The Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative is a pilot initiative aimed at addressing the gap between research and commercialization in Southern Ontario that resulted from feedback at numerous roundtables. 

“Our government’s Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative will create new jobs and strengthen the economy of southern Ontario,” said Minister Goodyear.  “By giving businesses greater access to the research capacity of Ontario’s colleges and universities, our government is committed to supporting the people, communities and businesses of southern Ontario.”

“This is an excellent opportunity for many of our small to medium size businesses to move forward by working with post-secondary institutions to improve and develop products and concepts and increase their competitiveness” said Joe Preston, MP.

The Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative is designed to create partnerships between smaller enterprises that would like to innovate, and post-secondary institutions that have the applied research capacity to further develop those ideas and help bring them to market.

It will provide funding to eligible academic institutions offering services focused on improving innovation, productivity and commercialization to help individual businesses with pre-commercialization activities. These activities may include: product and process applied research; engineering design; technology development; product testing; certification; and pilot testing as well as proof-of-concept work for a partner business.

For more information on the Applied Research and Commercialization Initiative, please refer to the backgrounder, visit the FedDev Ontario website at www.feddevontario.gc.ca or call 1-866-593-5505.