Program directory · National Research Council Canada
Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Department
- National Research Council Canada
- Program code
- BNQ06 (NRC)
- Core responsibility
- Science and Innovation
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics (HAA) program fulfills the mandate from the NRC Act to “operate and administer any astronomical observatories established or maintained by the Government of Canada”, including Canada’s participation in all current and future offshore facilities. HAA supports two national observatories (Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory), five offshore observatories (Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope [CFHT], Gemini North and South, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array [ALMA], Thirty Meter Telescope [TMT], Square Kilometer Array [SKA]), and operates three programs (Optical Astronomy Program [OAP], Radio Astronomy Program [RAP], and Astronomy Technology Program [ATP]). The main clients of HAA are Canadian professional astronomers and university students who need access to telescopes to conduct their research. HAA engages in partnerships with national and international collaborators, including other observatory partners and industry.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $445M |
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: Citation score of Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics generated publications relative to world average; Number of patent applications filed; Revenue earned from all external research clients | 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 $118M, against $66.4M in 2023-24 (+78%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $71.3M, against $124M in 2025-26 (−42%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
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 | ≥ 1.95 | 2022 | 1.57 HAA’s recent years' results were skewed upwards due to one highly cited paper in 2018 (citation score over 60.00) which no longer factors into the current 3-year average. Future targets will reflect expected steady state performance. To reflect the continued scientific recognition of HAA’s work, it is important to note that 22% of its publications were in the top 10% most cited in the world in 20… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 1.95 | 2023 | 1.62 FWCI improvement is largely dependent on global citation trends, however the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics (HAA) Research Centre will review its FWCI performance to identify potential causes which may include changes in the scientific publication trends impacting the average FWCI of Canadian publications, which includes those of the NRC. This analysis will help HAA identify strategies to ma… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 1.6 | 2024 | 2.22 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 1.6 | 2025 | 3.01 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 1 | 2022 | 8 | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 1 | 2023 | 10 | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 1 | 2024 | 13 | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 1 | 2025 | 5 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ $2.3M | 2022 | $2.6M | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $2.3M | 2023 | $2.8M | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ $2.3M | 2024 | $3.5M | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ $2.3M | 2025 | $5.4M | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 9 | 2019 | 7 The Herzberg Astronomy & Astrophysics (HAA) program works on high value, long-term projects with a narrow client-base. As such, due to the nature of those collaborations, fluctuations in actual results are expected. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 9 | 2020 | 8 Target substantially met. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 9 | 2021 | 12 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 164 | 2019 | 222 | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 160 | 2020 | 159 Target substantially met. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 170 | 2021 | 218 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ $2.3M | 2019 | $1.8M The high value, long term nature of HAA’s research and development activities can often lead to schedule changes. The schedule of one of two major technology projects underway slipped into the 2019-20 fiscal year. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ $1.4M | 2020 | $2.6M | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ $2.3M | 2021 | $2.5M | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 2 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 5 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $7.3M | 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 | $157M | $51M |
| 2019-20 | $78.3M | $54.2M |
| 2020-21 | $83.1M | $50.2M |
| 2021-22 | $78.2M | $50.4M |
| 2022-23 | $89.5M | $54.4M |
| 2023-24 | $101M | $66.4M |
| 2024-25 | $123M | $118M |
| 2025-26 | $124M | — |
| 2026-27 | $71.3M | — |
| 2027-28 | $70.5M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $67.4M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 116 | 129 |
| 2019-20 | 125 | 127 |
| 2020-21 | 122 | 132 |
| 2021-22 | 127 | 129 |
| 2022-23 | 128 | 123 |
| 2023-24 | 123 | 128 |
| 2024-25 | 132 | 130 |
| 2025-26 | 128 | — |
| 2026-27 | 132 | — |
| 2027-28 | 129* | — |
| 2028-29 | 128* | — |
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 | $157,166,203 | $48,497,854 | $44,983,550 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $78,296,580 | $69,782,238 | $64,782,072 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $83,062,228 | $78,249,461 | $64,524,541 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $78,172,909 | $76,646,341 | $76,731,258 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $89,506,904 | $89,593,267 | $34,829,318 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $100,865,140 | $36,381,305 | $36,716,476 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $123,188,569 | $123,707,325 | $73,562,629 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $123,758,300 | $73,984,350 | $73,697,978 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $71,270,115 | $70,486,231 | $67,437,137 | ||||||||
| Actual | $51,021,286 | $54,191,317 | $50,207,730 | $50,407,472 | $54,418,755 | $66,363,886 | $118,063,760 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
