Welcome to the Canadian Phycological Culture Centre - CPCC (formerly known as the University of Toronto Culture Collection of Algae and Cyanobacteria - UTCC). As Canada's national service collection of freshwater algae and cyanobacteria the collection maintains around 500 strains of algae and cyanobacteria. It was founded in 1987 and since then has provided research quality cultures and related services to over 900 users in educational institutions, government and commercial laboratories in 30 countries.
The facility moved to the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo from its former location at University of Toronto, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in August 2008. The CPCC is financially supported partly by user fees and by a Major Resources Support (MRS) grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council (NSERC), which has provided funding for the facility since 1988. The support of the above organizations is gratefully acknowledged.
Consultation Fees
Due to the frequency of telephone and email requests for detailed information we are implementing a consultation fee for this service. There will now be a charge for time spent on these consultations in excess of 15 minutes at a rate of $48/hour billed in 15 minute increments. Thank you for your understanding and for using CPCC services.
Shipping cultures
In order that you receive healthy, viable cultures we try to avoid shipping when weather conditions are extremely cold or hot. Our guidelines are to postpone shipments when the maximum daytime temperatures are over 28 C and overnight temperatures are lower than minus 15 C in the Waterloo, ON area or in the destination area. We will make every effort to ensure that the cultures are well packed to avoid freezing or overheating. If your need is urgent and the weather is unfavourable, we will try to accommodate your preferred schedule but this is at your own risk.
Online Seminar on cell culture - controlling contamination
Seminars on controlling contamination in cultures: available in Sept and Oct 2009 at Corning Inc. Sponsored by ATCC and the Society for In Vitro Biology. The seminars are intended for animal culture but may be useful for algal culture as well. See
http://www.corning.com/lifesciences/us_canada/en/technical_resources/online_training.aspx
Fee increases at CPCC
Our fee structure has changed as of April 1, 2009 and the following charges now apply:
Announcements re CPCC
New location for CPCC (formerly UTCC)
The CPCC was relocated from the University of Toronto to the University of Waterloo in August 2008. We have hired a new Technical Curator, Heather Roshon to work with Judy Acreman, who is now serving as Manager of the CPCC on a part time basis. We are in a transition phase but will do our best to serve you as promptly as possible. Please allow 8-10 business days from the time we receive your order until the cultures are shipped. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
History of the UTCC and CPCC
The CPCC which was formerly known as UTCC became 23 years old in 2010. See the Timeline for some of the milestones along the way.
