Marcel Turcot joined NSERC in August 2025 as Vice-President of Strategic, Corporate and Public Affairs. In this role, he provides strategic leadership to NSERC in its ongoing support for Canada’s innovation economy through high-quality research in the natural sciences and engineering.

Marcel brings more than 20 years of federal public service experience to this role, with wide-ranging expertise in both science and innovation policy and central agency operations. Prior to joining NSERC, he served as Director General of Policy, Strategy and Performance at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), where he oversaw strategic policy, organizational performance and parliamentary affairs. As a member of NRC’s executive team from 2017 to 2025, Marcel played a key role in the council’s transformation efforts, including a 2018 organizational renewal that introduced programs to strengthen its mandate as well as a 2022 capital investment initiative that secured $962 million to modernize its national network of scientific facilities and infrastructure.

Throughout his tenure at NRC, Marcel also drove legislative improvements that would enable the organization to better collaborate with Canadian business partners and academic innovators, aiming to accelerate responsiveness and impact.

Earlier in his career, Marcel held senior policy roles at the Treasury Board Secretariat, supporting Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and at the Department of Finance Canada, where he worked on international finance projects.

Marcel holds a master of arts in economics from Carleton University and a bachelor of social sciences with honours in economics and public policy from the University of Ottawa.