The Short Report – November 16, 2022: $43M for Canada’s first lunar rover; Alberta gets advanced diagnostics centre; Vancouver has highest tech job growth; Oceans Protection Plan reports; and more

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

Natural Resources Canada is investing, through the $1.5-billion Clean Fuels Fund, up to $800 million in some 60 projects to advance the country’s clean fuels sector. The projects represent a first tranche of the highest-ranking applications from last year’s call for proposals, with a combined value of more than $3.5 billion. They include production facilities, as well as feasibility and front-end engineering and design studies, spanning seven jurisdictions and covering five different fuel types. A second tranche of projects is currently being reviewed, with funding decisions expected to be finalized in December. Jonathan Wilkinson, minister of natural resources, also highlighted a combined investment — through NRCan’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program and the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative — of more than $8.8 million to six organizations to build 10 hydrogen and natural gas refuelling stations — including seven stations in British Columbia, two in Ontario, and one in Alberta — to help accelerate decarbonization of road transportation. NRCan

The Government of Canada announced $557 million over three years in infrastructure funding for Parks Canada’s network of protected areas. The funding includes a $9.8-million project, in partnership with the Association of Persons Expropriated from Forillon and their Descendants, to restore and present the heritage houses of Grande-Grave’s expropriated families, an iconic sector of Forillon National Park in the Gaspé region of Quebec. Parks Canada said its infrastructure projects support broader federal priorities, such as including Indigenous perspectives, mitigating climate change, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the environmental footprint, and focusing on sustainability, while ensuring efficient, modern, accessible, and inclusive facilities. Parks Canada

The Government of Alberta announced, at the United Nations COP27 climate conference in Egypt, up to $50 million for the new Industrial Transformation Challenge. The initiative is managed by Emissions Reduction Alberta and funded by Alberta’s industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction System. This call for proposals looks at clean opportunities like mineral and metal extraction, electrification, and managing methane emissions. Applicants may receive up to $10 million per project, with a minimum request of $250,000. Funding is available across Alberta’s industrial sectors in both new and existing industries, such as petrochemical, agricultural, forest products, manufacturing, and energy. Govt. of Alberta

The Government of Canada, through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), announced a $43-million contract to Canadensys Aerospace Corporation in Bolton, Ont., and its industrial and academic partners to build the first Canadian lunar rover. Thanks to close and ongoing cooperation between the CSA and NASA, the Canadian lunar rover will fly as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, and would land in the south polar region of the Moon as early as 2026. The rover, which will carry six scientific payloads (five Canadian and one American) will help in the international search for water ice in the lunar soil, a key component for the future of human space exploration. The CSA’s Lunar Exploration Program is providing $150 million to help firms develop and demonstrate space technologies that will create new commercial opportunities in Canada. CSA

The Government of Alberta invested more than $32 million, through the Alberta Petrochemical Incentive Program, for Dow Canada’s expansion of its ethylene production facility at Fort Saskatchewan, about 30 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. The $300-million expansion project, which has completed construction, is one of the world’s largest ethylene production facilities and the first net-zero ethylene production plant. It will decarbonize approximately 20 per cent of Dow’s global ethylene capacity, while allowing for an additional 130,000 tonnes of ethylene production annually. Govt. of Alberta

The Government of Canada announced a $18.5-million contribution that helped build the Awasis Solar Limited Partnership project’s 10-megatt solar power generation project on Cowessess First Nation land in southern Saskatchewan, at the site of the existing Cowessess Renewable Energy Storage Facility. The investment includes more than $13.7 million from Natural Resources Canada’s Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program, $3.5 million from Infrastructure Canada’s Investing in Canada Plan, green infrastructure stream and $1.25 million from Prairies Economic Development Canada. The project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 350,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent over the expected 35-year life of the project. NRCan

The Government of Ontario is providing more than $10 million to help Mitacs create 2,700 paid research internships for postsecondary students and postdoctoral fellows to get experiential learning and contribute to high-quality research in the province. The government said it is investing more than $500 million over the next 10 years to support high-value research done in Ontario’s universities, colleges, research institutes and research hospitals. The province also invested $1.5 million in three training projects in Thunder Bay for more than 100 Indigenous people to get practical, hands-on training and apprenticeship experience in skilled trades such as carpentry, welding, electrical, construction, and plumbing. Govt. of Ontario

