The Short Report - March 9, 2022: Sunsetting the Collaborative Health Research Projects program, $195M to support B.C. health research, Ontario's first Genome Data Science fellowships, Lululemon founder invests $100M into muscle disorder research, and more

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council will not be launching any new competitions for the Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP) program, which funded interdisciplinary, collaborative research projects involving the natural sciences, engineering and health sciences. CIHR says new options for supporting interdisciplinary and translational research funding have evolved that did not exist when the CHRP program was created. Existing CHRP grants will continue with no change in funding levels or duration. CIHR

The Government of British Columbia is contributing more than $116 million to Michael Smith Health Research BC (formerly The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and the British Columbia Academic Health Science Network) and $78 million to Genome BC to support research in health, agriculture, clean technology and climate change, while strengthening pandemic and emergency preparedness and developing and retaining research talent. This comes as part of the BC government's plans to position the province as a worldwide life sciences hub as outlined in its StrongerBC Economic Plan. BC Government

The Clean Resource Innovation Network is providing more than $44 million for 17 projects identified through its Reducing Environmental Footprint oil and gas technology competition. It brings the total investment through three competitions to $80 million. The CRIN says that early analysis suggests that the projects will significantly reduce impacts to air, land and water from Canada's oil and gas industry. The funding was made available through the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF). CRIN

Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada has been selected as the delivery organization for the Government of Canada’s new $55 million Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund. The new initiative, announced in Budget 2021, provides smaller amounts of affordable financing to women entrepreneurs, underrepresented groups or sole proprietorships which may experience more difficulty in accessing financing. Globe Newswire

The Government of Canada is investing more than $26 million in dozens of research projects on the impact of the pandemic on children and youth, Indigenous, Black and racialized communities, as well as people living with HIV, mental illness, and chronic health conditions to tackle emerging research gaps and priorities. Project examples include Dr. Josephine Etowa (University of Ottawa; strengthening healthcare provider capacity to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on Black communities) and Dr. Helen-Maria Vasiliadis (Université de Sherbrooke; studying ways to help people living with social anxiety disorder during the pandemic). GoC

The Government of Ontario is investing up to $22 million through the Agri-Tech Innovation Program to implement new technologies to modernize and strengthen the food supply chain. Funding will support more than 170 projects and is in addition to a $2.4-million investment by the governments of Canada and Ontario through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership to support more than 20 projects turning ideas into marketable products and technologies. Examples include technology to create a non-plastic material for use in horticulture and food packaging that helps prevent soil erosion and technology and equipment for apple growers to add efficiency to regular farm activities. Government of Ontario

The Government of Nova Scotia has announced plans to make its Innovation Rebate Program permanent and to invest $12 million each year to help businesses thrive. Two other pilot rebate programs — the Forestry Innovation Rebate Program and the Small and Medium Enterprise Innovation Rebate Program — will combine with the Innovation Rebate Program to form a single program, effective April 1. Government of Nova Scotia

Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) is committing $12 million through the new Small Producers Energy Efficiency Deployment (SPEED) stream, part of the $55 million Energy Savings for Business (ESB) suite of funding. The investment will help small- and medium-sized oil and gas facilities in the province reduce greenhouse emissions, decrease their operating costs, and become more competitive. ERA

The governments of Canada and Quebec and Investissement Québec are contributing more than $1,350,000 in loans to three SME's to bolster technological innovation in Quebec regions. They include biofertilization company Mauricie’s Abnatura (a project value of $383,000 to increase production capacity), polyurethane foam provider Solutions Genyk (a project valued at $574,500 to purchase specialized equipment and automate processes), and advanced metallic coatings business Groupe CR3X/RIDD (project valued at $1,241,914 to expand by integrating additive manufacturing). The Government of Canada is granting a total of $641,061 in repayable contributions to these three businesses under Canada Economic Development for Quebec Region's Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program while the Government of Quebec, through its Investissement Québec, is granting them $630,236 in loans from the Fonds de diversification économique du Centre‑du‑Québec et de la Mauricie. Investissement Québec is also granting a loan of $80,000 from its capital funds to Abnatura. GoC

The federal government is contributing $1 million to small businesses in the agricultural sector through Innovative Solutions Canada to advance technologies for solving challenges including work productivity, labour shortages and operational efficiency. A total of seven small businesses will each receive up to $150,000 through the Canadian Meat Processing Technology Development Challenge, which aims to advance automation through robotics, artificial intelligence and other forms of innovation to reduce reliance on manual labour in the Canadian meat processing sector, and the Enhancing Automation in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Farming Challenge, which develops automation and robotic technologies to reduce time spent on labour intensive tasks and reduce costs for CEA facilities. GOC

