OAKVILLE, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 05/08/12 -- The Government of Canada will support 35 community colleges and cegeps that will be partnering with businesses to conduct research projects in the areas of information and communications technologies, environmental technologies, natural resources and energy. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology made the announcement while addressing the Polytechnics Canada Annual Conference, hosted by Sheridan College.

"Collaboration between government, applied researchers and the private sector is vital to building an innovative economy," said Minister Goodyear. "The College and Community Innovation Program supports research collaborations between companies and colleges. It illustrates the importance our government places on creating the conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive in this country."

A total of 60 innovative partnerships between colleges and businesses will be provided more than $36 million over a period of up to five years through the College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program. The announcement includes 14 new Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges to support the development of longer term business-focussed applied research programs at colleges. Three new recipients of College-University Idea to Innovation Grants were also announced. These grants support collaboration between Canadian colleges, universities and businesses to improve or extend existing company technology or commercial products. Both were first announced in Budget 2011.

The projects announced today were selected for funding following a peer-reviewed competition. This announcement follows other CCI investments announced in 2009, 2010 and 2011; bringing total program investments to date to over $160 million for 248 projects at 62 colleges and cegeps.

Sheridan College received over $1.1 million for a new NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Mobile Computing. The Chair will focus on delivering innovative mobile computing solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises throughout Ontario. The Chair will also be supported by industrial partners Research in Motion Limited, Cisco Systems Canada, TELUS Corporation, and Xtreme Labs Inc.

The CCI Program is managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), in collaboration with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

"These investments provide colleges with access to the people, resources and tools they need to be at the forefront of innovation," said Suzanne Fortier, President of NSERC. "The ultimate goal is to create sustainable partnerships that will help sharpen our innovative edge and have a positive impact on the bottom line of our country and industry."

NSERC is a federal agency that helps make Canada a country of discoverers and innovators for all Canadians. The agency supports some 30,000 postsecondary students and postdoctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding more than 12,000 professors every year and fosters innovation by encouraging about 2,000 Canadian companies to participate and invest in postsecondary research projects.

More information on this program and the 60 funded projects is available in the backgrounder.

Backgrounder

College and Community Innovation Program

The College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program is managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

There are six types of grants available through the CCI Program:

1.  Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges (IRCC) Grants support applied
    research leaders and the development of business-focused applied
    research programs at colleges. The grants will help colleges to develop
    new, or significantly enhance, existing applied research efforts in
    areas that meet local or regional socio-economic needs. IRCC Grants will
    range from $100,000 to $200,000 annually and will be offered in five-
    year terms. 

2.  College-University Idea to Innovation (CU-I2I) Grants intend to develop
    and strengthen research links between colleges, universities and
    businesses to accelerate the development of promising technologies and
    promote their commercialization in the Canadian marketplace. The grants
    support college and university participation in the improvement or
    extension of existing company technology or commercial products,
    processes and/or services. CU-I2I Grants are valued at up to $250,000
    per year for the college and university participants combined, for up to
    three years. 

3.  Innovation Enhancement (IE) Grants are aimed at enhancing innovation at
    the community and/or regional level by enabling Canadian colleges to
    increase their capacity to work with local companies, particularly small
    and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These grants support the direct
    costs associated with applied research and collaborations that
    facilitate commercialization, and technology transfer, adaptation and
    adoption of new technologies. IE Grants are awarded for either a two-
    year or five-year period. The two-year grants include funding of
    $100,000 per year over two years. The five-year grants include base
    funding of up to $500,000 per year for the first three years and up to
    $400,000 per year for the remaining two years. 

4.  Technology Access Centre (TAC) Grants provide funding for the core
    operations of centres established by colleges to address the applied
    research and innovation needs of local companies. The centres are
    intended to enhance the ability of companies, particularly SMEs, to
    become more productive and innovative by enabling them to readily access
    college expertise, technology and equipment. This access to college
    capabilities is intended to enhance the productivity, competitiveness
    and innovation of the participating SMEs. TAC Grants provide five-year,
    renewable funding of up to $350,000 per year. 

