Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) Government Procurement for Innovators
The Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) is a permanent government procurement program that is currently in their two-year pilot program. This Canadian Government support program will help businesses who are actively looking to commercialize their innovative products and services, thus bridging the pre-commercialization gap while supporting Canadian businesses. The program was mentioned in a previous blog, and has offered several workshops to better educate prospective applicants on how the program works.
Canadian Government Procurement Program Details
This acquisitions program was launched to help promote Canada’s economic growth and allows government officials to purchase goods and services.
It targets innovations in four main areas:
- Health
- Environment
- Safety and security
- Enabling technologies
This government initiative was created to increase innovation in Canada’s business sector and will help companies commercialize their goods and services by:
- Providing innovators with the opportunity to enter the marketplace with a successful application of their new goods and services
- Providing information on how to do business with the Government of Canada
- Awarding contracts to entrepreneurs with pre-commercial innovations through an open, transparent, fair and competitive procurement process
- Testing and providing feedback to these entrepreneurs on the performance of their goods or services
Innovators are given the opportunity to sell their pre-commercialized goods and services to the Federal Government of Canada, connect with potential clients in federal government departments and get feedback on their proposal.
Applying for the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP)
Eligible companies must demonstrate that the product is an advancement on the existing product, have financial capacity and demonstrate that the innovation is at a technology readiness level of 7-9. When writing proposals, the products must be:
- Valued at less than $500K, not have been sold commercially
- Provided in Canadian dollars
- Include 80% Canadian content or materials
- Show IP ownership of rights
- Included in one of the four priority areas as mentioned above.
This Canadian government program is not limited to small and medium-sized businesses, as all suppliers will be treated equally. The maximum funding available is $500,000 per proposal. It is important to note that only one proposal can be submitted for each innovation and this program will not cover commercialization expenses. Applying companies cannot sell the product/service that they apply for CICP with until after they submit their CICP Proposal.
Learn More about CICP and How & When to Apply
Learn more about CICP by choosing between one of the following options:
Government Funding for Business Application
The Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) has two different stages. The proposals are evaluated by NRC-IRAP and are then passed to the Innovation Selection Committee who review the top scored products and the final rankings are then released. If you would like support in this application process, I encourage you to contact one of our Canadian Government Funding Experts or following us on Twitter and Facebook.