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced funding, through the AgriInnovate program, of more than $2.4 million for Waterloo, Ont.-based P&P Optica Inc., to help build and present the company’s innovative, smart imaging system to inspect meat automatically on the production line. The system analyzes the composition of food, evaluating properties like tenderness, freshness and its protein, water and fat content. It can detect imperfections and eliminate foreign bodies like plastic, bones and rubber. The funding will support P&P Optica’s plans to expand in the meat processing space across North America and enter new global markets. AAFC

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) announced a non-repayable contribution, through the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program, of $2.35 million to the PEI BioAlliance based in Charlottetown. The investment will build capacity of the Emergence Bioscience Business Incubator to deliver resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities for SMEs in the sector. The Government of Prince Edward Island also is contributing $825,000 toward the project through Innovation PEI. The project is expected to benefit 55 bioscience businesses annually. ACOA

Pacific Development Canada (PacifiCan) invested more than $2 million in 4D LABS at Simon Fraser University to support late-stage testing and demonstration of innovative clean technologies, through establishing the Centre for Environmental and Food Analysis. The centre will support industry to commercialize clean technologies, and municipalities and Indigenous communities to adopt and utilize these technologies. Ottawa also contributed $599,000 to support capacity at SFU’s Big Data Hub. The funding will increase capacity of the university's major Supercomputer Cedar site, create an online consulting space to facilitate in-person and remote data-related consulting services, acquire 12 high-performance computers for the Hub’s computing lab, and hire staff to support industry engagement efforts. PacifiCan

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) is contributing up to $2 million for SQI Diagnostics Inc., a Toronto-based life sciences and diagnostics company working to discover and develop rapid diagnostic testing for North American clinical and patient markets. SQI has developed a portfolio of novel respiratory health tests, including TORdx™ LUNG, the only test on the organ transplant market that can detect inflammation at the molecular level to assess the health of donor lungs that are currently being rejected. The funding will enable the company to scale up and bring their diagnostic tests to market faster, and scale the first commercial-sized microarray facility of its kind in Canada. FedDev Ontario

Natural Resources Canada announced an investment, through its Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways program, of nearly $1.8 million in Net Zero Atlantic to lay the foundations, through capacity building, for new Nova Scotian offshore wind projects. Working with Mi’kmaw groups the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, as well as with local communities, phase one of the Capacity Building for the Sustainable and Inclusive Development of Nova Scotia’s Offshore Wind Resource program will bring together Mi’kmaw and other communities in educational forums and workshops toward the creation of community outreach plans. Phase two will deliver on these plans by developing the foundations for off-shore wind developments across Nova Scotia’s coastal communities. NRCan

Natural Resources Canada invested more than $1.3 million in Net Zero Atlantic for the Community Geothermal Resource Capacity Assessment and Training Program (GeoCAT). The project will build development capacity for mid-depth geothermal energy-based projects in five Mi’kmaw and 12 rural communities in Nova Scotia. Working with Mi’kmaw groups, the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, as well as local communities, the GeoCAT program will transfer geothermal resource and project development knowledge to local community representatives. They will assess community-specific infrastructure and interest in geothermal project development, and then teach interested residents how such projects can be achieved in their communities. Net Zero Atlantic, the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq and the Government of Nova Scotia are also contributing to the project, bringing the total investment to more than $1.4 million. NRCan

RELATED: Tapping the earth: Nunavut weighs geothermal options

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) announced a conditionally repayable contribution of more than $1.2 million to Carboniq Inc. and Cimbec Canada Inc. — both based in Quebec — as part of the Canada Coal Transition Initiative – Infrastructure Fund. The companies are co-developers of the Dalhousie Pozzolan Project, which is investigating the production of a cementitious material to reduce the clinker-cement ratio and the need for clinker, whose production causes significant GHG emissions. The investment will help the two companies complete initial steps to extract a natural pozzolan deposit, a rock of volcanic origin. These steps include assessing deposit size and quality and conducting environmental surveys in preparation for a future environmental impact study. According to the federal government, the extraction and processing of this pozzolan deposit have the potential to create up to 500 jobs during the construction phase, as well as 168 permanent jobs, once the processing plant is in operation.  ACOA

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is investing $1.2 million, under the Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program, for two projects with the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute at Université de Moncton in Edmundston, N.B. The funding will enable hiring of researchers and technicians to develop precision forestry inventory measurements and produce high-quality training data in a two-phase approach to commercialization. The provincial Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development contributed $684,000 to the two projects, and the Government of New Brunswick contributed $84,000. ACOA also invested $600,000, matched by the provincial government, to support the research institute’s operational activities for the next fiscal year as it moves toward financial self-sufficiency. The institute is a partnership between four members of the forest industry (AV Group, JD Irving, Group Savoie, Acadian Timber), the Université de Moncton, the Government of New Brunswick, and the Government of Canada. ACOA

