Government of Canada investments enable Alberta companies to expand and reach new markets

More than $20 million in federal funding will support 15 Alberta firms to scale-up and enhance productivity in Alberta.

August 4, 2021 – Calgary, Alberta – Western Economic Diversification Canada

Through the Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) program, Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) supports growth in leading economic sectors. Fostering business development in Alberta paves a path for the future and promises a stronger economic recovery in the West.

Today, the Honourable Jim Carr, Minister and Special Representative for the Prairies, announced on behalf of the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, and Minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, more than $20 million in interest-free, repayable funding for 15 projects under the BSP program.  

Alberta companies receiving support play crucial roles in Western Canada’s growing economy, including health and life science, value-added manufacturing, clean technology, and the digital economy.  

The projects include:

• Avanti Software Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $2,265,811 to improve its human resource management software and expand its market in North America.
• Boost Energy Ventures Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $325,000 in funding to develop and market software for the electricity sector.
• Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp. (Calgary) is receiving $350,000 to expand the market for secure medical messaging technology to Ontario.
• Cohesic Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $552,500 to support the acceleration of marketing and sales of software programs to the healthcare market.
• Custom Metal Contracting Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $2,485,000 to improve manufacturing capabilities through integrated machine automation.
• Enersoft Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $1,375,000 to scale-up geological core scanning technology to increase market reach in the mining sector.
• EPT Clean Oil (Calgary) is receiving $1,288,000 to expand product manufacturing and services for cleaning fluids in industrial equipment which help to extend the life of the equipment.
• Helcim Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $2,000,000 to scale up its merchant payments processing business by enhancing its product offerings and extending its client reach to new markets.
• Kudos Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $1,000,000 for market expansion and growth for its employee engagement solution, due to the recent increase in demand for distributed work solutions.
• Morweb.org (Calgary) is receiving $600,000 to scale up its innovative software, which empowers non-profits to manage and grow an online presence through a suite of innovative tools designed to make complex tasks easy for non-technical users around the world. 
• Neo Financial Technologies Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $4,980,000 to expand the market of their digital banking platform to central and eastern Canada.
• Paper Interactive, Inc. (Athennian) (Calgary) is receiving $1,500,000 to expand functionality and markets for Athennian, a cloud-based legal entity management program.
• Rane Pharmaceutical Inc. (Edmonton) is receiving $250,000 to scale up manufacturing capacity of a reagent used in viral infection testing.
• SensorUp Inc. (Calgary) is receiving $1,000,000 to develop a software product that integrates methane emission management and reporting for customers in the energy sector.
• Yastremski Associates Inc. (Sustainable Projects Group) (Calgary) is receiving $950,000 to commercialize and scale up its energy efficiency software tool which is used to identify the most economical energy efficiency projects for buildings.

By supporting these 15 businesses, the Government of Canada is investing in the creation of approximately 537 jobs, expanding markets and enabling increased business revenues. Each of these investments will give a fresh opportunity for growth within Alberta’s skilled and innovative workforce.