5.  Applied Research and Development (ARD) Grants are intended to provide
    companies that operate from a Canadian base with access to the
    knowledge, expertise and capabilities available at Canadian colleges and
    to train students in essential technical skills required by companies.
    The grants support short-term and small-scale projects that range from
    six months to three years in duration, with project costs being shared
    by the company partner. ARD Grant-funded projects can be at any point in
    the research and development (R&D) spectrum that is consistent with the
    college's applied research, training and technology transfer mandate.
    There are three levels of funding under ARD Grants-under $25,000; up to
    $75,000; and between $75,000 and $150,000. 

6.  Applied Research Tools and Instruments (ARTI) Grants support the
    purchase of research equipment and installations to foster and enhance
    the ability of colleges to undertake applied research, innovation and
    training in collaboration with local companies. These grants are one-
    year awards that assist in buying applied research equipment that costs
    between $7,000 and $150,000. 

Including those projects highlighted in today's announcement, the CCI Program has awarded over $160 million in funding to date, to support 248 projects at 62 colleges and cegeps across Canada.

Projects are awarded funding through a rigorous peer review process that includes an assessment by the CCI Program Review Committee, which is comprised of select members of the Private Sector Advisory Board. These members are leaders from the Canadian academic and business R&D sectors. The 35 colleges and cegeps in this program round will receive a total close to $37 million for up to five years, from fiscal year 2011-12 to fiscal year 2016-17.

College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program, 2012 Funded Projects

1) Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges

Cegep de Jonquiere (Jonquiere, Quebec): The Cegep de Jonquiere's program is designed to address the challenges specific to northern environments, telecommunications sites, outfitters and isolated communities that are facing energy supply problems and associated high costs.

Project Partners:

--  Cegertec Experts-conseils inc. 
--  Centre de production automatisee (CPA) 
--  Groupe de recherches ecologiques de La Baie (GREB) 
--  Laboratoire international des materiaux antigivre (LIMA) 
--  Chaire en eco-conseil de l'Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi 
--  Nordest Marine Inc.  

Cegep de la Gaspesie et des Iles (Grande-Riviere, Quebec): The main objective of the Chair program is to promote and coordinate applied research projects on macroalgae. The program has three components-fisheries and natural resources, mariculture, and algal biomass conversion.

Project Partners:

--  innoVactiv inc. 
--  OrganicOcean inc. 
--  Fermes Marines du Quebec Inc. 
--  Algoa inc. 
--  Biotaag International inc. 

Cegep de Saint-Hyacinthe (Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec): The research program of the Chair will address the R&D priorities of the Canadian textile industry-sustainable development; durable construction and reclamation; protection, safety and comfort; toxicity; and intelligent textiles.

Project Partners:

--  Ecole de technologie superieure (ETS) 
--  Soleno Textiles Techniques Inc. 
--  Groupe CTT Group 
--  Stedfast Inc. 
--  Logistik Unicorp Inc. 
--  FilSpec Inc. 
--  Produits Belt-Tech inc. 

Cegep de Trois-Rivieres (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec): This Chair brings together the candidate's recognized proficiency in aluminum smelting R&D and the most comprehensive aluminum casting facilities in Canada.

Project Partners:

--  Rio Tinto Alcan 

College of the North Atlantic (St. John's, Newfoundland): The Chair focusses on new process development and technology innovations in applied mineralogy, linking geology and characterization of ore deposits with recovery processes.

Project Partners:

--  Vale Newfoundland and Labrador Ltd. 

College de Maisonneuve (Montreal, Quebec): Building on several recent studies and ancillary work in the field of agroforestry extraction, the Chair will focus on deepening our knowledge of chemical composition and on the need to develop technologies that facilitate the development of high-value-added agro-forestry products.

Project Partners:

--  DuPont Canada Inc. 

College Shawinigan (Shawinigan, Quebec): The Chair's program will focus on the industrial bioproducts development process, working towards allowing for rapid diversification of bioproducts development and facilitate scale-up of products already under development.

Project Partners:

--  Innu-Science Co. Canada Inc. 
--  Agrosphere inc. 
--  BioAmber Canada Inc. 

La Cite collegiale (Ottawa, Ontario): The Chair's research program will be aimed at furthering the development of applied research in bioprocessing and agri-food engineering, where transforming agricultural residues into value-added products-such as biofuels and food products-is a growing field.

Project Partners:

--  GreenField Ethanol Inc. 
--  Ab Biotech Inc. 
--  Tri-County Protein Corp.  

Lambton College of Applied Arts (Sarnia, Ontario): The work of the Chair will support local and regional industrial partners in industrial process optimization as well as automation, advanced process control and modelling.

