Genomic technologies have great potential for improving productivity in agriculture and forestry, for gene conservation and for the environmental monitoring of the biotic components of both natural and managed ecosystems. The Canada Research Chair in Forest Genomics was launched in 2001 in order to develop this potential. Our goal is to consolidate the expertise of Université Laval and Québec researchers in genomic sciences applied to forestry and the environment, so to create a center of excellence recognized both nationally and internationally. The Chair is led by Jean Bousquet, Professor at Université Laval.