The Canadian government announced that it is seeking applications for companies looking to receive funding through the Strategic Innovation Fund, with one deadline closely approaching.
Launched in July 2017, the Strategic Innovation Fund is a $1.26 billion program that focuses on providing funding to sectors including advanced manufacturing, agri-food, cleantech, clean resources, digital industries, and health and biosciences. Specifically, the fund provides repayable and non-repayable contributions to support four streams of activities focused on the commercialization of innovative products and services.
Stream one focuses on encouraging research and development; stream two focuses on supporting the growth of high-potential firms in Canada; stream three focuses on attracting and retaining large-scale investments in Canada; and stream four focuses on advancing research and development through collaboration between academia, non-profits, and the private sector.
The Canadian government is investing in initiatives at the intersection of data and Canada’s health and biosciences sector.
For streams one, two, and three, the government is seeking applications from for-profit companies. However, stream four is seeking applications from consortia made up of Canadian universities, colleges, research institutes, for-profit companies, and/or non-profit entities. The program will provide seed investments in businesses, support R&D activities, and facilitate business-to-business or business-to-academia collaborations.
As part of stream four of the Strategic Innovation Fund, the Canadian government said it is currently looking to invest in initiatives that work at the intersection of data and Canada’s health and biosciences sector. The government announced a new competition on June 28 that will invest in business-led consortia and networks that focus on the healthcare and biosciences spaces.
The competition, open now until August 31, will support projects that are accelerating the adoption of emerging platform technologies and scaling health and biosciences companies. The government said that through the program, projects will have the opportunity to increase their private sector investments in R&D, create new intellectual property, develop new products, and establish new collaborations.
“Canadians working at the intersection of data and the health and biosciences sector are breaking new ground and advancing world-changing innovations,” said Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. “Through this new Strategic Innovation Fund competition, our government will invest in the most promising projects that will turn those innovations into well-paying jobs for Canadians. This is how, with the Strategic Innovation Fund, we’re investing in innovation today for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Stream four applications, which require a statement of interest and an application form, will be assessed on a competitive basis. Applications for the first three streams are accepted on a continuing basis, and there are no submission deadlines.