Unsuccessful supercluster proposals proceeding with partnerships, projects as they seek alternate government funding

As in any competition, there are losers and there are winners. But the Innovation Supercluster Initiative (ISI) has produced quite a number of unexpected winners, including those who are optimistic that there are other opportunities beyond the $950 million available for the program.

Unsuccessful supercluster consortia say they are moving forward, confident that the partnerships they have forged and projects they have envisioned can continue and flourish.

Shortly after the five winners were announced, the mining sector’s shortlisted Clean, Low-Energy, Effective, Engaged and Remediated (CLEER) proposal said it remains committed to mining innovation and is moving forward,.

The consortium is composed of industry groups including the Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), Centre for Innovation in Mineral Resource Engineering (CIMRE), Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC), COREM of Quebec, International Minerals Mining Institute, and Mining Suppliers Trade Association. In total, it includes more than 160 members from Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

“While we are disappointed with the final outcome, we remain optimistic, firmly committed to mining innovation and working towards building up this significant initiative, said CLEER Interim board chair Adrian McFadden in a statement. “The process of developing the CLEER initiative was a turning point for our sector. It sparked an enthusiastic response from Canada’s mining and mining supply industries and involved an unprecedented level of collaboration on innovation in our sector.”

The group raised an initial $700-million commitment and submitted a proposal that was expected to have contributed an estimated 140,000 new direct and indirect jobs. The proposed projects address challenges related to water use, energy intensity and environmental footprint. With the help of technologies and innovations, the group set aggressive targets of a 50% reduction in each area by 2027.

“Moving forward, Canada’s mining industry will be seeking new opportunities to be a partner to government to achieve shared goals through innovation,” said Pierre Gratton, president and CEO, Mining Association of Canada.

The contribution of the sector could have contributed $26 billion to Canada’s GDP after five years, the supercluster said.

Oil & gas

The oil and gas supercluster - Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN) - was one of the first to announce that they would proceed even after not being included in the shortlist.

Joy Romero, VP for technology and innovation of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., who led the submission, tells RE$EARCH MONEY that CRIN is working with at least one shortlisted supercluster – the Alberta-based Smart Agri-Food Supercluster (SASC) – and has reached out to others. Other members of the group have also connected with other shortlisted superclusters because they have common technologies, concerns and applications they share with other groups.

“With agriculture, they deal with greenhouse gases and water (issues). Obviously, there’s a crossover there (with clean innovation). There are many things that are in common, that are solutions for the agriculture sector and that are also solutions for the oil and gas sector,” says Romero.

Romero sits on the interim board of SASC, which was formed in December. The interim board is chaired by Doug Beever of Agrium, Inc. Also appointed last December was interim CEO Rob Davies, former CEO of Weyburn Inland Terminal and former general manager of the Alberta Barley Commission.

Davies says the two superclusters have agreed to work together rather than in isolation because they share issues such as air quality, water quality and land use. “Natural resources, whether it is in agriculture or the energy sector, we agree that we can collaborate on technologies that make sense and are helpful to both industries and we should do that,” Davies adds.

What CRIN and SASC are doing is in line with the federal government’s plan for players within the sector and beyond to work together. In announcing the shortlisted superclusters last year, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada urged both the shortlisted and non-shortlisted superclusters to work together. This was reiterated in the letter of decision sent out to non-shortlisted superclusters where ISED asked them to “consider how you (supercluster) might collaborate with applicants that have been selected to proceed to the full application phase.”

ISED also said it would reach out to the non-shortlisted supercluster applicants to assist them “in identifying ways to move forward” and discuss “next steps.” ISED, in an email response to R$’s media inquiry, says it has engaged with supercluster applicants “to help applicants build on the momentum demonstrated in their proposals. Depending on the nature of the proposals and the ideas they presented, advice included referrals to other programs and services within ISED (such as the Clean Growth Hub), or liaisons to other departments and agencies (including the regional development agencies).”

Romero says CRIN has been getting support from the federal and provincial governments by helping them identify projects that can be funded, though the group has yet to secure any confirmed funding commitments.

Romero adds that CRIN acts as a “connector” to link the oil and gas sector with other groups. “With respect to CRIN, what we’ve been focusing on is ways on improving the ecosystem. We are also working (with governments) both federally and provincially in opportunities for them to work with us in improving that innovation ecosystem,” she explains.

Bioeconomy

Another non-shortlisted supercluster that has decided to proceed albeit at a smaller scale is the bioeconomy group, or the BioDesign Supercluster with four core members – Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), FPInnovations and Genome Canada.

Robert Larocque, FPAC senior VP, and Marc LePage, Genome Canada president and CEO, tell R$ that the core group members have identified representatives to form a working group that will look into how they can proceed and identify other government funding sources for the projects they have envisioned.

“We’re proceeding in the sense that we’re looking at existing funding, such as the Clean Growth Program. We’re trying to look at projects and ideas in the BioDesign supercluster and make it fit with the other government (funding) announcements,” says Larocque.

Last December, Natural Resources Canada announced the Clean Growth Program for the natural resources sector to address climate change, with $155 million aimed at energy, mining and forestry sectors for pre-commercial projects.

Larocque says the BioDesign supercluster is on the lookout for other government programs that focus more on access to market or commercialization. “What we did love about the supercluster funding was funds could’ve been allocated between producers and users to help open up markets, do commercial trials at the end-user’s facility, and unfortunately, there’s where the current funding lags behind,” he adds. “Market access is lagging behind outside of the superclusters (funding). We’re trying to convince the government to tweak the programs to allow that market access-type of funding.” He adds that other programs are focused on technologies more than building partnerships.

Larocque says the BioDesign supercluster is trying to create a working group though not at the same level as they had originally envisioned for the ISI. He says the group will look for other sources of government funding to support the working group and facilitate studies that would apply to everybody in the group and support companies applying to specific government programs. He says the BioDesign supercluster still has the same representative membership as envisioned for the ISI - academia, not-for-profits and companies big and small.

“The reason why we’re trying to proceed as a group instead of individual companies is the BioDesign Supercluster is totally aligned with the Forest Bioeconomy Framework for Canada (which was released last fall by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers). … We’re working with the federal government and the provinces to try to help implement the Forest Bioeconomy Framework, and we’re working with Agriculture (and Agri-Food) Canada because biodesign is both agriculture and forest biomass,” Larocque explains.

LePage adds that while Genome Canada has provided a letter of support to the BioDesign supercluster, its other genome centres are also participating in at least seven of the nine shortlisted superclusters. For example, the BC digital supercluster has Genome BC as one of its partners.

LePage and Romero say their groups are open to work with other superclusters, whether they are successful in getting funding or not.

R$