Canadian Network for Complex Systems

Understanding complexity.
Shaping resilient futures.

CNCS is building Canada's national capability to study, model, and steward complex social, ecological, technological, and economic systems. We bring together researchers, public institutions, Indigenous partners, industry, and communities to strengthen the country's ability to navigate uncertainty and design for long-term resilience.

Get Involved → About CNCS

Purpose

Advancing complex systems capability for Canada

CNCS advances fundamental complex systems science and builds the tools, infrastructure, and collaborative capacity needed to translate insight into resilient futures for Canada.

No single discipline, sector, or institution can tackle the interconnected challenges Canada now faces. CNCS exists to connect the science, data, and people required to understand and act on them together.

What We Do

Five commitments

CNCS is organized around a small number of clear commitments — each one a concrete capability we are building in public.

01

Complex systems science

Advance fundamental research on resilience, adaptation, and the dynamics of interconnected systems — from ecosystems to cities to institutions.

02

Data & modeling capacity

Build shared national infrastructure for data, modeling, and simulation — so evidence and scenarios can be produced, compared, and stewarded in public interest.

03

Decision-making support

Equip decision-makers with analytical tools, training, and scenario work that makes complex-systems thinking usable in practice.

04

Cross-sector convening

Convene researchers, policy practitioners, Indigenous leaders, industry, and communities into durable collaborations and learning ecosystems.

05

Prototype & scale

Prototype real-world interventions with partners and help scale what works — treating implementation as part of the science, not separate from it.

Why Now

A period of cascading risk — and transformative opportunity

Canada is entering a decade in which climate, technology, and institutional change are compounding. To thrive, we need institutions and communities capable of:

  • Anticipating emergent risks before they become crises
  • Learning across sectors and disciplines at the pace of change
  • Responding adaptively to shocks and transitions
  • Designing for shared prosperity and planetary health

Meeting this moment requires national capacity to model, test, and govern complex systems with rigor, foresight, and coordination. CNCS is being built for that task.

Help shape a national capability

CNCS is welcoming founding contributors across research, government, Indigenous leadership, civil society, and industry. If this aligns with your work, we want to hear from you.

Get Involved → Contact Us