[5] NSERC came into existence on 1 May 1978 under the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act, which was passed in an omnibus manner by the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

[8] Past presidents include Gordon M. MacNabb (1978-1986), Arthur W. May (1986-1990), Peter Morand (1990-1995), Tom Brzustowski (1995-2005), Suzanne Fortier (2006-2013), and B. Mario Pinto (2014-2018).

[13] Past CWSE Chairs include Dr. Elizabeth Cannon (1997), Dr. Claire Deschênes (1997), Dr. Monique Frize (1997), Dr. Maria Klawe (1997), Dr. Florence-Mary Williams (1997), Dr. Anne Condon (2002), Dr. Valerie Davidson (2002), Dr. Cecilia Moloney (2002), Dr. Julita Vassileva (2004), Dr. Nadia Ghazzali (2006), Dr. Elizabeth Croft (2010), Dr. Annemieke Farenhorst (2011), Dr. Catherine Mavriplis (2011), and Dr. Lesley Shannon (2015).

[12] As of 2023, the current regional CWSE Chairs are Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal (Atlantic), Dr. Eve Langelier (Quebec), Dr. Shohini Ghose (Ontario), Dr. Laleh Behjat (Prairies), and Dr. Jennifer Jakobi (B.C./Yukon).

[15][16][17] These Atlantic Chairs "aim to reach a broad range of underrepresented groups, including women and gender minorities, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized groups and members of LGBTQ communities, with a particular focus on First Nations and French communities, African Nova Scotians and remote and rural areas.