About Us

Formerly known as the Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre (CBERC), BEC is a federally incorporated, charitable not-for-profit organization with the mandate to grow the biotechnology sector in Canada by:

Educating students, teachers, and the general public about the field of biotechnology; and
Participating in outreach activities that increase public awareness of biotechnology

Located in the heart of Toronto near the Discovery District at the MaRS Centre, BEC has developed a network of academic, government and industrial partners to help deliver a range of educational programs designed to excite and motivate Canadian students and the public about the promises and challenges of biotechnology.

Bioscience Education Canada Brochure (pdf-1mb)

Biotechnology Spawning Subdisciplines

"Biotechnology is not only impacting more fields of science but also spawning its own subdisciplines such as genomics, proteomics and DNA bar-coding," said Jeff Graham, chair of BEC's board of directors. "This expansion and diversification of biotechnology in both research and business will offer young Canadians more opportunities for careers in the biological sciences".

BEC supports the expansion of Canada's bioeconomy

At the national level, BEC supports the expansion of Canada's bioeconomy by educating students, teachers and the public about the socio-economic benefits of using biotechnology to create new drugs, novel foods, new fuels and solutions to environmental problems. BEC also collaborates with many regional and local education and business organizations to achieve better community understanding of these economic and social benefits.

Partners and Collaborators

BEC delivers its programs through partnerships with such national organizations as the National Research Council, BioteCanada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and BioTalent Canada. BEC also collaborates with regional bioscience and science outreach organizations such the Ontario Genomics Institute, BioAlberta, Genome Atlantic, The Biotechnology Initiative and Manitoba's Mindset education program to name a few. Among the private sector organizations that have supported BEC's programs are sanofi pasteur, Merck Frosst Canada, Monsanto and Bayer Canada.