The Government of Manitoba is providing more than $900,000, through the Innovation Growth Program, to 12 projects to help Manitoba-based businesses develop and commercialize innovative products and processes. The program provides up to $100,000 in non-repayable grants on a 50-50 cost-sharing basis for eligible projects that develop and commercialize innovative products or processes. The new funding recipients are in sectors that include: life sciences and health; ICT and new media; clean technology; and agriculture. Govt. of Manitoba

Natural Resources Canada announced a $750,000 investment, through its Energy Innovation Program, in Edgehog Advanced Technologies. The Montreal-based company also contributed to the project, for a total project cost of more than $1.88 million. The funding will support Edgehog by scaling up its Eluminar™ nanotextured, anti-reflection glass technology for high-performing solar panels. This environmentally friendly technology is expected to increase energy production in the winter without the use of expensive and high-maintenance sun-tracking systems. The technology has the potential to accelerate adoption of solar panels, including in Canada’s northern and remote communities. NRCan

RESEARCH, TECH NEWS & COLLABORATIONS

The University of Calgary partnered with Prairies Economic Development Canada and DynaLIFE Medical Labs to launch the Alberta Centre for Advanced Diagnostics (ACAD). The new research and testing centre includes a combined investment of $14.6 million by UCalgary, PrairiesCan, Genome Canada and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Additional funding and support for ACAD came from Alberta Innovates, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Alberta Precision Laboratories. ACAD is a fully integrated ecosystem that will connect early-stage innovators with the facilities, equipment and health care contacts needed to prototype new infectious disease diagnostics and evaluate them against established tools, while reducing both the time and cost needed to commercialize prototypes. UCalgary

RBC Foundation announced a combined donation of $3.5 million over five years to three Waterloo Region post-secondary institutions – University of Waterloo, Wilfred Laurier University and Conestoga College. The funds, through RBC Future Launch, will help develop programs with work-integrated learning opportunities and support “green” collar work needed for the transition to a net-zero economy and inclusivity in the skilled trades. The funding includes support for a first-of-its-kind Bachelor of Sustainability and Finance Management degree and new programming in the area of climate management. RBC

The University of Guelph (UG) announced the new E. Alan and Julie A. Cameron Chair in Ecological Pest Management, funded by a $3-million gift from Alan, a graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College, and his wife Julie. The Chair will study ecologically based pest management strategies, such as biological controls, semiochemicals (such as pheromones), and chemical and biological pesticides with minimal environmental impact. The new position, in the university’s School of Environmental Sciences, will be filled in 2023. UG

Fanshawe college in London, Ont. signed a cooperation agreement with JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland to develop cyber security expertise and cyber security training activities. The opportunities for students include cyber range-based training, education, and research, development, and innovation activities. Since 2013, JYVSECTEC, the cyber security research, development and training centre of JAMK University of Applied Sciences, has maintained and developed a unique Realistic Global Cyber Environment. Fanshawe said the partnership with JAMK provides the college with greatly augmented capabilities and increased opportunities for leadership in cybersecurity education, research, skills development, and operations. Fanshawe

Led by the University of Saskatchewan and McMaster University as co-chairs of the Canadian Neutron Initiative, 15 member universities have come together to incorporate a new not-for-profit research organization, Neutrons Canada. The new agency’s purpose is to govern, manage and represent Canada’s infrastructure program for R&D with neutron beams. This program will include international partnerships that secure access to world-leading neutron laboratories, operation of Canada’s domestic neutron beam facilities, and national initiatives for future neutron sources. The new agency builds on $57 million in investments, from federal and provincial sources and other project partners, in neutron beam infrastructure to establish a national neutron beam lab at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor and to gain access to world-leading neutron sources in the U.S. Creation of Neutrons Canada is a key milestone in the implementation of the National Neutron Strategy, designed to rebuild Canadian capacity for this research field. USask

Related: No charge, but plenty of value

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) announced a new and fifth funding opportunity under the Tri-agency Interdisciplinary Peer Review Committee program. The program, launched as a pilot in 2021, brings together interdisciplinary researchers to review proposals for interdisciplinary, investigator-research projects. Researchers applying to the SSHRC Insight Grants 2022 competition, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 Project Grant competitions and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Horizons 2022 competition were able to direct their applications to this pilot committee. Now, researchers applying to the SSHRC Insight Development Grants 2023 competition may also direct their proposals to the committee for review. Also, the pilot program will be extended for a second year. SSHRC

