Thank you to @OficialEMBRAPII @AgencyFAPESP @TCS_SDC and all the ?? & ?? #SMEs for joining us to explore co-innovation opportunities between our two countries ow.ly/yjyV50CwLiN #GrowGlobalWithNRC #CIIP pic.twitter.com/RjqTaKrslO | 27 Nov |
[REDACTED]
The following table shows the highest performing social media post according to impressions:
| Platform | Post | Date Posted |
|---|---|---|
|
It's #RadonActionMonth! Since 2011 #NRCConstruction has been working with @GovCanHealth to develop safe and cost‑effective solutions to help minimize health risks from radon gas exposure in. http://ow.ly/V2sG50ClHMq #TakeActionOnRadon |
16 Nov |
[REDACTED]
Interpreting social media metrics
Overall, social media engagement is measured through:
- Impressions (how many users saw a message)
- Photo/video views (how many users interacted with media attached to a post— for example, how many users watched a video or expanded a photo to view it fully)
- Total engagements (how many times a user interacted with a message, including re‑tweets, replies, follows, and likes)
- Engagement rate (which posts resonate the most— number of engagements divided by impressions. In other words, out of everyone who saw the tweet, the percentage of people did something with it)
- Link clicks (number of users who clicked on a link included in a tweet); and
- Link click‑through rate (ratio of users who click a link to the number of total users who saw the tweet).
The average engagement rate for an English NRC Twitter campaign is 1.1%, and 0.5% for a French NRC Twitter campaign. It is important to note that as the number of impressions on a post go up, the engagement rate will naturally go down.
NRC website
The following web statistics for the month of November 2020 were collected using Google Analytics:
- Unique page views: Represents the number of browser sessions during which a page was viewed one or more times.
- Page views: are defined as the total number of times the piece of content was viewed during a given period of time.
News releases on Canada.ca
- Nov. 2: "Government of Canada invests in research collaborations to generate game‑changing discoveries" (824 page views)
- Nov. 6: "The National Research Council of Canada and BDC sign new memorandum of understanding to launch partnership supporting highly innovative Canadian tech SMEs" (297 page views)
- Nov. 6: "Minister Bains announces extension of Innovation Assistance Program" (5500 page views)
- Nov. 16: "National Research Council of Canada opens new advanced materials research facility in Mississauga" (735 page views)
Note: More than 50% of its page views were generated in the first 3 days of posting.
Overall data (% change from previous month in parentheses)
| Total | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRC website (all pages) | Unique page views: | 283429 (↑3.3%) | Page views: | 395919 (↑2%) |
| Research centres | Unique page views: | 3655 (↓12.2%) | Page views: | 5025 (↓12.7%) |
| NRC IRAP | Unique page views: | 19053 (↑21%) | Page views: | 21873 (↑20.2%) |
| Research facilities | Unique page views: | 4122 (↑15%) | Page views: | 4940 (↑17.5%) |
Top 10 web pages visited
| Page title | Unique page views | Page views |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Home ‑ National Research Council Canada | 40186 (14.18%) | 48707 (12.3%) |
| 2. Drone site selection tool | 6610 (2.33%) | 15299 (3.86%) |
| 3. Web clock (Official times across Canada) | 5257 (1.85%) | 12690 (3.21%) |
| 4. National Building Code of Canada 2015 | 8450 (2.98%) | 12100 (3.06%) |
| 5. Support for technology innovation | 5958 (2.1%) | 8412 (2.12%) |
| 6. Virtual store | 6353 (2.24%) | 8267 (2.09%) |
| 7. Sunrise/sunset calculator | 3203 (1.13%) | 7489 (1.89%) |
| 8. CODES‑GUIDES online library | 4410 (1.56%) | 6541 (1.65%) |
| 9. NRC IRAP Innovation Assistance Program (IAP) | 5711 (2.01%) | 6434 (1.63%) |
| 10. Accueil ‑ Conseil national de recherches Canada | 4664 (1.65%) | 5953 (1.5%) |
Research centre web pages visited (English only)
| Page title | Unique page views | Page views |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nanotechnology Research Centre | 584 (0.21%) | 788 (0.2%) |
| 2. Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre | 407 (0.14%) | 618 (0.16%) |
| 3. Aerospace Research Centre | 407 (0.14%) | 556 (0.14%) |
| 4. Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre | 355 (0.13%) | 511 (0.13%) |
| 5. Ocean, Coastal and River Engineering Research Centre | 318 (0.11%) | 396 (0.1%) |
| 6. Energy, Mining and Environment Research Centre | 288 (0.1%) | 376 (0.09%) |
| 7. Construction Research Centre | 268 (0.09%) | 349 (0.09%) |
| 8. Digital Technologies Research Centre | 148 (0.05%) | 233 (0.06%) |
| 9. Advanced Electronics and Photonics Research Centre | 171 (0.06%) | 230 (0.06%) |
| 10. Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Research Centre | 149 (0.05%) | 229 (0.06%) |
| 11. Metrology Research Centre | 139 (0.05%) | 198 (0.05%) |
| 12. Automotive and Surface Transportation Research Centre | 128 (0.05%) | 178 (0.04%) |
| 13. Medical Devices Research Centre | 134 (0.05%) | 170 (0.04%) |
| 14. Security and Disruptive Technologies Research Centre | 88 (0.03%) | 113 (0.03%) |
Top 10 NRC IRAP web pages visited (English only)
| Page title | Unique page views | Page views |
|---|---|---|
| 1. NRC IRAP Innovation Assistance Program (IAP) | 5843 (2.06%) | 6571 (1.66%) |
| 2. Financial support for technology innovation through NRC IRAP | 3906 (1.38%) | 4385 (1.11%) |
| 3. NRC IRAP IAP ‑ frequently asked questions | 2455 (0.87%) | 2691 (0.68%) |
| 4. About the NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) | 1735 (0.61%) | 2265 (0.57%) |
| 5. NRC IRAP funding to hire young graduates | 1793 (0.63%) | 2039 (0.52%) |
| 6. NRC IRAP across Canada | 589 (0.21%) | 792 (0.2%) |
| 7. The Industrial Research Assistance Program‑Innovative Solutions Canada COVID‑19 Challenge Program | 626 (0.22%) | 733 (0.19%) |
| 8. NRC IRAP advisory services | 505 (0.18%) | 578 (0.15%) |
| 9. EUREKA | 460 (0.16%) | 533 (0.13%) |
| 10. NRC IRAP international collaboration | 322 (0.11%) | 379 (0.1%) |
Top 10 research facilities web pages visited
| Page title | Unique page views | Page views |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Advanced materials research facility | 524 (0.18%) | 662 (0.17%) |
| 2. Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory research facility | 400 (0.14%) | 482 (0.12%) |
| 3. Human health therapeutics research facility ‑ Montréal: Royalmount | 181 (0.06%) | 213 (0.05%) |
| 4. Dominion Astrophysical Observatory research facility | 163 (0.06%) | 188 (0.05%) |
| 5. Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre | 124 (0.04%) | 175 (0.04%) |
| 6. Research aircraft fleet | 139 (0.05%) | 158 (0.04%) |
| 7. Data Analytics Centre research facility | 90 (0.03%) | 107 (0.03%) |
| 8. Microbial fermentation pilot plant research facility | 88 (0.03%) | 104 (0.03%) |
| 9. 9 m wind tunnel research facility | 83 (0.03%) | 97 (0.02%) |
| 10. Fire safety testing facility | 70 (0.02%) | 81 (0.02%) |
Questions?
Please contact the media relations team at NRC.MediaRelations-RelationsMedias.CNRC@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca.