Choose Halifax for any number of reasons; incredible oceanfront views and a walkable downtown core, or its world-class convention centre and thriving cross-sector innovation. No matter the reason, the outcome is always the same: inspired meetings, engaged delegates, and lasting impressions.
Discover Halifax’s extraordinary selection of historic and modern venues and accommodations—all offering versatile settings to host inspiring meetings, unforgettable receptions against the backdrop of our beautiful sea-side city.
Unlock a world of curated supplier partnerships, sustainable planning tools, and exclusive delegate-saving privileges designed to elevate your event and not your budget.
Find the support you need to simplify logistics, maximize ROI, and create a bespoke event that is tailored to your group in a way that only Halifax can. As a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) we’re here to help every step of the way, free of charge.
NRC Research Facilities and Laboratories in Halifax
National Research Council (NRC) OPERATIONS in Halifax
Halifax Regional Municipality is home to three specialized National Research Council of Canada research facilities supporting human health therapeutics, preclinical testing, natural products, analytical chemistry, algal science and marine biotechnology.
From its Oxford Street research site to the coastal Marine Research Station in Ketch Harbour, the NRC brings federal scientists, technical expertise and specialized infrastructure into Halifax’s wider network of universities, teaching hospitals, health authorities, ocean-science organizations and life sciences companies. For conference and event organizers, this creates opportunities to connect with leading researchers, technical experts and organizations working at the intersection of health, biotechnology and ocean science.
The NRC’s Human Health Therapeutics Research Facility in Halifax is part of the NRC’s national Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre. It supports the preclinical development of antibody-based therapeutics and other biologic medicines. Researchers collaborate with industry, academic and government partners to evaluate promising therapeutic candidates before they advance to clinical development. Halifax-based expertise includes biomarker measurement and the validation and characterization of clinical assets for industry partners.
Research Focus
Antibody-based therapeutics
Preclinical biologics development
Biomarker identification and measurement
Therapeutic-candidate evaluation
Bioanalysis and clinical-asset validation
Collaboration with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies
The Halifax research site brings together zebrafish testing, natural-products research, analytical chemistry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. These complementary capabilities help researchers and companies evaluate new compounds, identify useful biological materials and support product development across health, food, environmental and bio-based applications.
Zebrafish Research
The NRC’s internationally recognized Zebrafish Research Facility in Halifax uses advanced zebrafish models to assess the biological activity, therapeutic potential and toxicity of new compounds, biological extracts and complex mixtures. Because more than 70% of human genes have a zebrafish counterpart, and zebrafish develop rapidly with transparent embryos, researchers can observe biological responses in real time using small amounts of test material.
Capabilities include:
Pharmacological screening
Toxicity testing
High-resolution imaging
Behavioural analysis
Genome editing
Customized disease models for areas such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, pain and stress.
The facility supports research in human therapeutics, natural health products and environmental toxicology, helping identify promising candidates and potential safety concerns before moving to more resource-intensive preclinical models.
This multidisciplinary research capability helps companies and researchers discover and develop valuable ingredients and compounds from marine organisms, plants, food materials, biomass and processing byproducts.
Services can span the broader product-development process—from separating complex biological materials and identifying bioactive compounds to measuring proteins, lipids, metabolites and contaminants. The work supports natural health products, functional foods, sustainable ingredients and other bio-based products.
The NRC’s advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy instruments can identify unknown compounds, measure their concentration and compare the chemical profile of raw ingredients and finished products. The service is particularly useful when researchers need detailed structural information or a reliable chemical fingerprint for quality control of natural products, pharmaceuticals, food ingredients and bio-based materials.
The NRC Marine Research Station is a specialized coastal research facility supporting marine biotechnology, aquaculture and ocean science.
A unique research in Canada, its seawater system can deliver up to 9,000 litres of seawater per minute to wet laboratories equipped to cultivate, process and analyze seaweed, microalgae and other marine organisms in controlled conditions.
Capabilities include:
Seaweed cultivation and ecosystem restoration
Microalgae cultivation and bioproduction
Sustainable aquaculture feeds
Seafood-waste valorization
Marine-derived proteins, oils and bioactive compounds
Advanced biosensing and ocean monitoring
Marine-habitat conservation
Materials testing in coastal conditions
By combining cultivation, harvesting, processing and analysis in one facility, the station helps researchers and companies develop aquaculture feeds, protein concentrates, antimicrobial compounds, antioxidants and other high-value marine bioproducts.
Algal Genomics and Synthetic Biology Culture Collection
The NRC’s Algal Genomics and Synthetic Biology Culture Collection maintains one of Canada’s most diverse collections of marine and freshwater microorganisms.
The station provides access to more than 200 species of marine and freshwater microorganisms, including over 40 genera of phytoplankton. The collection supports biotechnology, aquaculture, environmental monitoring and climate research through algal isolates, microscopy, DNA extraction, sequencing and biochemical characterization.
