SMEs operating in rural Southern Ontario within priority sectors such as advanced manufacturing, clean technology, digital industries, and food processing and Agtech may be eligible to receive a non-repayable grant to cover up to 50% of eligible project costs for a maximum of $100,000 through the FedDev Rural Innovation Initiative (RII) Regional stream.
FedDev is dedicating $100M, over the next three years, to spur investment in rural southern Ontario. The recently launched Rural Innovation Initiative (RII) Regional Stream aims to invest in local projects that support high-potential enterprises and the transition of traditional rural sectors and business to the new rural economy.
Supported projects will strengthen competitiveness, productivity, business growth, process innovation, new market access, creation and retention of employment opportunities, the re-skilling of the industrial workforce, incremental sales and increased profitability.
Priority will be given to projects that advance the economic participation of youth, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, newcomers, and visible minorities.
Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis starting on May 21, 2019, with project activities to be completed by December 31, 2020.
Eligible Costs may include:
- Labour
- Expertise
- Non-Capital
- Capital
Eligible Activities may include:
- New materials
- Cutting edge services software
- Integrated solutions
- Cloud computing
- Rapid prototyping and engineering
- Robotics and automation
- Machine learning
- Extended intelligence, etc.