Program directory · National Research Council Canada
Clean Energy Innovation
- Department
- National Research Council Canada
- Program code
- BNQ05 (NRC)
- Core responsibility
- Science and Innovation
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Clean Energy Innovation (CEI) program aims to accelerate Canada’s transition to a strong, net-zero economy built on clean energy and low-carbon industries. Its mission is to spark Canadian innovation for a sustainable future by harnessing diverse scientific expertise, advanced technologies, and strategic partnerships to develop solutions for net-zero energy, critical minerals, advanced materials, and industrial decarbonization. By integrating multidisciplinary approaches, leveraging collaborations with academia and industry, and tailoring solutions to Canada's unique challenges, the program aims to strengthen Canadian clean energy supply chains, and meet the needs of diverse communities. Embracing innovations in resources, materials, devices, and processes, and utilizing cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, CEI focuses on developing new technologies that will contribute to Canada’s sustainability goals and support their commercialization.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Energy Innovation | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $260M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Indicators added: Number of patent applications filed; Revenue earned from all external research clients; Citation score of Energy, Mining and Environment generated publications relative to world average | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Indicators dropped: Number of clients and collaborators working with the Research Centre annually; Number of unique intellectual assets generated by Research Centre employees; Value of external contributions to Research Centre research and development services and scientific and technological infrastructure | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Spending $54M, against $38.5M in 2023-24 (+40%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators added: Citation score of Clean Energy Innovation generated publications relative to world average | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Indicators dropped: Citation score of Energy, Mining and Environment generated publications relative to world average | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Renamed from “Energy, Mining and Environment” to “Clean Energy Innovation”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 11 | 2022 | 24 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 10 | 2023 | 50 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 10 | 2024 | 47 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 15 | 2025 | 27 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ $6.8M | 2022 | $11.9M | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $8.1M | 2023 | $13.2M | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ $8.3M | 2024 | $11.4M | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ $8.3M | 2025 | $11.6M | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 1.35 | 2022 | 1.39 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 1.39 | 2023 | 1.4 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 1.37 | 2024 | 1.27 The result reflects EME’s internal reorganization and refocusing on higher priority research areas at the end of fiscal year 2022-2023. Staffing actions and team realignments reduced available capacity; however, new capacity in these higher impact areas is expected to lead to increased results in the future. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 1.4 | 2025 | 1.27 While the result for this indicator was lower than expected, CEI successfully maintained the same citation level as the previous year, which is higher than the NRC’s organizational target. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 80 | 2019 | 86 | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 82 | 2020 | 80 Target substantially met. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 84 | 2021 | 64 In order to comply with public health measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Energy, Mining and Environment has had to restrict on-site activities to focus on pandemic response priority projects, thus cancelling or postponing many projects with clients and collaborators. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 98 | 2019 | 96 Target substantially met (difference between target and actual is very small). | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 102 | 2020 | 110 | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 107 | 2021 | 117 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ $6.8M | 2019 | $6.2M The Program did not achieve the full value of external contributions targeted from other government departments (OGD) because of OGD budget limitations and their changing research priorities. Consequently, research services provided to OGD clients were lower in the 2018-19 fiscal year as compared to previous years. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ $6.8M | 2020 | $9.4M | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ $6.8M | 2021 | $8.1M | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 1.25 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 20 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $11.7M | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $22.3M | $27.7M |
| 2019-20 | $27.3M | $31M |
| 2020-21 | $28.3M | $38.1M |
| 2021-22 | $27.4M | $35.6M |
| 2022-23 | $26.3M | $34.7M |
| 2023-24 | $28.9M | $38.5M |
| 2024-25 | $40.3M | $54M |
| 2025-26 | $43M | — |
| 2026-27 | $46.4M | — |
| 2027-28 | $40.4M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $39.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 137 | 194 |
| 2019-20 | 189 | 210 |
| 2020-21 | 200 | 218 |
| 2021-22 | 215 | 213 |
| 2022-23 | 216 | 215 |
| 2023-24 | 211 | 207 |
| 2024-25 | 221 | 232 |
| 2025-26 | 223 | — |
| 2026-27 | 210 | — |
| 2027-28 | 213* | — |
| 2028-29 | 207* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $22,275,615 | $22,187,362 | $22,264,933 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $27,333,645 | $27,411,162 | $26,134,114 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $28,346,625 | $27,595,802 | $26,669,951 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $27,395,802 | $26,469,951 | $26,469,951 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $26,277,780 | $26,280,044 | $26,353,980 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $28,933,779 | $31,143,023 | $32,247,244 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $40,314,833 | $42,610,957 | $40,704,599 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $42,956,971 | $41,049,516 | $33,723,619 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $46,382,675 | $40,432,394 | $39,104,791 | ||||||||
| Actual | $27,698,061 | $31,018,052 | $38,065,945 | $35,554,609 | $34,721,973 | $38,476,792 | $53,988,586 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
