Fed gov’t launching $200 million advanced manufacturing fund in Ontario

On the heels of the $530 million Advanced Manufacturing Fund business initiatives for southern Ontario announced last week, the federal government is launching a $200 million fund designed to boost growth in Ontario’s advanced manufacturing sector.

Announced by Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) Gary Goodyear, the five-year Advanced Manufacturing Fund will support large-scale manufacturing activities in a bid to grow the sector on home soil.

The fund will also look to advance the development of cutting-edge technologies, encourage projects that create spillover benefits for manufacturing clusters and supply chains and foster collaborations between the private sector, research institutions and post-secondary institutions.

Contributions provided by FedDev Ontario through the fund will normally be between $10- and $20-million per project for as much as 50 per cent of total eligible project costs, according to the agency, though projects seeking less than $10 million or more than $20 million may be considered.

Applicants must provide evidence of industry support from non-government sources for at least 50 per cent of the remaining project costs and clearly demonstrate how their project responds to innovation, market relevance and spillover economic benefits.

Open to for-profit business and non-profit organizations alike, eligible businesses must be manufacturing in Ontario or conducting research and development in Ontario but manufacturing outside the province, FedDev Ontario said.

Not-for-profit organizations like centres of excellence, or research or post-secondary institutions located in Ontario are also eligible, but require collaboration with an anchor firm and must demonstrate a significant benefit to the local manufacturing sector.

According to FedDev Ontario, eligible for-profit businesses will be awarded unconditionally repayable contributions, while not-for-profits will be considered for non-repayable contributions.

The agency will open up two intake periods for funding applications, with the first running from Dec. 9, 2013, to Oct. 1, 2014, and the second running from Jan. 1, 2015, until Oct. 1, 2015.

All project activities must be completed prior to Dec. 31, 2018.

To find out more, log on to the FedDev Ontario website at this link, or call 1-866-593-5505.