Funding for existing cleantech projects through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is flowing once more, while new applications under its National Research Council Canada (NRC) replacement program will open “early” in fiscal 2025–2026, an NRC spokesperson told BetaKit.
Cleantech entrepreneurs and investors told BetaKit that prior SDTC funding delays have been resolved for their companies, but expressed uncertainty as to whether any new grants were being processed by the embattled federal cleantech funding agency or its new overseer.
SDTC “has resumed funding eligible startups” as it preps for “a final wind-up.”
At the moment, SDTC is working to complete the transition of its programming to the NRC. This after multiple investigations found evidence of conflict-of-interest and governance issues at the agency. BetaKit has confirmed that SDTC and the NRC are still not accepting new funding applications.
A notice on SDTC’s website now indicates that its programming has transitioned to NRC and directs applicants to contact the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), which has established a successor program to SDTC called NRC IRAP Clean Technology.
An SDTC spokesperson confirmed to BetaKit that the agency “has resumed funding eligible startups and is working to complete a smooth transition of this programming to [NRC].” In the meantime, the spokesperson said that SDTC is preparing for “a final wind-up of all operations.”
An NRC spokesperson told BetaKit that on Feb. 4, the federal research and development agency established NRC IRAP Clean Technology with a core mandate “to support innovative companies in Canada that are developing, demonstrating, and commercializing clean technologies.”
NRC IRAP Clean Technology “is expected to begin accepting new applications early in the 2025-2026 fiscal year,” the spokesperson said. The federal fiscal year begins April 1. Until applications open again, the NRC is directing interested Canadian companies to call 1-877-994-4727 toll-free to learn more about how to access the program, which the NRC has onboarded SDTC employees to deliver.
The NRC is still transitioning active, eligible projects under SDTC to the NRC with new agreements under the NRC IRAP Clean Technology program, in a process it expects to complete this spring, the spokesperson said.
After a third-party investigation commissioned by the Government of Canada uncovered evidence of conflict-of-interest and governance issues at SDTC, in October 2023, the feds suspended SDTC from funding new projects until the agency implemented a series of corrective steps.
In June 2024, following the release of an Auditor General of Canada report outlining similar findings and a series of changes, the feds restored SDTC’s funding with enhanced oversight and detailed plans to integrate the cleantech agency into the NRC.
RELATED: Federal government punts NRC IRAP’s merger into the Canada Innovation Corporation to 2026–2027
But as BetaKit reported last year, as of October 2024, some startups that had met their project milestones were still waiting for those funds to arrive, as the organization underwent an audit of existing projects to ensure they met its requirements. The SDTC spokesperson claims it has since resumed funding eligible startups.
The Government of Canada has outlined plans to merge both SDTC and NRC IRAP into the Canada Innovation Corporation (CIC), the launch of which has since been delayed until 2026–2027.
Meanwhile, the political outcry in response to this scandal has threatened the program’s future. With a federal election scheduled to take place before the CIC is implemented, it remains to be seen whether these plans will come to fruition.
Some prominent Canadian tech leaders soured on the governing Liberals, who are currently in the process of choosing their next leader, while the Conservatives—who have taken to calling SDTC Canada’s “green slush fund”—have outlined their intent to scrap subsidies and use the tax code to spur innovation, should they take power.
Feature image courtesy of the National Research Council Canada.