Government of Canada Continues Focus on Jobs and Growth

Government of Canada/Public Works — May 4, 2012

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwire - May 4, 2012) - The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, today met with industry stakeholders from Nova Scotia. The roundtable was an opportunity to discuss how to effectively engage small and medium enterprises and provide a more efficient and effective way of governing our transactions similar to those used in the recent shipbuilding procurement strategy while supporting innovation and economic growth.

"The Government of Canada is working with industry to buy smarter and get better value for the Canadian taxpayer," said Minister Ambrose. "We are reaching out and asking how we can make procurement simpler where possible, faster where prudent and more flexible wherever opportunities present themselves."

The Government of Canada supports the innovators that will drive the growth and job creation of the future, through the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program which was made permanent in the recent 2012 Budget.

OSME focuses on reducing procurement barriers; simplifying the contracting process; providing advice to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) wishing to do business with the government; collaborating with SMEs to improve procurement policies and best practices; and working with SMEs to ensure their concerns are brought forward and heard.

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BACKGROUNDER

Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program

Launched in 2010, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program initiative (CICP) began as a $40-million pilot program as part of the Government of Canada's commitment to promote Canada's economic growth and support entrepreneurs.

Budget 2012 allocated an additional $95 million over three years, starting in 2013-14 and $40 million per year thereafter to make the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program permanent. The program will include an added military procurement component.

As a part of the Economic Action Plan, CICP was created to bolster innovation in Canada's business sector, and was designed to help companies bridge the pre-commercialization gap for their innovative products and services by:

awarding contracts to entrepreneurs with pre-commercial innovations through an open, transparent, competitive and fair procurement process;
testing products or services and providing feedback to entrepreneurs on their performance;
providing innovators with the opportunity to enter the marketplace with a successful application of their new products and services; and
providing information on how to do business with the Government of Canada.

CICP targets innovations in four priority areas:

Environment;
Safety and security;
Health; and
Enabling Technologies.

CICP has two complementary components. The first identifies Canadian innovations to test within federal operations in order to support businesses as they move their innovations to commercialization. The second builds on current efforts by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) to improve small and medium enterprises' (SME) access to federal procurement activities, and enables companies to showcase innovative products and services to potential government users.

Proposals related to the opportunity to test innovative products and services are accepted through competitive Calls for Proposals. The first round of Calls for Proposals was successfully announced in October 2010, and the second was announced in July 2011, and the third was announced in February 2012.

Public Works and Governments Services Canada (PWGSC) continues to work with all stakeholders to ensure that SMEs receive the vital government support needed to thrive in today's evolving economy.

OSME, through its network of headquarter operations and six regional offices, assists SMEs as they navigate through the government procurement system. It is strengthening access to government business for SMEs by collaborating with industry associations and individual businesses on training, providing information, developing support tools, and recommending procurement policy changes. OSME is also working with SME organizations to identify and pursue opportunities that encourage the introduction of innovative products and services to the marketplace.

First Round of Calls for Proposals

On February 4, 2011, the Innovation Selection Committee (ISC), in the final stage of evaluation of the CICP competitive procurement process, met to validate the ranking of proposals based on the independent reviews of the National Research Council Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). Members of the ISC, 70 per cent of whom are from the private sector, were chosen based on their experience in investment and entrepreneurship, knowledge of innovation and commercialization trends, and knowledge of international business practices.

In March 2011, 19 innovations were announced as part of the first round of the CICP. An additional eight innovations were subsequently announced in July for a total of 27 innovations pre-qualified in the first round.

Second Round of Calls for Proposals

On November 9, 2011, the ISC, in the final stage of evaluation of the CICP competitive procurement process, met to validate the ranking of proposals based on the independent reviews of NRC-IRAP.

There are 36 Canadian innovators with 37 pre-qualified innovations from the CICP's second round. Here is a list of the companies who were selected to participate in the second round of CICP:

3833364 Canada Inc. (operating under DETEC), Gatineau, Quebec

7893159 Canada Inc. (operating under 3DSemantix), Montréal, Quebec

Adventure Lights Inc., Beaconsfield, Quebec

Aeryon Labs Inc., Waterloo, Ontario

Akoostix Inc. of Nova Scotia, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Aurora Control Technologies Inc., North Vancouver, British Columbia

B-Temia Inc., Québec, Quebec

Ballard Power Systems Inc., Burnaby, British Columbia

Biopeak Corporation, Kanata, Ontario

Cicada Security Technology Inc, Westmount, Quebec

Clinemetrica Inc., Westmount, Quebec

CDVI Americas, Laval, Quebec

Edgewater Computer Systems Inc., Ottawa, Ontario

Instrument Concepts Inc., Great Village, Nova Scotia

IntelliView Technologies Inc., Calgary, Alberta

LBi - Lab_Bell inc., Trois-Rivières, Quebec

MANTECH INC., Guelph, Ontario

Mawashi Protective Clothing Inc., Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec

Morgan Solar Inc., Toronto, Ontario

National Optics Institute, Québec City, Quebec

OnLogics, Ottawa, Ontario

Oracle Telecomputing Inc., Carleton Place, Ontario

Plurilock Security Solutions Inc., Victoria, British Columbia

Privacy Analytics Inc., Ottawa, Ontario

Pro-Oceanus Systems Inc., Bridgewater, Nova Scotia

QSDM Inc., Mississauga, Ontario

Reach Technologies Inc., Victoria, British Columbia

Resolution Optics, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Rheolution Inc., Montréal, Quebec

Scotia Weather Services Inc., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Solana Networks Inc., Nepean, Ontario

SunCentral Inc., Richmond, British Columbia

Tektrap System Inc., Gatineau, Quebec

Temporal Power Ltd., Mississauga, Ontario

Wedge Networks, Calgary, Alberta

Xiphos Systems Corporation, Montréal, Quebec

For descriptions of the innovations please visit:
https://buyandsell.gc.ca/initiatives-and-programs/canadian-innovation-commercialization-program-cicp/pre-qualified-innovations#5

Third Round of Calls for Proposals

On February 29, 2012, the Government of Canada launched the Third Call for Proposals. The Third Call closed on April 11, 2012, and evaluations of the proposals are currently underway.

PWGSC will be working with government departments to match innovations with the right test departments, and will be entering into negotiations with the selected companies to put contracts in place to test their innovations, should the right department be found. Perhaps marking the first sale for these innovations, these contracts will also facilitate Canadian companies in moving their innovations into domestic and international markets by having the Government of Canada as a reference sale.

Contact Information

Michelle Bakos
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
819-997-5421

Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315