The Short Report: October 19, 2022 - Transforming Nokia HQ, investing in oral health research, CASTL officially opens in Charlottetown, and more.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

Nokia Canada is investing $340 million to upgrade its Kanata headquarters to expand capacity in 5G and 6G, cyber security, artificial intelligence and machine learning R&D activities. An additional combined $72-million contribution will come from the federal government through the Strategic Innovation Fund ($40 million), the Government of Ontario through Invest Ontario ($30 million), and the City of Ottawa through Hydro Ottawa ($2 million). Nokia plans to begin construction in 2023 and to open the site in 2026. Cision Government of Ontario

More than $85 million in grants have been awarded through the College and Community Innovation (CCI) program managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, to colleges and partner organizations across Canada for solutions to community challenges. Fifty recipients have received more than $76 million for Mobilize grants, which focus on supporting student training and community innovation with flexible, long-term funding, and 26 recipients have received $9 million from the College and Community Social Innovation Fund (CCSIF), which focuses on fostering community innovation. The projects include Yukon University's research to examine the dynamics of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Yukon (a $360,000-CCSIF grant); Northwestern Polytechnic’s research on regenerative agriculture systems (a $1-million Mobilize grant), College of the North Atlantic’s provision of digital support for partner companies (a $2.25-million Mobilize grant), and Collège de Rosemont’s project on the needs of vulnerable people in decisions about Montreal’s park spaces (a $360,000-CCSIF grant.) NSERC

The Canadian Space Agency has awarded $6.7 million through its Space Technology Development Program to support space industry businesses in Canada. Kepler Communications (Toronto) and Felix & Paul Studios (Montreal) received $2 million each for technology demonstrations while Avalon Space (Vaughan, ON) and Burloak Technologies (Oakville, ON) received $1.5 million and $1.2 million respectively to develop technologies for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP), which is preparing Canada's space community for potential roles in the long-term exploration of the Moon. CSA

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is investing $2 million over five years to support the Network for Canadian Oral Health Research, led by Dr. Ana Miriam Velly at McGill University's faculty of Dental Medicine and Oral Health Sciences. It leads a pan-Canadian team of scientists, health care providers, industry partners, and patient representatives working on discoveries and strengthening approaches to improve oral health. CIHR has also collaborated with Statistics Canada on an oral health data platform, using data collected from the Canadian Health Measures Survey, which will allow researchers to address questions related to oral health and health care, as well as the links between oral health and overall health. Meanwhile, the Government of Canada has introduced legislation proposing a temporary Canada Dental Benefit as the first step in developing a national dental care program, which would provide dental care for uninsured Canadians with a family income of less than $90,000 annually, to make oral health care accessible to children under 12 years old in 2022. GOC

Ottawa is investing more than $1.3 million in the Toronto-based reforestation venture Flash Forest, which is set to plant more than one million trees over the next two years using rapid drone deployment technology as part of the 2 Billion Trees program. The funding contribution will facilitate the use of technologies to improve germination and survival of temperate and boreal tree species in severe forest fire sites, which will be monitored for germination and for data on the success of using drones for planting instead of traditional tree-planting methods. GOC

A number of small and medium-sized businesses on Prince Edward Island will receive a combined contribution of more than $4 million to support digitalization and automation in the potato industry, and to respond to the changing market through diversification and development of products. The funding is part of the two-year, $16-million Prince Edward Island Potato Stabilization and Innovation Initiative (PSII), to help SMEs on the island modernize operations. It will benefit companies, including Comptons Bros. (a nearly $90,000 contribution to modernize equipment) and the Prince Edward Island Potato Board ($240,000 to raise awareness of the National Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard, assist producers in assessing current practices and identify areas for improvement, and provide financial support for the purchase of cleaning and disinfection equipment). GOC Backgrounder

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) has announced nearly $1.4 million for machine tool builder Racer Machinery International (Cambridge, ON) to support the company's development within the global aerospace supply chain. Racer plans to develop and manufacture aerospace parts for helicopters and gas turbine engines through a process that will help reduce material waste. FedDev Ontario

OWN.CANCER, a partnership between the University of Calgary, Alberta Health Services and the Alberta Cancer Foundation to advance psychosocial oncology research and care, is the beneficiary of a $5-million donation from Calgary philanthropist Patrick Daniel and his family. The contribution will support a new research chair in psychosocial oncology at the University of Calgary’s Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute — a joint entity of Alberta Health Services and the University of Calgary. UCalgary

SKILLS AND TRAINING

The Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL) has officially opened its Charlottetown facility to deliver on-site, customized biomanufacturing training for entry-level employees through to senior management as well as post-secondary students. CASTL received more than $2.3 million from the Government of Canada through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and $800,000 from the Government of PEI to launch the hub, which will be the exclusive Canadian provider of the Ireland-based National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT) licensed training programs, which delivers state-of-the-art training and education programs for the world’s leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing companies. CASTL

