Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC)

Canada Research Chairs (CRC)

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Public Accountability and Transparency Requirements

Commitment Strategy

The University of Saskatchewan (USask) uses the following equity, diversity, and inclusion statement related to the Canada Research Chair Program (CRCP) and the university’s broader research enterprise:

“The University of Saskatchewan is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equity in the workplace and believes that our workforce should reflect the diversity of our students and community. The university is actively taking steps to achieve a representative workforce where everyone feels a sense of belonging, including women, members of a visible minority/racialized group, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, and any others who contribute to the diversification of ideas and perspectives.”

The CRC Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (updated March 16, 2020) reaffirms USask's commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity, and aligns with the federal government’s policies on non-discrimination and employment equity.

Awareness Strategy

The university’s mission, vision and values statements describe USask’s commitment to promoting diversity, inclusion, equity, and meaningful change. Awareness of these intrinsic values is actively promoted at all levels of the university. From the President’s Office, and his messaging, to the active participation of Human Resources (HR) in ensuring that diversity, inclusion, and equity are imbedded in discussions that influence, shape, and direct development, leadership and organizational culture to reach institutional goals of a diverse and inclusive university. The university planning process currently underway reflects our commitment to the principle of diversity. Embedding this concept into the fabric of these strategic planning efforts will focus the university’s work in the future and emphasize to our community its importance in all we do.

All CRC Program Search Committee members are required to complete the unconscious bias training module available on the CRC Program's website. Committee members have the option to attend A Self-Reflection on Diversity workshop, provided by an Inclusion and Diversity Consultant. The workshop is intended to:

  • increase self-awareness of personal thought patterns and behaviours;
  • discover how assumptions, unconscious bias, and stereotypes impact our everyday interactions; and
  • raise awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion at the university.

The outcomes of this training include recognizing one’s own cultural biases, stereotypes and prejudices and how they play out in the workplace, such as recruitment, selection, and hiring; grow one’s own self-awareness and what actions can lead to inclusion; and understand the principles behind equity and equality.

Governance

The governance structure for the institutional equity, diversity and inclusion action plan has been established. The President has ultimate authority for institutional goals and actions that will make the University of Saskatchewan more fully diverse and inclusive, as espoused in the university’s mission, vision and values. The Provost and Vice-Presidents affirm the institutional goals and actions and are responsible for ensuring the execution of goals and actions specific to their portfolios. The Director, People and Resources, is responsible for monitoring the progress of University of Saskatchewan’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan and for reviewing and updating the goals and actions, including measuring progress. The institutional Diversity and Inclusion Plan is an action plan supporting the university’s mission, vision and values and does not need approval by the university’s governing bodies. 

The CRC EDI Action Plan is an evergreen document refined through ongoing input from the CRC EDI Advisory Group, reviewed and approved by the CRC Advisory Committee and Research Chairs Oversight Committee. The Oversight Committee is responsible for ensuring implementation and progress on EDI goals and targets.   

Contact Information

Questions or concerns related to equity, diversity, and options for support may be directed to:
Keiran Killick
Director, Total Rewards and Talent Management
E140-105 Administration Place Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A2
Phone: (306) 966-8121

 

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Concerns

Equity, diversity and inclusion concerns are treated as an alleged discrimination or harassment complaint. These complaints are brought forward to the Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Services (DHPS) office through multiple platforms, including optional confidential or anonymous means. As described in the DHPS Full Policy document, university officials have a legal responsibility to take prompt, effective action to address incidents of discrimination and harassment. These actions include seeking advice from DHPS, human resources and escalating the complaint to an appropriate senior administrator who will decide if a formal investigation is warranted and oversee the investigation. The DHPS office maintains an audit trail of all discrimination and harassment concerns and reports all serious matters to the Director of Human Resources and AVP Human Resources.

USask's Equity Targets

As an eligibility requirement, all institutions that participate in the program were required to develop and submit their 2021-2029 equity target plan to the CRCP by June 2021. These plans will require setting equity targets for each of the four designated groups, for each of the target deadlines, to lead institutions incrementally, over the period of 2021-2029, to the population-based equity targets. See USask’s 2021-2029 Equity target-setting tool.

The following table shows USask’s equity targets and representation as of January 2024 (data includes 17 active chairholders as of January 1, 2024).