The Ontario government has launched Intellectual Property Ontario, a board-governed agency that will serve as a resource for intellectual property (IP) expertise to help researchers and companies maximize the value of their IP, as well as strengthen their capacity to grow and compete in the global market. The launch is part of the province's Intellectual Property Action Plan to provide clients with access to intellectual property strategy advice, legal expertise and educational resources as well as to help entrepreneurs and researchers innovate and stay competitive. Government of Ontario 

PARTNERSHIPS, REPORTS & STRATEGIES

Thanks to a $1.25-million investment from Mastercard, Ryerson University’s Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst is launching two new programs, one of which will provide students underrepresented in the sector with hands-on cybersecurity training and the other will support the development of women as executive leaders in cybersecurity. Ryerson

The Government of Manitoba has launched the Manitoba Protein Research Strategy to identify priorities and recommendations to grow the plant and animal protein industry and make the province a a global leader in sustainable protein production. The Manitoba and federal governments invested up to $100,000 in a research project led by University of Manitoba professor Dr. James House who, along with a provincial consortium established in 2020, was tasked with creating the strategy. UManitoba

Ontario Genomics and the Ontario Regional Centre of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI Ontario) have chosen three recipients for their inaugural postdoctoral fellowship in genome data science program. Dr. Roux-Cil Ferreira (pathology and laboratory medicine at Western University), Dr. Daniella Lato (genetics and genome biology program, The Hospital for Sick Children) and Dr. Nicholas Waglechner (Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health) will receive two-year salary support for up to $50,000 per year (up to $300,000 total) for research in genomic epidemiology and statistical genetics. The Ontario Government recently announced funding of $7.5 million over three years to support innovation and commercialization capacity in genomics, engineering biology and biotechnology as part of a $240-million investment to advance research at research institutes, including Ontario Genomics, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Clinical Trials Ontario, The Fields Institute and Compute Ontario. Ontario Genomics

Bell Canada has entered into a five-year agreement with artificial intelligence hub Vector Institute (Toronto) to accelerate the development and adoption of AI applications across multiple areas of operations. Bell

The report from the July 2021 Canadian Biodiversity Observation Network (CAN BON) workshop, which was a preliminary phase for identifying a need for a potential CAN BON, is available. Contributors to the workshop included Environment and Climate Change Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada, the Canadian Space Agency, Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as well as the Group on Earth Observations – Biodiversity Observation Network Secretariat and NatureServe (Virginia). NSERC

The Government of Ontario is establishing two new independent universities with degree-granting authority, effective April 1, 2022. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine University and Université de Hearst will provide greater access to postsecondary education in the North, specifically medical training at NOSM University and French-language education at Hearst. Previously, NOSM was affiliated with Laurentian University and Lakehead University. Hearst was an affiliate of Laurentian University. Government of Ontario

VC FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENTS

Lululemon Athletica founder and serial entrepreneur Chip Wilson is investing $100 million to create a new venture, Solve FSHD, with the objective of finding a cure for Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) by 2027. Wilson himself was diagnosed with FSHD Type 2 when he was 32. There is currently no cure for FSHD, a genetic muscle disorder that progressively causes weakness in different areas of the body. The venture said it is seeking to fund or invest in potential research partners, biotech and biopharma companies, and clinicians interested in advancing related research and clinical trials. Solve FSHD

Vancouver-based Sanctuary Cognitive Systems, a company developing the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots, closed at an oversubscribed $75.5 million Series A funding round. Investors include Bell, Evok Innovations (Vancouver), Export Development Canada, Magna (Aurora, ON), SE Health (Ottawa), Verizon Ventures (New Jersey) and Workday Ventures (San Francisco). Sanctuary

Toronto-based Flashfood has secured a $15.6 million Series A round led by S2G Ventures. The round includes follow-on investment from ArcTern Ventures and existing investors including General Catalyst, Food Retail Ventures, serial entrepreneur Rob Gierkink and RHI Group co-founder and executive chairman Alex Moorhead. Flashfood provides a mobile platform that connects people with grocery items approaching their best-by date, offering a significant discount off those items. It intends to continue its expansion in the United States. Flashfood

Lithium extraction company Summit Nanotech (Calgary) announced the closing of a Series A investment round of US$14 million co-led by Xora Innovation (Singapore) and Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund (Palo Alto), along with BHP Ventures (Melbourne). Funds will be used to advance the commercialization of technology to make lithium extraction cleaner and more efficient. Businesswire

THE GRAPEVINE

Former premier of New Brunswick Brian Johnson is the CEO of Space Canada, a new national industry association representing Canada’s space sector. Founding members include Calian (Ottawa), GHGSat (Montreal), Magellan Aerospace (Mississauga), Maritime Launch Services (Halifax), MDA (Brampton), Mission Control (Ottawa), NorthStar Earth & Space (Montreal), SpaceBridge (Saint-Laurent, QC) and Telesat (Ottawa). Space Canada

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