Business Receives Annual R&D Grants for Small Business 6 Years via NRC-IRAP

Ottawa, ON.  Last week (Nov. 17, 2014) The National Research Council of Canada (NRC)’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) announced that it would fund an Orleans, Ontario robotics firm up to $349,000 to develop and assist in the commercialization of the next generation of unmanned aircraft systems in the 25kg class. This new round of funding marks the sixth consecutive year of R&D funding grants awarded to ING Robotics.

Ottawa-based ING Robotics Developing Next Generation of Aviation Drones

Ottawa-based ING Robotics will be the recipient of the investment made in the form of non-repayable grants from the federal government through IRAP’s Accelerated Review Process (ARP) government funding for innovation program.  ING Robotics produces unmanned aviation devices are capable of performing inspections, monitoring, and mapping; having already flown the equivalent of 81 times around the planet according to the firm.

ING Robotics has Taken Advantage of Nearly Half a Million Dollars in Federal Funding through IRAP Since 2012

ING Robotics is not new to the IRAP funding scene; by next year the high-tech firm will have accessed nearly half a million dollars in funding through the popular government funding for research and development program offered through NRC (up to $439,200).   The funding has and will have been received through three separate programs offered through two federal government: IRAP ARP and IRAP Youth Employment Program (YEP) –not to be confused with the Youth Employment Fund (YEF), a $6,800 wage subsidy for hiring youth with employment barriers.

IRAP Accelerated Review Process (ARP) Details:

Funding is available for projects positioned to solve a technical- or research-oriented innovation challenge. Grants awarded in the past have been dedicated to support software implementation, productivity improvements, and production design or marketing projects, however training projects will not be funded; please turn to training specific grants, such as the Canada Job Grant, for training.

• Amount: Up to $50k non-repayable grant with a maximum of 80% of direct labour and 50% sub-contractors covered.
• Timeline: Federal funding released April 1 each year. Projects must be completed on, or before, March 31 of the following year.
• Eligibility: 1-500 people on payroll and 2 years incorporated with internal R&D expertise.

IRAP Youth Employment Program (YEP) Details:

Designed to assist funding of hiring young Canadian post-secondary graduates. Graduate can be applied to most areas from business development to technical to customer service/administration.

• Amount: Max support of $15k (80% of salary) for a period of 6 to 12 months. Fulltime hire for graduate student under the age of 31 years.
• Timeline: May apply for 2 graduates, each for a 6-12 month period. Please ensure that you keep the candidate(s) off of payroll until your IRAP representative has signed off on your application.
• Eligibility: Incorporated and financially stable and must be responsible to find graduates before applying.

IRAP Government Funding and Support Services Benefited 11,000 SMEs in 2012-2013 Alone

NRC-IRAP has engaged with over 11,000 SMEs in 2012-2013 alone with close to 3,000 of them receiving some form of financial assistance through one of IRAP’s government funding for research and development programs.  If you are an established small to medium-sized business engaged in research and development activities that qualify for SR&ED tax credits you are most likely also eligible for funding through NRC-IRAP.  Sign up for a Canadian government funding workshop or webinar to learn more about funding opportunities available for your firm.