Designated Group

December 2025 Equity Targets

Representation Gap
Women and Gender Equity-Seeking Groups 8 8 No gap
Indigenous Peoples 0 * *
Persons with Disabilities 1 * *
Racialized Individuals 3 * *
*In keeping with the Privacy Act, numbers lower than 5 were removed to protect the privacy of chairholders.

Utilization Table

The University of Saskatchewan’s CRC utilization table (updated August 2023) outlines the number of CRC allocations at USask, how many are filled and by which chairholders (with their term end and start dates) and which allocations are available.

University of Saskatchewan Public Reports

CRCP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Practices and Requirements of the 2019 Addendum to the 2006 Canadian Human Rights Settlement Agreement:

Current Postings

External

Internal

  • No current internal posting.

Emergency Retention Transparency Statement

  • No current emergency retention.

Archived Postings (closing date)

External

Internal

Archived Emergency Retention Transparency Statements

In 2000, the Government of Canada created the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) program, a permanent program to establish 2000 research professorships - Canada Research Chairs - in eligible degree-granting institutions across the country.  The Canada Research Chairs program invests $300 million per year to attract and retain some of the world's most accomplished and promising minds.  Allocation of Chairs to individual universities is based on the funding received by researchers from the three federal granting agencies – CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC – in the three years prior to the year of the allocation.

Note: as of June 2024

Kristina Bidwell, Indigenous Storytelling

Lori Bradford, Social and Cultural Decision Making in Engineering Design

Miroslaw (Mirek) Cygler, Molecular Medicine Using Synchrotron Light

Ajay Dalai, Bioenergy and Environmentally Friendly Chemical Processing

Erika Dyck, History of Health and Social Justice

Graham George, X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Markus Hecker, Predictive Toxicology and Chemical Safety

Robert (Bobby) Henry, Indigenous Justice and Wellbeing

Tara Kahan, Analytical Environmental Chemistry

Xiaodong Liang, Technology Solutions for Energy Security in Remote, Northern, and Indigenous Communities

Wendie Marks, Development Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) in Indigenous People

Alexander Moewes, Synchrotron Radiation

Ingrid Pickering, Molecular Environmental Science

John Pomeroy, Water Resources and Climate Change

Eric Price, Radiochemistry

Natalia Stakhanova, Security and Privacy


USask Management of CRC Allocation: Allocation of Chairs; Renewals and Advancement; Nominations; and Lost Chair Allocations (also described in the University’s CRC Action Plan, pages 8-10)

Recruitment and Nomination of a Canada Research Chair 

The university follows the CRC Program’s guidelines for ensuring a fair and transparent recruitment and nomination process. The co-chairs of the university’s CRC Advisory Committee, the Vice-Provost Faculty Relations and the Associate Vice-President Research, participate in all searches and will certify that the recruitment process was transparent, open and equitable. The co-chairs also ensure that all short-listed candidates are approved in advance by the CRC Oversight Committee.

The university is also subject to the following policies, regulations and other requirements that are taken into consideration in the recruitment and nomination of CRC chairholders:

University guidelines and practices, inclusive of advertising, search committee membership and responsibility, and nomination process include:

Renew a Canada Research Chair

Administration of the CRC Award

Strategic Research Plan

For information on the Canada Research Chairs program at the University of Saskatchewan, contact Doreen Canillas at 306-966-2452

Centennial Enhancement Chairs

The Centennial Enhancement Chairs (CEC) program assists the university in retaining outstanding faculty with research and scholarship focused within one of the university’s signature areas. Selected through an open nomination process, chairs are awarded for a 5-year term

NSERC Industrial Research Chairs (IRC)

NSERC IRCs assist universities in partnering with industry to build on existing strengths to achieve critical mass in a major research endeavour, build capacity in an industry-relevant research field currently undeveloped in Canada and provide an enhanced training environment for graduate students by exposing them to industry-unique research challenges in natural sciences or engineering.

Sponsored Research Chairs

The Sponsored Research Chairs are Chairs and Professorships established to develop and enhance specific areas of teaching, research and service, including outreach and engagement activities.

