Threads of resilience: UM helps lead the national conversation on research security

This guiding principle remained central to the 3rd Canadian Research Security Conference (CRSC 2026), held May 26 and 27 at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. Co-hosted by the University of Manitoba and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), the event convened over 200 participants from Canada and abroad to address one of the research sector’s most urgent challenges. The UM Research Security team, including Dr. Deepa Sankaran, Noel Galuschik, Sara Sambanthan and Myrna Dyrkacz, was central to the planning and delivery of the conference, alongside TMU colleagues, An Chi Lee and team. 

"This conference is the only one of its kind in Canada that brings together research security practitioners, policymakers, research leaders, and community members to explore how research security can coexist with open science and international collaboration," said Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden, UM's Associate Vice-President (Partnerships, Knowledge Mobilization & Innovation). 

CRSC 2026 adopted the theme Threads of Resilience: Strengthening Canada's Capacity for Secure Global Collaboration, reflecting the importance of collaboration in building resilience in research and innovation, and thereby economic security, in an era of global competition, foreign interference, and rapid technological change. The conference has expanded since its first event co-hosted by the Universities of Alberta and Calgary (2023) and its second, by UBC (2025). 

This year’s conference in Winnipeg welcomed international attendees from Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States, as well as participants from nearly every province and territory across Canada representing academia, government, funding agencies, and industry.

Federal partners in attendance included those from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Public Safety Canada, Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian  

A key outcome of the conference was the first ever peer-to-peer collaboration between two communities of practice, Team Canada (Canada’s research security community) and the UK’s Higher Education Research Security Association (HERSA).  

Supported by Global Affairs Canada, this collaboration established opportunities for professional exchange between the two peer-led communities of practice. It included a presentation by UK colleagues at CRSC 2026 and a reciprocal Canadian delegation attending and presenting at the June 2026 HERSA Annual Conference in Hinckley, followed by participation of both delegations in a dialogue at Canada House in London, to chart the way forward. 

UM and TMU prioritized making research security capacity-building accessible beyond large, well-resourced institutions. 

Significant funding from Global Affairs Canada, a SSHRC Connection Grant, and Universities Canada helped reduce barriers for practitioners from small and medium-sized post-secondary institutions nationwide. 

For the first time, CRSC 2026 also introduced two free due diligence training streams delivered ahead of the conference and supported in-kind by the University of Calgary. Typically cost-prohibitive, the training was made available to the wider Canadian post-secondary community at no charge, with capstone sessions integrated into the conference program itself. 

Research security in Canada is increasingly linked to Arctic sovereignty, and the University of Manitoba is uniquely positioned at this intersection. 

"UM occupies a strategic geographic position at the centre of Canada with direct access to Arctic regions via the Port of Churchill on Hudson's Bay, Canada's only Arctic deep-water port," noted Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden in his remarks. 

A dedicated Arctic Security panel, supported by Research Manitoba and featuring perspectives from Canada, Denmark, and northern community leaders including the Mayor of Churchill and Gloria Thompson, an Inuit community member from Chesterfield Inlet, received strong engagement from attendees.

The panel emphasized that Arctic security does not involve only military considerations but also human, environmental, and community resilience. Research conducted by, with, and for Indigenous peoples, in partnership with northern community leadership, is essential to this work. 

CRSC 2026 wrapped with a handoff to the University of Ottawa, next year's conference host. Three conferences in, the attendance numbers, the federal presence, and the international reach tell their own story about where Canadian research security is headed. 

As Dr. Hans-Joachim Wieden told the assembled participants on opening morning: "We are truly a community in this space. Together, we can help build a more secure research environment for our researchers, students, and communities."