Project Partners:

--  GreenField Ethanol Inc. 
--  Cennatek Bioanalytical Services Inc. 
--  TEAM Aquatic Management Inc. 

Niagara College (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario): The work of the Chair will focus on developing new technologies in precision agriculture and pursuing commercialization opportunities with several industries including fruit tree growers and viniculture.

Project Partners:

--  Hillebrand Winery 
--  EarthGen International Ltd. (EGI) 
--  IBM Canada Ltd. 
--  AgInfoSys Inc. 
--  Yellow Gold Farms Ltd. 
--  Village Harvest 
--  Coyote's Run Estate Winery 

North Island College (Courtenay, British Columbia): The Chair will work to implement long-term monitoring of environmental conditions related to salmon aquaculture in order to improve the production efficiency of salmon farming practices in British Columbia.

Project Partners:

--  Marine Harvest Canada 
--  Creative Salmon Co Ltd. 
--  Mainstream Canada 
--  Grieg BC Seafood Ltd. 

Seneca College (Toronto, Ontario): The work of the Chair will use open source software as building blocks to find solutions for the energy consumption, space, and cooling requirements of current data centre technologies.

Project Partners:

--  Red Hat Canada Ltd. 

Sheridan College (Oakville, Ontario): The Chair's proposed program of research will focus on context-aware mobile computing and cloud-integrated mobile computing to assist SMEs to improve their competitive position.

Project Partners:

--  Research in Motion Limited (RIM) 
--  Cisco Systems Canada Inc. 
--  TELUS Corporation 
--  Xtreme Labs Inc. 

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (Calgary, Alberta): The objective of the Chair's program is to fill a technology development and transfer gap in the sports, recreation and wellness sector in Alberta and Western Canada, acting as a central resource in areas such as mechanical design, materials selection, prototype fabrication and testing.

Project Partners:

--  Marvel Wheelchairs Inc. 
--  GET Mobility Solutions Inc. 
--  Forsche Innovations Ltd. 
--  Fitter International Inc. 
--  Core Element Ventures Inc. 
--  Canadian Luge Association (CLA) 
--  Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) 

2) College-University Idea to Innovation (CU-I2I) Grants

Yukon College and University of Saskatchewan: Northern biochar for northern restoration

Project Partners:

--  Federated Co-Operatives Ltd. (FCL) 
--  Nunatta Environmental Services Inc. 
--  Zakus Farms 

Fanshawe College and University of Western Ontario: Advanced financial market simulation based on intelligent agents and cloud technology

Project Partners:

--  Cyborg Trading Systems 

Olds College and University of Alberta: Use of genomic tools to improve feed efficiency in purebred Hereford cattle

Project Partners:

--  Canadian Hereford Association (CHA) 

3) Innovation Enhancement Grants

Cegep de Matane (Matane, Quebec): The Innovations Matane: cinema, jeu video et geolocalisation 3D project involves the development of applied digital imaging technologies to support the growth and development of targeted companies.

Project Partners:

--  Cirque du Soleil 
--  Frima Studio inc. 
--  Groupe PVP 
--  MovementCode studios 
--  Quartz Communications Inc. 
--  Quattriuum 
--  Simthetiq 
--  TrailerCode Studios 
--  Centre de developpement et de recherche en imagerie numerique (CDRIN) 

College Ahuntsic (Montreal, Quebec): The Impressions 2020 initiative consists of the development of high value-added innovative printed products with a view to sustainable development.

Project Partners:

--  Au Point Reprotech 
--  Biomond Concepts Inc. 
--  Cascades Canada Inc. 
--  CelluForce 
--  Dominion Blueline Inc. 
--  Etiquettes Multi-Flex Inc. 
--  Etiquettes Profecta Inc. 
--  Excelsior Solutions d'echantillons technologiques inc. 
--  Fonds de solidarite FTQ 
--  FPInnovations 
--  Imprimerie l'Empreinte 
--  Imprimerie Pazazz Inc. 
--  Imprimerie PreciGrafik Inc. 
--  Imprimerie Pub Cite 
--  Imprimerie Sainte-Julie inc. 
--  Imprimerie Solisco inc. 
--  J.B. Deschamps Inc. 
--  Les Emballages Carrousel 
--  Les Emballages Crown Packaging Inc. 
--  Les Ultra encres inc. 
--  Les etiquetes Pazazz Inc. 
--  Les logiciels Polkadots inc. 
--  Marquis Imprimeur inc. 
--  PDI Phipps Dickson Integria inc. 
--  Plastic Knowledge Inc. 
--  Transcontinental Inc. 
--  Unigraph International Inc. 