Current Sponsored Research Chairs as of January 2024:

Mamun Abdullah, Dembroski Scholar, Edwards School of Business

Bishnu Acharya, Research Chair in Bioprocess Engineering

Yongfeng Ai, Research Chair in Carbohydrate Quality and Utilization

Maureen Anderson, Dr. Louis Schulman Professorship in Epidemiology

Sabine Banniza, W.J. White Professorship

Brian Berscheid, Barbhold Chair in Information Technology

David Blackburn, Chair in Patient Adherence to Drug Therapy

Maureen Bourassa, PotashCorp Enhancement Chair for Saskatchewan Enterprise

Maryse Bourgault, Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) Integrated Agronomy Research Chair

Kurtis Boyer, Research Chair in Metis Governance and Policy

Ning (Tate) Cao, La Borde Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship

M. Dean Chamberlain, Jean E. Murray Chair in Cancer Research

Ekaterina Dadachova, Fedoruk Centre for Nuclear Innovation Chair in Radiopharmacy

Bruce Eglington, Murray W. Pyke Chair in Geological Sciences

Heather Foulds, CIHR Chair in Women Heart and Brain Health - Indigenous Women's Heart and Brain Health

Glen Gardener, Law Foundation of Saskatchewan H. Robert Arscott Chair

Ron Geyer, Nutrien Clinical Research Chair

Holly Graham, CIHR Indigenous Research Chair in Nursing

Richard Gray, Canadian Wheat Board Research Chair in Canadian Grain Policy Enhancement

Haissam Haddad, Louis Horlick Chair

Murray Jelinski, Alberta Chair in Beef Cattle Health and Production Management

Michael Kelly, Fred H. Wigmore Professorship in Surgery, Clinical Stroke Research Chair, and the Knight Family Enhancement Chair in Neurological Surgery 

Alexandra King, Cameco Chair in Aboriginal Health

Robert Laprairie, Saskatchewan-GlaxoSmithKline Research Chair in Drug Discovery and Development

Michael Levin, Saskatchewan Research Chair in Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Research

Gabriela Mangano, George J. McLeod Enhancement Chair in Geology

Veronique Mathieu, David L. Kaplan Chair in Music

Min Maung, Edwards Enhancement Chair in Business

Sean Maw, Jerry G. Huff Chair in Innovative Teaching

Mansfield Mela, Iver and Joyce Graham Small Indiana Professorship in Psychiatry

Devan Mescall, Edwards Enhancement Chair in Business

David Natcher, Global Institute for Food Security - Social Dimensions of Food Security, and the Research Chair in Water, Energy and Food (WEF) Security in the Arctic

Rex Newkirk, Ministry of Agriculture Endowed Research Chair Feed Processing Technology

David Palmer, Thorvaldson Professorship

Dionne Pohler, Co-operative Retailing System (CRS) Chair in Co-operative Governance

John Pomery, UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability

Maureen Reed and James Robson, UNESCO Co-Chairs in Biocultural Diversity, Sustainability, Reconciliation and Renewal 

Gabriel Ribeiro, Saskatchewan Beef Industry Chair

Wendy Roy, Bateman Professor in English

Hamed Samarghandi, Edwards Enhancement Chair in Business

Joe Schmidt, Edwards Enhancement Chair in Business

Corinne Schuster-Wallace, UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability

Andrew Sharpe, Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security

Peter Slade, Canadian Canola Growers Association Agriculture Policy Chair

Stuart Smyth, Agri-Food Innovation Chair

Ian Stavness, Global Institute for Food Security Enhancement Chair in Computational Agriculture

Allyson Stevenson, Gabriel Dumont Research Chair in Metis Studies

Virgina Torrie, Estey Chair in Business Law

Nicholas Tyack, Van Vliet Visiting Professorship in Agricultural Economics

Mitch Weegman, Ducks Unlimited Canadian Endowed Chair in Wetland and Waterfowl Conservation

Jeanie Wills, Seaman Chair in Professional Communications

Craig Wilson, Sutherland Scholar in International Business

Sarah Wood, Pollinator Health Research Chair

Oscar Zapata, Research Chair in Community Energy Development



Ministry of Agriculture Strategic Research Program (SRP) Chairs

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture SRP was introduced in 1986 with a commitment to funding research chairs to ensure that Saskatchewan has the capacity to develop new agricultural knowledge and technologies relevant to Saskatchewan climatic conditions. Each chair represents an area of strategic importance where Saskatchewan previously lacked intellectual capacity. These chairs are tenable for 5 years.

Distinguished Professorships

Contact Us