A university education is an influential element of entrepreneurship and there is potential in the relationship between the two, according to a study by the University of Guelph and supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The study found that broadening the scope of entrepreneurial studies to include an interdisciplinary element inspires, supports and connects future entrepreneurs who see value in collaboration. Study co-authors Dr. Davar Rezania, PhD, professor of management, and PhD student Jonathan Parkes interviewed 15 student entrepreneurs from the University of Guelph. Collaborative education and emphasizing the application of education are also important to future entrepreneurs, according to the study, published in The Eurasia Proceedings of Educational and Social Sciences. University of Guelph

Vancouver had the highest high-tech job growth (44 per cent) out of 30 leading tech cities in the U.S. and Canada through 2020 and 2021, according to commercial real estate services firm CBRE’s Tech-30 2022 report. Vancouver’s tech sector now employs 92,000 people, nearly tripling the workforce since 2010. Toronto ranked #2, growing at 37 per cent, but created the most jobs (60,400). Montreal ranked #5 with 15.8-percent growth. Calgary was ranked #3 in the “next 10 tech markets to watch” category. Canada’s high-tech employment in 2020 and 2021 grew by 29.4 percent – triple the 9.8 percent in the U.S. during the same period, according to the report. CBRE

VC & PRIVATE INVESTMENT

Toronto-based Xanadu, a quantum computing hardware and software company, announced it raised US$100 million in Series C financing. The company said the funding will help accelerate efforts to build a fault-tolerant and error-corrected quantum computer capable of scaling up to one million qubits. Fintech Georgian led the round with participation from Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Forward Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, along with previous investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Capricorn, BDC Capital, and Tim Draper. To date, Xanadu has raised US$250 million, bringing the company valuation to US$1 billion. Xanadu

Vancouver-based Alida, a customer experience management company, announced it has secured a US$60 million syndicated credit facility from lead lender National Bank of Canada through its Technology and Innovation Banking Group. Co-lenders include BMO, Comerica, and Silicon Valley Bank. Alida said the credit facility will support capital requirements and strategic initiatives as the company continues on its aggressive growth strategy centered around providing world-class customer, employee, product, and brand experiences. Alida

At least 27 Canadian mining companies have shareholders with ties to China, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They include Teck Resources Ltd., Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. Chinese firms have been involved in 89 announced acquisitions and investments — worth $14 billion — in Canadian metals and mining companies in the past decade, Bloomberg’s data show. Attracting such investors — or encouraging them to increase their holdings —will now be much harder given Canada’s latest effort to protect its wealth of critical minerals from state-influenced foreign investors, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg

REPORTS & POLICY

Transport Canada released a report on the first five years of the $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan, detailing results across more than 50 initiatives from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The plan has made shipping safer, increased protection for marine systems, improved the response to marine incidents, and strengthened the role of Indigenous peoples in managing their traditional coasts and waterways, said the government. During its first five years, the plan has done the following: invested in several marine research and science projects; supported more than 340 graduates from underrepresented groups in Nova Scotia in marine-related studies; installed emergency tow kits on four Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers in Quebec City; invested in a variety of safety equipment and marine infrastructure projects to make Arctic resupply operations more efficient and safer; and funded 25 coastal aquatic habitats restoration projects in British Columbia. Transport Canada

The Government of Canada and the Cement Association of Canada released the Roadmap to Net-Zero Carbon Concrete by 2050. The cement needed to make concrete accounts for 26 per cent of global industrial sector CO₂ emissions and about 1.5 per cent of Canada’s total emissions. Canada’s cement and concrete industry, with support and collaboration from the federal government and partners, is poised to eliminate more than 15 million tonnes of GHG emissions cumulatively by 2030, followed by ongoing reductions of more than four million tonnes annually from the production of cement and concrete. As a first step, the roadmap includes the Action Plan to 2030, centred on three priority areas: driving Canadian market development; advancing innovation and transition in the industry; and positioning Canada as a world leader in the production, adoption, and export of low-carbon cement and concrete products and technologies. ISED

