Canada will soon have a second laboratory capable of working with the most dangerous pathogens in the world, home to Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research. It will be the only non-government Level 4 facility in the country, part of the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.Researchers worked on a COVID-19 vaccine at Saskatoon’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization lab during the pandemic.
VIDO has been working "closely" with CSIS for years, and while it boasts scientists from 30 countries, Gerdts said it is not collaborating with researchers in Russia and China, two countries with military and state agencies "In fact, I would say we're — at the moment, at least — the leading facility when it comes to biosafety in Canada."Some of the top scientists who have led the special pathogens program at the NML — and are now working in the United States — say a second Level 4 lab is good news for Canadians.
Heinz Feldmann also said non-government labs have different opportunities than government institutions, which "are often limited in their interaction with industrial partners and grant funding agencies." There are also increased security concerns: "Who has access to the lab, who gets access to biological agents?"