Today in government funding, BC Tech, Let’s Talk Science, and Femmessor receive millions in funding from the Government of Canada. The investments come among a slew of other funding announcements as the Liberal government gears up for the October election.
BC Tech
BC Tech Association has received $2.25 million from the Government of Canada through Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), the regional development agency (RDA) for Western Canada.
The funding is meant to help the not-for-profit trade association deliver its programming and incubator services for companies in British Columbia’s tech sector. BC tech plans to deliver on two priorities using the government capital.
First, the organization plans to develop a suite of programs that will accelerate the scale-up of tech companies and support technology adoption within non-tech companies. BC Tech will also use the funding to support its event and co-working space, Hub, which was established in 201.
“The Hub is a supportive environment where companies can focus on getting products to market and increasing revenues,” the government stated. “It provides a curated event space for the tech community to come together to network, collaborate, and learn. Funding will allow BC Tech to continue to operate the Hub and help startup firms grow into anchor companies that will strengthen the backbone of BC’s vibrant tech community.”
Let’s Talk Science
National, charitable STEM organization Let’s Talk Science has received a $1.5 million investment from the Government of Canada’s CanCode program.
The funding comes as part of the second phase of CanCode a two-year federal program, aimed at supporting opportunities for K-12 students to learn digital skills like coding, data analytics, and digital content development. The federal budget for this year invested $60 million into CanCode, in addition to the $50 million from Budget 2017, giving it a total value of $110 million.
The $1.5 million for Let’s Talk Canada is meant to support its work engaging youth with hands-on STEM activities and learning programs. The organization will provide coding and digital skills programming to more than 115,000 students across Canada and also provide 7,000 educators with training on embedding coding, computational thinking, and digital skills.
Femmessor
Femmessor, a Quebec-based organization dedicated to the development of women’s entrepreneurship, has received a $5.7 million investment as part of the government’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy.
Distributed through Canada Economic Development, the RDA for the Quebec regions, the $5.7 million is meant to support Femmessor’s efforts to facilitate access to financing for women entrepreneurs in sectors where women are under-represented. The project focuses on women entrepreneurs from different cultural backgrounds as well as from rural and remote areas, and women whose businesses are in early stages of growth.
Over the past couple weeks, the federal government has also made a number of funding announcements surrounding its Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. Along with a number of women-led businesses receiving there $100,000 from the Women Entrepreneurship Fund, Wilfrid Laurier University, Queen’s University and a number of Quebec organizations also received government support.