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Proposals invited for $90 million in IFIT funding

The federal Minister of Natural Resources, Greg Rickford, invited forest companies to start applying for funding from the $90-million Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program for projects aimed at innovative commercial-scale…

The federal Minister of Natural Resources, Greg Rickford, invited forest companies to start applying for funding from the $90-million Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT) program for projects aimed at innovative commercial-scale technologies.

This is the second phase of the IFIT program, which makes targeted investments in capital projects that commercialize world-first or Canadian-first technologies in the forest products sector.

“These investments support our goals of supporting jobs and promoting economic growth by helping Canada’s forest industry diversify markets and bring innovative, high-value products to the marketplace,” said Minister Rickford.

David Lindsay, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), expects the second phase IFIT program will be as popular as the first $100 million IFIT initiative which generated 107 applications worth $2 billion.

“The Canadian forest products industry is now on a journey of change,” says Lindsay. “We are aiming high so that the Canadian sector can be a world leader in innovation and product development as well as an important player in the global bio-economy, all by using our abundant renewable forest resource.”

The IFIT program was renewed under Economic Action Plan 2014 as part of the Government of Canada’s continuing support for innovation in Canada’s forest industry. Since 2010, 11 projects have been announced under the IFIT program.

To assist with the application process, the IFIT program will be hosting a series of webinars to provide information and answer questions from organizations interested in applying. The webinars are scheduled for July 9 (French) and July 10 and 17 (English). To register for a session, email IFIT@nrcan.gc.ca by July 4.

The deadline for expressions of interest for the IFIT program is Sept. 9, 2014. The deadline for completed proposals is Oct. 30, 2014.

More details are available here: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/forests/federal-programs/13139