Newfoundland projects fare well in latest round of Atlantic Innovation Fund

The Atlantic Innovation Fund is investing $63.8 million in 29 projects across the Atlantic region, boosting the total awarded to date to more than $500 million. Funding under Round V of the AIF leveraged $63 million from other sources for a total project value of nearly $127 million. There is enough money left in the AIF to support one and possibly two more rounds. Round VI was launched on the day the Round V winners were announced.

The AIF was recapitalized with $300 million in 2005, matching the initial capitalization in 2000. The second phase of federal funding is being delivered in smaller rounds that are held more frequently than phase I and with a stronger sectoral focus.

"We're getting applications in areas that you would think of in Atlantic Canada as non-traditional activity. That's good. The economic base is diversifying," says Dr Arthur May, chair of the AIF's advisory board and former president of both Memorial Univ and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Of the four Atlantic provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador received the most under Round V with $18.8 million while PEI far outperformed the other provinces on a per capita basis with $14.2 million.

AIF funding in Newfoundland supports seven projects. It leverages $35.7 million for a provincial total of $54.7 million and an impressive leverage factor of nearly 2:1.

In Nova Scotia, AIF funding of $17.4 million leveraged an additional $11.4 million for a provincial total of $28.8 million.

Prince Edward Island's $14.2-million share of AIF funding leveraged another $10.4 million for a total of $24.6 million.

New Brunswick's performance under Round V was the weakest of the four provinces with $12.6 million leveraging just $6.4 million for a provincial total of $19 million.

Memorial Univ's Population-based Genetic Research Project was the largest project in Round V, with total costs of $22.6 million. It was one of two projects in the province that received $3 million in AIF funds. The other is a $5-million project at Memorial Univ for RAVEN, a Remote Aerial Vehicle for Environmental Monitoring.

Nova Scotia also received two $3-million awards for a $6-million project led by for Immuno Vaccine Technologies Inc and a watershed management project led by Nova Scotia Agricultural College.

PEI received one $3-million award for a $5.5-million project led by BioVectra Inc to create a system for selecting and producing pharmaceutical ingredients.

The largest New Brunswick award was $3 million for a $4.1-million project at the Univ of Moncton to develop dietary products from bio-resources.

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