[2] Named for the Nobel laureate Gerhard Herzberg, it was formed in 1975 as part of the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.

The NRC-HIA headquarters were moved to Victoria, British Columbia in 1995 to the site of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.

[1] NRC-HAA also operates the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory outside of Penticton, British Columbia and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre as well as managing Canadian involvement in the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Gemini Observatory, Atacama Large Millimeter Array, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Thirty Meter Telescope, as well as Canada's national astronomy data centre.

[4] Fellows conduct independent research in a stimulating, collegial environment at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

[5] Fellows conduct independent research in a stimulating, collegial environment at the institute at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, BC.