For immediate release
GATINEAU, Quebec, February 29 2012 – The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, is pleased to launch a Call for Proposals that will help kick-start Canadian entrepreneurial business.
“Our Government supports entrepreneurs who keep the Canadian economy moving,”
said Minister Ambrose. “That’s why we’re giving Canadian entrepreneurs a kick-start to help move their innovative products and services from the lab to the marketplace.”
Successful Canadians will see their products and services tested and matched with federal government departments.
“Our government’s top priority is the economy and we understand that helping Canadian businesses expand and succeed directly benefits Canadian workers and families by creating jobs and prosperity,”
said Minister Ambrose. “By supporting innovation designed here in Canada, we are helping bring these businesses one step closer in moving their innovations into domestic and international markets.”
Launched in 2010 as part of the Economic Action Plan, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) is a $40-million pilot program created to help Canadian businesses by testing their innovative products and services within the Government of Canada before taking them to the marketplace. Federal departments test innovations that fall within four key areas: Environment, Health, Safety and Security, and Enabling Technologies.
The CICP is managed by PWGSC’s Office of Small and Medium Enterprises, whose mandate is to improve accessibility to government procurement opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Launched as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2010, the CICP is a new initiative to promote Canada’s economic growth.
The third Call for Proposals is now available on MERX, the Government of Canada’s electronic tendering service, and will be posted until April 11, 2012. For more information on CICP, please visit buyandsell.gc.ca/innovation or look for this opportunity on www.merx.ca.
For further information on the program’s prequalified innovations, please refer to the CICP Pre-qualified Innovations Page.
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For more information, media may contact:
Michelle Bakos
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
819-997-5421
Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315
Launched in 2010, the Kickstart/Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program initiative (CICP) is a $40-million pilot program that is a part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to promote Canada’s economic growth and support entrepreneurs.
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.
- 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.
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.
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 selected in the first round.
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, 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
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.
