Canadian government extending funding for innovation assistance program into December
Canadian Plastics
Canadian Plastics Economy COVID-19The program an emergency wage subsidy provided to eligible small and medium-sized firms on a priority basis.
Canada’s federal government is extending the funding for National Research Council of Canada (NRC)’s innovation program into December 2020.
In a Nov. 6 announcement from the office of Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and industry, the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program’s Innovation Assistance Program (IRAP IAP) will receive over $155 million to extend funding access for the period of June 24, 2020 through Dec 19, 2020.
In April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced over $1 billion in new support for small businesses in Canada to help mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including $250 million for NRC IRAP to put in place a program to aid innovative firms that were not eligible for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) support.
IRAP IAP is an emergency wage subsidy provided to eligible small and medium-sized firms on a priority basis.
The original $250 million for IRAP IAP supported over 2,200 Canadian firms, and supported over 24,000 jobs in Canada for the period of Apr. 1 through Jun. 23.
The federal government will apply a declining scale of support, similar to the CEWS, meaning the maximum benefit will gradually decline as the program progresses.