The government of Canada is seeking to partner with eligible Canadian small businesses and innovators, to facilitate the early development, testing and validation of prototypes to solve major challenges through funding from Innovation Solutions Canada.
Two new challenges were recently announced by Innovation Solutions Canada including a grant for Developing innovative phytosanitary treatment options for control of quarantine plant pests and a contract for a Canadian Coastal Zone Information System.
1. Developing innovative phytosanitary treatment options for control of quarantine plant pests
Funding mechanism: Grant
Funding amount: $150,000 CAD (Phase 1); $500,000 CAD (Phase 2)
Application date: July 28, 2020 – September 9, 2020 (14:00 EDT)
Preserving plant health and resources is urgent with the continuous and growing pest risk that is threatening Canada’s public health safety and the crop industry’s continued economic growth. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is in need of developing a cost-effective mitigation approach that similarly mimics the properties in methyl bromide without the negative impacts that it poses. The CFIA is looking for innovative solutions to combat difficulties with existing pest management treatments during quarantine and for pre-shipment applications that will assist various farmers and essential Canadian industry workers to meet phytosanitary requirements.
Proposed solutions must:
- Have the capacity to kill a range of pests that are of quarantine significance in Canada and internationally with equal or greater strength as well as technical and economic benefits than methyl bromide.
- Be a substance that is not listed under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.
- Be applicable to a broad spectrum of industries and import/export requirements
- Meet Canada wide standards to make treatment commercially available and eligible for product registration through the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and pest control products acts and regulations.
In addition, the innovations should preferably be 40% less persistent in the environment than current solutions, and not be chemical fumigant or cause visible signs of phytotoxicity, including browning, if applied to live commodities that are susceptible to injury from methyl bromide fumigation.
2. Canadian Coastal Zone Information System
Funding mechanism: Contract
Funding amount: $150,000 CAD (Phase 1); $1,000,000 CAD (Phase2)
Application date: July 28, 2020 – September 9, 2020 (14:00 EDT)
Assessment of climate change forecasts as well as the risks and vulnerabilities of coastal environments present challenges with time consuming and high-cost barrier of transforming offshore wave data to nearshore and providing timely delivery to users. Because of these urgent and pressing issues, it is a top priority to communicate reliable information on climate change risks necessary for mitigation. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is seeking a web accessible single platform decision support system to provide a cost-effective and sustainable solution to coastal and marine infrastructure planning, climate change risk assessment, and adaptation in high risk areas.
Proposed solutions must:
- Be web accessible single platforms with access to datasets, digital maps, tables, and illustrations including built-in computational tools that represent coastal zones of Canada.
- Include tidal elevation data, extreme water levels and storm surges over a 100-year return while predicting growth moving forward.
- Incorporate nearshore wave climate of high-resolution model outputs with directional distributions and return periods and for long term climate change consequences over the next 50 and 100 years.
- Provide sea level rise changes and trends, wind speed and ice thickness for the next 100 years.
- Include available high resolution nearshore hydrographic datasets with georeferenced mapping/graphical interface capability for transferring extreme wave climate maps and infrastructure plans.
- Extract or calculate nearshore coastal parameters within mandatory point locations from the available information in the system or using built-in computational tools.
- Include small craft harbors and additional government infrastructure sites such as proximity to lakes, rivers, and estuaries.
- Provide user-friendly accessibility to extract, calculate, interpret and visualize the results and maps and undergo regular updates.
- Have capability for graphical map interface with minimal user inputs and a standardized Common Look and Feel (CLF).
For more information on government funding options to support the development of innovative agricultural and environmental solutions challenges, please contact us for a free no obligation consultation with one of our government funding experts.