Canada Research Chairs Description
Canada Research Chairs
In 2000, the Government of Canada established the Canada Research Chairs Program (CRCP) to attract and retain a diverse group of world class researchers to achieve research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences in Canadian postsecondary institutions.
The Government of Canada invests approximately $295 million annually in the CRCP to support 2,285 research professorships, Canada Research Chairs, at eligible postsecondary institutions. The CRCP is committed to research excellence and equity. Through this support chairholders improve our knowledge and quality of life as well as help train the next generation of highly skilled people to strengthen Canada’s international competitiveness.
Eligible postsecondary institutions receive a set number of chair allocations based on the funding received by their researchers from the three federal research granting agencies: the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC); and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) (the agencies).
Mount Royal University has been allocated 5 Tier 2 Chairs.
- Targeted at outstanding exceptional emerging researchers acknowledged by their peers as having the potential to to lead in their fields
- Tenable for 5 years
- Eligible to be renewed once at the discretion of the faculty and university
Mount Royal's Canada Research Chairs
Ranjan Datta
Ranjan Datta is a Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies in the Department of Humanities at Mount Royal. He is the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Community Disaster Research.
Datta is a settler scholar of colour and was born and raised within minority communities in Bangladesh. His primary research focuses on disasters and how they affect communities in the vicinity of the event. This is analyzed through the lens of climate change and trying to address its impacts through an anti-racist and Indigenous focused perspective. Indigenous Peoples and minority groups are disproportionately affected by climate change, and Datta's research specializes in learning how to address the risk climate change induced disasters have on those groups.
This avenue of research also ties into water/food security and Indigenous management of those resources, along with overall community resilience to disasters.
Cherie Woolmer
Dr. Cherie Woolmer is an Assistant Professor and the Canada Research Chair for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
She works out of the Mokakiiks Centre for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Her research program focuses on student-faculty partnerships in higher education, which is informed by critical pedagogy, socio-cultural approaches to change, and the impact of pedagogical partnerships on institutional culture. Her recent publications focus on approaches to co-creating curriculum with students and issues of equity and risk in partnerships.
She co-facilitates Mount Royal’s SoTL Development Program, runs workshops and book studies on issues relating to pedagogical partnerships and SoTL, and offers consultations with faculty and students engaged in SoTL.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
The CRCP is committed to research excellence and acknowledges that achieving equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is also essential to creating the excellent, innovative and impactful research necessary to seize opportunities and for responding to global challenges. As such, the program is committed to the federal government’s policies on non-discrimination and employment equity.
Postsecondary institutions participating in the CRCP must commit to providing a supportive and inclusive workplace.
In 2006, the CRCP was required, in a settlement agreement, to implement specific measures to increase representation of four designated groups: women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and members of visible minorities.
In 2017, the agreement was made a federal court order at the request of equity-seeking plaintiffs, as not enough progress was made. An addendum to the 2006 Settlement Agreement was subsequently signed in 2019, establishing a ten-year framework for the CRCP to reflect the diversity within Canada.
2019 Addendum to 2006 Canadian Human Rights Settlement Agreement
The CRCP’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan requires institutions to develop their own action plans that address the representation of members from the four designated groups among their chair allocations. Institutions are required to set EDI objectives that will enable meaningful progress towards achieving their equity targets, and to improve transparency and accountability of the allocation process.
MRU's Equity Targets 2021-2029
Current CRCP equity targets and gaps are provided on both the Program Statistics page and the Population-Based Institutional Equity Targets page
Public accountability transparency
In accordance with CRCP’s public accountability and transparency requirements, Mount Royal University is required to publish information related to the management of our chair allocations.
Mount Royal University is strategically engaging in many activities to raise institutional awareness of our commitment to EDIA within the CRCP and our overall research enterprise. EDIA is specifically referenced in our University Strategic Plan, Academic Plan and Research and Scholarship Plan. We have worked to identify and address systemic barriers to EDI in our research policies and practices. Through hiring of an EDIA Training Specialist for Researchers we continue to engage with our research community on EDIA as we move to development of the CRC EDIA Action Plan.
We have recently hired an Associate Vice-President for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and created the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion works with students, faculty, and staff to implement Mount Royal University’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) and anti-racism through comprehensive EDIA strategies, processes and evidence-based policies, practices and programs.
The Canada Research Chairs data is updated after the results of the nominations are made public.
In 2020-2021,MRU received a $50,000 EDI stipend from the CRCP to develop our Canada Research Chair EDI Action plan.
CRC EDI ACtion Plan Progress Report June 2023
CRC EDI Action Plan Progress Report June 2022
CRC EDI Action Plan Progress Report June 2021
The procedures for addressing concerns relating to issues between the institution and faculty are outlined in the Mount Royal Faculty Association Collective Agreement.
Employees with concerns about equity, diversity and inclusion should follow the policies (such as those listed below) in place for all employees found on MRU's Policies and Procedures page:
- Code of Conduct - Employees
- Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Policy
- Responsible Conduct of Research Policy
Key policies are listed below and the full list is available on MRU's Policies and Procedures page:
- Code of Conduct - Employees
- Workplace Violence and Harassment Prevention Policy
- Responsible Conduct of Research Policy
- Universal Access Policy
- Commercialization of Intellectual Property
- Institutes at Mount Royal University Policy
- Intellectual Property Policy
The CRCP utilization spreadsheet outlines how many chair allocations MRU has, how many are filled, the chairholder start date and term end, type of flex moves used, and which allocations are available.
All Canada Research Chair positions must be filled using the Recruitment and Nomination Requirements.
Archived CRC recruitment postings:
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Global Value Chain, Bissett School of Business
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Community Disaster Research, Faculty of Arts
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Human Physiology, Faculty of Science and Technology
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Teaching and Learning
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Indigneous Studies, Faculty of Arts
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Ecosystem Science, Faculty of Science and Technology
MRU's CRCP EDI Contact
For more information on MRU's CRCP EDI agenda contact:
Connie Van der Byl, PhD
Associate Vice-President, Research, Scholarship an Community Engagement
(403) 440-7017