Atlantic Canada Business Grants

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC or Ocean Supercluster)

Innovation Ecosystem Activities

Amount:

No Fixed Amount

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

The OSC’s Innovation Ecosystem program is mobilizing the ecosystem to collaborate on ocean initiatives that transform the innovation landscape and have lasting impacts on the ocean economy. The program is designed to address shared talent challenges identified by our members, attract the best entrepreneurs to the cluster, support the growth of work integrated learning environments and skill agility of the ocean workforce.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling deadline

Eligibility:

The applicant must:

  • The applicant must be an OSC member.

Individuals, government departments and their agencies, health care institutions/organizations, as well as professional and recreational organizations are excluded.

Application Steps:

Applicants must go through these steps: 

1

submit a proposal after OSC opens a competitive call for proposals to solve a specific challenge, 

2

OSC reviews solutions (proposals) and assesses against IE program criteria. Successful projects are selected,

3

project is contracted with delivery partners (if applicable),

4

project is announced and launched.

Program Contact:

​Innovation Ecosystem activities

​Strategy Doc - Jan 2021.indd

​Getting-Started_An-Introduction-to-OSC-4.20.pdf​​​

Technology Leadership (TL) Projects

Amount:

No Fixed Amount

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

Technology leadership projects (TL Projects) are collaborative projects where OSC Members and the OSC coinvest to perform research, development, demonstration, commercialization, and capability-building activities that deliver business value and benefits to participating organizations, the innovation ecosystem, and Canada’s ocean economy. 

Comments on Funding:

Funding from OSC matches up to 1:1 the Industry Member cash and in-kind contributions.
There is no minimum or maximum project size, but OSC co-investments will likely support projects that range in size from $0.5M to $20M.
At a project level, government funding can cover up to 100% of eligible costs.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling Deadline

Eligibility:

The TL Projects must meet the following requirements:

  • A minimum of two Industry Members must co-invest in the project, with no one Industry Member contributing more than 2/3 of the private sector contribution total,
  • At least one small or medium sized enterprise (500 employees or less) is part of the project team,
  • Project activities take place in Canada.
  • Investing organizations must be Industry Members of the OSC to qualify their investment for matching investment of OSC funds,
  • Project activities are incremental to the regular business undertaking of the proponents in that the project is new or would not be undertaken at the same scope or scale without the co-investment provided by the Supercluster,
  • Eligible project expenses are compliant with ISED ISI funding guidelines.

Applicants must be OSC Industry Members. OSC Industry members are for-profit, or non-for-profit organizations that receive their funding primarily through the private sector and are registered in Canada.

Application Steps:

Applicants must go through 5 steps:

1

Preliminary Development: An OSC Member initiates an idea and discusses it with other potential collaborators, and forms a Project Team. 

2

Preliminary Qualification: The Project Team will complete the TL Project Preliminary Qualification Template to demonstrate that their project idea is well formed and meets these eligibility criteria before it can be qualified and advanced to full proposal.

3

Proposal Development: Once a project is qualified, the Project Team can develop a proposal by completing the TL Project Proposal Template. Proponents can socialize the proposal to other OSC Members and expand the Project Team during this stage.

4

Proposal Assessment and Selection: The Project Proposal is submitted to OSC, who confirms that it is complete and ready to be submitted for assessment. The TL Project Proposal is evaluated. 

5

Project Agreements and Execution: Approved Projects are advanced for contracting and execution.

Documentation Needed: 

Applicants must: 

  • complete the TL Project Preliminary Qualification Template,
  • develop a proposal by completing the TL Project Proposal Template, including a comprehensive Project Plan, as well as rationale that demonstrates how the proposed project would create opportunities for Members - including Members who are not participating in any project, to access expected Foreground Intellectual Property arising from the project,
  • sign the Project Agreement, if the project is selected for funding.

Program Contact:

​Canada's Ocean Supercluster

​Getting-Started_An-Introduction-to-OSC-4.20.pdf

​UPDATED-project_selection_guide_FINAL-2.pdf​​​