College-industry innovation funding supports business and research partnerships

OTTAWA, ON – Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced more than $4 million in funding for research infrastructure projects at five colleges, polytechnics and Cégeps through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The funding supports a partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s 2020 College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program. Minister Champagne announced more than $38 million in funding through this program.

"Colleges, Cégeps and polytechnics are an integral part of Canada’s research and development network. This new funding will not only benefit institutions, but also their business and community partners. We can all look forward to the extraordinary innovations that will result from these collaborations,” said Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the CFI.

Among the funded infrastructure projects, which were awarded through the CFI’s College-Industry Innovation Fund, is the expansion of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Applied Genomics Centre in Surrey, B.C. The $1 million in funding will help the institution acquire new, cutting-edge infrastructure that will allow researchers to work with industry partners in areas of genomics, metabolomics and toxicology. 

Cégep de Lévis, Durham College, Humber College and Langara College also received funding for infrastructure that will support research for industries ranging from cybersecurity to telecommunications.

Quick facts

• The CFI awarded an additional $1,254,603 under the Infrastructure Operating Fund to assist institutions with operating and maintaining their new infrastructure.
• The College-Industry Innovation Fund is intended to support substantial research infrastructure projects that will augment the existing applied research and technology development capacity of colleges, and allow them to respond to important sector industry needs.
• There are two competition streams under the College-Industry Innovation Fund. This announcement is for stream 2, which enables colleges to acquire infrastructure for their faculty to undertake the competitive and innovative applied research and technology development projects described in their CCI-IE proposal.

Quick links

More about the Canada Foundation for Innovation
Details on the CFI’s College-Industry Innovation Fund
Discover the CFI Research Facilities Navigator: An online database of labs and facilities that are open to working with business

Projects funded / Projets financés

NOTE:
As part of this announcement, an additional $1,254,603 was awarded under the Infrastructure Operating Fund, a mechanism that assists institutions with the incremental operating and maintenance costs associated with the new infrastructure.