RELATED: Conference recap: Building the Next Generation of Leaders in Canadian Biomanufacturing

Industrial developer TEBO Group of Industries (Delta, B.C.) and The University of British Columbia (UBC) are collaborating on a three-year, $6.6 million R&D partnership focused on creating highly sustainable and carbon-efficient construction and infrastructure technology as they relate to sustainability engineering, smart cities and the circular economy. TEBO engineers will work with researchers at UBC’s Vancouver and Okanagan campuses to develop solutions with the potential to inform TEBO’s infrastructure and development projects worldwide. UBC

RESEARCH FINDINGS & CONSULTATIONS

A national public opinion poll conducted for Research Canada shows most Canadians believe Canada should be a global leader in health and medical research, and view this work as making an important contribution to the healthcare system and the economy. The poll is a landmark national poll and the first conducted since 2019. Among key highlights, six out of ten Canadians think that the federal government’s funding of health and medical research — currently $4.3 billion — should be higher than it is now, while just three percent think it should be lower, and six out of ten Canadians now think health and medical research is more important compared to before the pandemic. Research Canada

The Government of Canada is launching consultations to help determine how the New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms) can protect human health and the environment and also enable innovation. Consultations are hosted on an online platform to reach a broad range of stakeholders including biotechnology companies, environmental non-governmental organizations, and Indigenous communities. Interested parties can provide feedback on regulatory, non-regulatory, and scientific issues associated with the regulations until December 5th. GOC

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission are collaborating on a grant initiative to support university research on the safe deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs). The project will support activities that increase the scientific information available to support regulatory decision-making and oversight; increase capacity to regulate SMRs; enhance the capabilities of Canada's universities to undertake research related to SMRs, and increase training to help produce the next generation of nuclear scientists, engineers, and policy makers. Research grants will provide up to $120,000 per year, for up to three years, and a second funding call is expected in 2025 to either extend existing projects and/or fund new projects for a two or three-year duration. The deadline for applications is December 13. NSERC

INOVAIT, a pan-Canadian network supported by the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund and led by the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, is taking applicants for its Pilot Fund for R&D projects that integrate image-guided therapy (IGT) with artificial intelligence (AI) to advance medical innovation. Organizations can apply for a non-dilutive investment of up to $125,000 for short (9–15 months) commercialization-oriented R&D projects. The application period runs from October 24 until December 20 and is open to Canadian corporations, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. INOVAIT

Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra has announced that the federal government intends to launch a $136- million initiative to advance the digitalization of Canada's supply chain, and will be issuing a call for proposals under the $4.6-billion National Trade Corridors Fund. The initiative aims to reduce congestion and strengthen resiliency to disruptions through data and analytics collection and sharing; support digital solutions and visibility of the transportation network for carriers, shippers and governments; optimize existing networks and better plan infrastructure investments, and optimize important trade corridors and gateways, such as the Pacific Gateway and the Windsor-Quebec trade corridor. GOC

VC FUNDING & TECH NEWS

Web banking company NorthOne (Toronto) has raised $92 million in a Series B funding round, with participation from Battery Ventures (Boston), FinTLV(Tel Aviv), and Ferst Capital Partners (Montreal). NorthOne plans to expand its financial management platform and products for entrepreneurs, and has raised $128 million since its launch in 2016. NorthOne

AI-based energy management platform Parity (Toronto) has raised $8 million from investors in its software-as-a-service technology in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) optimization for multi-tenant buildings. Supporters for the round included ArcTern Ventures (Toronto), Wyse (Concord ON), RET Ventures (Park City, Utah) and other investors, positioning Parity to scale its Canadian operations and expand the reach of its SaaS HVAC control technology throughout the United States. Cision

Innovation hub Communitech (Waterloo) has added 26 Canadian technology firms to its roster of top-performing companies, known as Team True North. The team now consists of 61 companies shown by verified data to have the highest probability of reaching $1 billion in revenue by 2030, and represent the top one per cent of global private tech companies in Canada. Companies on Team True North had $8.1 billion in combined annual revenue with an average annual revenue of $132 million, and an average year-over-year revenue growth of 198 percent. Among the new additions to Team True North 2022 are Dapper Labs (Vancouver), Absorb Software (Calgary), Miovision Technologies (Kitchener), Versapay (Toronto), Ross Video (Iriquois ON) and Hopper (Montreal). Businesswire

RELATED: Billion dollar babies: what Team True North means for Canada

THE GRAPEVINE

The Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa announced Dr. Jeff Kinder as its inaugural Executive-in-Residence in an organizational newsletter. Kinder is a project director at the Council of Canadian Academies and was the executive director of science and innovation at the Institute on Governance. His previous appointments include positions at Industry Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the Council of S&T Advisors.

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