The GSC is Canada’s oldest scientific agency and one of its first government organizations. It was founded in 1842 to help develop a viable Canadian mineral industry by establishing the general geological base on which the industry could plan detailed investigations. Throughout its long and colourful history, the GSC has played a leading role in exploring the nation. Administratively, it has been part of the Department of Mines (1907-1936), Department of Mines and Resources (1936-1950), Department of Mines and Technical Surveys (1950-1966), Department of Energy, Mines and Resources (1966-1995) and is now part of Natural Resources Canada (Earth Sciences Sector).
Today, the GSC is Canada’s national organization for geoscientific information and research. Its world-class expertise focuses on the sustainable development of Canada’s mineral, energy and water resources; stewardship of Canada’s environment; management of natural geological and related hazards; and technology innovation.
The GSC has several regional offices, including two centres that are co-located with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) at the following institutes:
- Institute of Ocean Sciences (Sidney, BC - Pacific Geoscience Centre)
- Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO) (Dartmouth, NS - Atlantic Geoscience Centre)
The GSC's presence at BIO's dates back to 1963, when a group of marine geologists from the GSC moved from Ottawa to BIO, at the same time as a Marine Geophysics Group was established at BIO under the Department of Marine and Technical Surveys. Both groups became part of the Atlantic Oceanogaphic Laboratory (AOL) of BIO upon the latter's creation in 1968 (then under Departement of Energy, Mines and Resources). After AOL became part of the Department of Environment (1971), the geological and geophysics units formed the Atlantic Geoscience Centre at BIO and remained under the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.