Cegep de Thetford (Thetford Mines, Quebec): Creation of a technology platform for the development of value-added oilseed products for industrial applications.

Project Partners:

--  Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. 
--  Prolab Technolub inc. 
--  SOPREMA 

George Brown College (Toronto, Ontario): The Green Homes initiative will focus on novel building retrofit materials and methods and "Smart" building automation, sensor and control system technology development.

Project Partners:

--  ADL Process Inc. 
--  Canadian Computer Technology Inc. 
--  Centennial Global Technology Inc. 
--  Clearsphere Consulting 
--  Convergineering Inc. 
--  eCamion Inc. 
--  eTime Energy Inc. 
--  Green Power Solutions Holding Ltd. (GPS) 
--  SMT Research Ltd. 
--  Zillacomm Canada Inc. 

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) (Edmonton, Alberta): Oils Sands Environmental Sustainability: Center for Green Chemistry and Engineering at NAIT.

Project Partners:

--  Apex Engineering Inc. 
--  BNG Specialized Engineering 
--  Champion Technologies Ltd. 
--  Novatech Industries Inc. 
--  Oil Sands Environmental Development and Services Inc. (Oseeds) 
--  R J Oilsands Inc. 
--  Seair Diffusion Systems Inc. 
--  Soane Energy Canada Inc. 
--  Suncor Energy Inc. 
--  Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA) 

4) Technology Access Centres

George Brown College (Toronto, Ontario): Food Innovation Research Studio (FIRST)

Project Partners:

--  Toronto Food Business Incubator (TFBI) 

Camosun College (Victoria, British Columbia): Island Technology Access Centre

Project Partners:

--  Canadian Sport Centre Pacific 
--  Own the Podium (OTP) 
--  Petro Barrier Systems Inc. 
--  Quaternium Engineering Inc. 
--  Poncho Wildcox Corporation 

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), (Edmonton, Alberta): NAIT Nanotechnology Centre for Applied Research, Industry Training, and Services

Project Partners:

--  Micralyne Inc. 
--  National Research Council of Canada, National Institute for
    Nanotechnology 
--  Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures 
--  ACAMP (Alberta Centre for Advanced MNT Products) 
--  NanoFab 

Holland College (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island): Canada's Smartest Kitchen

Project Partners:

--  Cavendish Farms 
--  Government of PEI 
--  Garland Commercial Ranges Ltd. 

College Edouard-Montpetit (Longueuil, Quebec): Avionics systems development service.

Cegep de Levis-Lauzon (Levis, Quebec): Establishing a scientific director and research manager position to accommodate the continued growth of TransBIOTech.

College d'Alma (Alma, Quebec): Establishment of a service to encourage innovation in local dairy production.

Project Partners:

    --  Valacta Inc. 
    --  Conseil quebecois des plantes fourrageres (CQPF) 
    --  Syndicat des producteurs de lait du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean 

Cegep de Victoriaville (Victoriaville, Quebec): Centre d'expertise et de transfert en agriculture biologique et de proximite (CETAB+).

5) Applied Research and Development Grants

The following institutions have received a total of over $895,000 in ARD Grants:

--  Algonquin College (Ottawa, Ontario) 
--  Camosun College (Victoria, British Columbia) 
--  Cegep de La Pocatiere (La Pocatiere, Quebec) 
--  Cegep de Levis-Lauzon (Levis, Quebec) 
--  Cegep de Matane (Matane, Quebec) 
--  Cegep de Thetford (Thetford Mines, Quebec) 
--  Cegep de Trois-Rivieres (Trois-Rivieres, Quebec) 
--  College Lionel-Groulx (Sainte-Therese, Quebec) 
--  College de Maisonneuve (Montreal, Quebec) 
--  College Merici (Quebec, Quebec) 
--  College Shawinigan (Shawinigan, Quebec) 
--  Conestoga College (Waterloo, Ontario) 
--  Institut de technologie agroalimentaire (La Pocatiere, Quebec) 
--  Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (Calgary, Alberta)