Canada and the United States will continue to collaborate closely to further reduce methane emissions from their respective oil and gas industries, said Steven Guilbeault, minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and John Kerry, the American special presidential envoy for climate. At the United Nations COP27 climate conference, the two countries joined the European Union, Japan, Norway, Singapore and the U.K. in issuing the “Joint Declaration from Energy Importers and Exporters on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fossil Fuels.” Both Canada and the U.S. agreed that significant opportunities exist to eliminate routine venting and flaring, enhance leak detection and repair, and address problems such as blowdowns (the purposeful venting of natural gas to the atmosphere during well or pipeline operations) and other potentially large methane releases. Environment and Climate Change Canada published a proposed regulatory framework outlining new regulations to reduce methane emissions by at least 75 percent by 2030 relative to 2012 levels. ECCC

The United Nations launched a new initiative at COP 27 to scale up global efforts to detect and act on large methane sources. The Methane Alert and Response System will include use of a satellite-borne remote sensing technology developed by Montreal-based GHGSat. On the day the initiative was launched, GHGSat reported one of its satellites detected significant methane emissions of nearly 1.2 tonnes per hour at a landfill site in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne. The landfill is operated by Complexe Enviro Connections, part of Texas-based Waste Connections Canada. The company, confirmed the methane emission and said it is related to work aimed at ensuring the efficiency of a biogas capture system at the Terrebonne site. UN, The Globe and Mail

RELATED: GHGSat seeks methane from space to help Canada tackle global warming

Businesses and other non-state actors cannot claim to be net zero while continuing to build or invest in new fossil fuel supply, according to a report by a United Nations high-level expert group chaired by Canada’s former environment minister Catherine McKenna. “Net zero is entirely incompatible with continued investment in fossil fuels,” said the report, by the UN’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments, and released at the UN COP27 climate conference. It makes 10 recommendations to bring integrity, transparency and accountability to net zero by establishing clear standards and criteria. Non-state actors require not only long-term pledges, but also short-term science-based targets and detailed transition plans, said the report. Such plans must show immediate, absolute emissions reductions (rather than per-barrel or per-unit reductions, called “emissions intensity”) in the entire supply chain and life-cycle emissions, along with capital expenditures aligned with these targets, said the report. It recommends non-state actors move from voluntary initiatives to regulated requirements for net zero, and report publicly on their progress with verified information that can be compared with peers. UN

The federal Competition Bureau launched an inquiry into “alleged deceptive marketing practices” by the Canadian Gas Association (CGA), to determine the industry association made misleading statements about the environmental impacts of natural gas. The inquiry was prompted by a complaint lodged by six individuals connected with the advocacy group Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. The complainants allege the CGA — whose members include Enbridge Inc., FortisBC, and ATCO — is misleading the public with its “Fuelling Canada” marketing campaign, which promotes natural gas as low-emission energy. “The CGA will cooperate with the Competition Bureau and is confident in its position,” said association president and CEO Timothy Egan.  CP

THE GRAPEVINE

Dr. Louis R. Lapierre, PhD, associate professor at Université de Moncton, is the university’s inaugural New Brunswick Health Research Foundation and the J.-Louis Lévesque Foundation research chair in precision medicine. The chair is funded at $1 million over five years by the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation and the J.-Louis Lévesque Foundation. The Lapierre laboratory uses a combination of biochemical, genetic and molecular approaches to study aging in cell systems, model organisms and murine models (the use of special strains of mice to study a human disease or condition). UMoncton

Dr. Loubna Benabbou, PhD, professor at Université du Québec à Rimouski is the university’s inaugural holder of the Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence for Digital, Resilient, Agile and Sustainable Supply Chains. The chair is supported by $250,000 over five years from the City of Lévis. Benabbou’s research interests are part of the general framework of development and application of machine learning methods from artificial intelligence and decision science to aid decision-making in the fields of supply chain management, digitalization of industrial processes, and climate change risk mitigation.  UQAR

Gerry Schwartz, founder of Onex Corp., announced he will step down as chief executive next year, handing the reins to president Bobby Le Blanc after the company’s 2023 annual meeting. The Toronto-based private equity investment firm said Schwartz, 80, will remain closely involved as founder and chairman. Onex has US$47.3 billion under management, including US$7.6 billion of its own capital. Financial Post

Canadian native Sukhiner Singh Cassidy was appointed CEO of New Zealand’s accounting software giant Xero. Cassidy brings more than 25 years of global leadership to Xero, with past executive roles in Silicon Valley and the U.K. Originally from Canada, she graduated from Western University’s Ivey Business School in 1992. She will start at Xero on November 28 and, in February next year, will succeed outgoing Xero CEO Steve Vamos who’s retiring from the role. Cassidy’s appointment follows the Xero’s active growth within Canada, including hiring Canadian tech entrepreneur and investor Chris O’Neill as its first-ever growth officer. BetaKit 

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