The Honourable Rona Ambrose announced that the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) has received permanent commitment under the new name Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP), which aims to bridge the technology gap between the R&D stage of projects and the pre-commercialization phase through government acquisitions. The announcement was made at the WesDef, western Canada’s premier defence conference with attendees ranging from government officials and manufactures to end users.
Through both the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) and the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit, the government invests heavily in the initial research and development conducted to create innovative products in Canada. However many small companies develop innovative products, then struggle to bring untested products to market. BCIP intends to connect companies with government officials and end users, whose feedback will assist to accelerate the development process into the commercialization stage. From the government perspective, access to these innovative products could potentially give way for more efficient of government operations, either directly or indirectly.
