Advanced manufacturing and protein industries superclusters sign funding agreements with ISED

Two of the five Canadian superclusters in ISED’s $950-million Innovation Superclusters Initiative have signed funding agreements and are set to launch. On November 13, economic development minister Navdeep Bains announced the investment of nearly $230 million in the Ontario-based Next Generation Manufacturing Supercluster (NGen), while public safety minister Ralph Goodale, speaking on behalf of ISED, announced $153 million for the Prairie-based Protein Industries Canada Supercluster (PIC). Both investments will be matched dollar for dollar by the private sector. With these funding agreements in place, PIC and NGen—the non-profit groups responsible for administering the two superclusters—can commence their activities, funding projects and building a consortium of businesses within their respective industries.