Industry Liaison Office

ACOA  Atlantic Innovation Fund
To increase research and development in Atlantic Canada research facilities and strengthen innovation systems by building private and public sector alliances. The program support can be from $500,000 to $3 million dollars for up to 5 years. Applications can be submitted anytime.

Springboard Atlantic Innovation Mobilization Program
Industry Engagement
Promotes partnership development of effective regional partnerships with industry. The maximum program support is $15,000 for up to one year.

Market Support
To build and develop a prototype of technology for marketing purposes. The maximum program support is $5,000 for up to one year.

Proof of Concept
To support early-stage technology validation and market connections in Atlantic Canada assigned to an institution. The program can provide up to $20,000 support over one year.

Patent and Legal Fund
To protect IP to attract early-stage investment technology transfer in Atlantic Canada. Up to $15,000 support can be provided over two years.
 Note: Only research institutions that are members of Springboard Atlantic are eligible to apply to Springboard funding programs.  A total of 65.38% of the costs are covered by Springboard, the other 34.62% must come from matching sources.
Deadline: anytime

NRC-IRAP Science and Technology Assistance Program
To support small-to-medium sized businesses driven requests for direct research and development support, faculty may be approached by the Industry Liaison Office (ILO) to work on a project. The maximum contribution is $5,000 over 3 to 5 days, with no cash contribution required by the company.
Deadline: anytime

NSERC Alliance Grant
To expand research and development capacity by generating new knowledge or apply existing knowledge in an innovative way through collaboration between a researcher or team of researchers and partners (e.g. private companies, Government and not-for-profits). Funding contributions can range from $20,000 to $1,000,000 over 1 to 5 years. NSERCs contributions will vary depending on the size of the company.
Deadline: anytime

Nova Scotia Business Inc. Productivity and Innovation Voucher Program
Tier 1 – To assist eligible business companies namely small-to-medium sized businesses to acquire the direct assistance they need to help make their business more innovative and productive. A maximum contribution of $15,000 over 8 months is available. .
Tier 2 – To build on projects approved for Tier 1 funding. A maximum of $25,000 over 8 months is eligible.
Deadline: April

SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant
The purpose of this program is to support new partnerships between a single or team of researcher(s) with one or more industry collaborators (including Government, not-for-profits and private companies). Funding contributions vary between $7,000 to $25,000 over 1 year.
Deadline: September 15, December 15, March 15 and June 15

Mitacs Accelerate Internship
To support a research internship that addresses a single research plan. Funding starts at $15,000 with a minimum of a 50% contribution from the host company. Applications can be submitted anytime.
Deadline: anytime

Mitacs  Accelerate Entrepreneur
Accelerate entrepreneurship helps student entrepreneurs to further develop the research or technology at the core of their business. Mitacs provides a minimum contribution of $10,000 over 4 months. The student company contributes 50% of the costs.
Deadline: anytime

Innovacorp Early Stage Commercialization Fund
To support novel early stage/proof of concept research that demonstrates the commercial potential for Nova Scotia-based institutions. The program support is a maximum of $50,000.
Deadline: September, February (if funds are available)