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Exterior of Laurier's research facility in Yellowknife
Research Support Fund helps sustain Laurier’s Yellowknife research facility

Research Support Fund helps sustain Laurier’s Yellowknife research facility

Oct. 15, 2025

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For many years, Wilfrid Laurier University faculty members and students have been traveling to Yellowknife for collaborative research projects with northern partners. After countless hotels and short-term rentals, they now have a place to call home. Laurier is the proud owner of a house and research facility at 163 Enterprise Drive in Yellowknife.

Laurier’s Enterprise Drive location is a comfortable, well-equipped hub for researchers working in the Northwest Territories. The cozy house boasts 12 bunk beds in three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room and rec room. An attached warehouse offers cold and warm storage for research gear and a basic lab workspace.

Living room in Laurier's Yellowknife research facility

“This is a critical northern base of operations for our researchers,” says Charity Parr-Vasquez, Laurier’s assistant vice-president: research. “It enables fieldwork that would otherwise be logistically or financially prohibitive by providing on-site housing, equipment storage and space for sample processing.”

Parr-Vasquez says that continued investment in northern research is essential to uphold Laurier’s partnership with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT). Since 2010, the unique agreement has brought new expertise and training to the Northwest Territories and strong community connections and research opportunities to Laurier scholars.

Kitchen in Laurier's Yellowknife research facility

Laurier’s Yellowknife research facility is made possible, in part, by the Government of Canada’s Research Support Fund (RSF).

“RSF supports the ongoing maintenance costs for 163 Enterprise Drive, helping to sustain the success of our GNWT partnership,” says Parr-Vasquez. “Having this infrastructure strengthens collaboration with community partners and other institutions, advancing Laurier’s leadership in community engaged research across Canada’s North.”

Any researcher, whether affiliated with Laurier or not, is welcome to book space at 163 Enterprise Drive. Laurier also maintains a research office in the Scotia Centre in downtown Yellowknife.

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