The Short Report - July 27, 2022: Ottawa launches next phase of its ocean protection program, a new policy agreement for Canada's agricultural partnership, funding to fight online disinformation, and more.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

The Government of Canada is investing more than $384 million to strengthen marine safety as part of the next phase of Canada’s $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan. The latest round of funding focuses on the following areas: enhancing marine emergency prevention, preparedness, and response systems; applying new technologies and building partnerships with Indigenous Peoples and local communities to increase marine shipping efficiency and to reduce negative impacts on marine ecosystems; investing in technologies that accommodate increasing cargo traffic and vessels moving through Canadian waters; ensuring the safe movement of vessels to improve safety on the water and limit risks to marine species, and augmenting the capacity of the National Aerial Surveillance Program with a new hangar and accommodations unit in Iqaluit to strengthen surveillance of marine pollution in the Arctic region. GOC

Ottawa is contributing up to $125 million towards wind energy projects in Nova Scotia as well as up to $130 million towards installation of four battery sites to support the closure of coal-fired plants across the province. The clean energy projects are part of a competitive federal and provincial process, with allocation and amounts of federal funding to be confirmed once agreements are finalized. GOC

The Government of Nova Scotia's Forestry Innovation Transition Trust, a $50-million fund promoting adoption of ecological forestry practices, has approved four new projects totalling $6.2 million. Research Nova Scotia will receive $4.1 million to implement the 2021 research agenda Bringing Focus to Forestry Research, which identifies the concerns and emerging prospects in Nova Scotia’s forests; the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia will receive $1.1 million to support a tree improvement program; the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment will receive $698,500 for Phase 2 of its Bio-technology Acceleration Centre, and MTC Mass Timber Company will receive $325,000 for feasibility testing for commercial production of mass timber in the province. Nova Scotia Government

The Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, a network of smart farms sharing data and expertise to accelerate the development and adoption of agriculture technologies across Canada, has added the University of Saskatchewan Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence to its lineup of collaborators, which includes Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm (Langham, Sask.), and Lakeland College (Vermilion, Alta). The network is a nearly $3-million initiative lead by the Olds College Smart Farm, and includes a  $1.1-million contribution from the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network. Olds College

Federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers of Agriculture reached an agreement in principle for the new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership at their annual meeting. The new five-year agreement will replace the current Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP), which expires in March 2023, and will inject a further $500 million for cost-shared activities—a 25% increase in new funding over the $2 billion currently provided under CAP. GOC Backgrounder

The Canadian government has made more than $2.4 million in funding available for projects to provide Canadians with tools to identify online disinformation, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Projects are funded under Canadian Heritage’s Digital Citizen Initiative and include a Canada-wide, public knowledge and skills-based campaign by Evidence for Democracy to empower individuals to understand evidence and how to ask for it, as well as DisinfoWatch's Cognitive Defence Awareness campaign to build resilience against Russian disinformation for Canadian journalists. Funded Projects

The Canadian government has also launched its annual call for proposals for the Digital Citizen Contribution Program. Applicants should submit research proposals focused on countering online disinformation and other online harms and threats. The application deadline is August 18, 2022. GOC

Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus is the site of the new B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation that will open in September, and will see academia, government and industry partners collaborating to create more productive, diverse and resilient food-supply chains in the province. The British Columbia government will contribute as much as $6.5 million over three years for the centre, while the federal government is providing as much as $10 million over five years through Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan). BC Government

FedDev Ontario is making a non-repayable contribution of over $2.5 million for GreenCentre Canada to deliver the Advance-ON program, an initiative to provide early stage clean tech companies ready to commercialize their technologies with access to specialized laboratory equipment and technical experts. The project funding is through the Jobs and Growth Fund and will assist up to 30 small and medium size businesses with plans to accelerate their product and process developments. FedDev Ontario

The Royal Canadian Air Force has established a division to support expanding space-based operations. The 3 Canadian Space Division, based at National Defence Headquarters Carling in Ottawa, will "streamline, focus, and improve" how space-based capabilities support communications, command and control, navigation, weather and situational awareness. The division will also include the re-establishment of 7 Wing, a space-based data and capabilities support system, and supports Canada’s commitment to the Combined Space Operations Initiative, an agreement that includes Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, and provides opportunities to enhance cooperation on defence space activities. GOC

RESEARCH, INNOVATION & REGULATIONS

A consortium of companies consisting of Humble and Frank Foods (Victoria), fresh produce innovation company The Star Group, and food tech innovator InnovoPro are researching and testing chickpea ingredients and proteins in consumer-ready plant-based food products, with plans to partner on R&D opportunities between Canadian and international companies. Nearly $3 million is being invested into the project, with Protein Industries Canada investing $1.4 million and the consortium members investing the remainder. PIC

The University of Ottawa has unveiled the NexQT (Nexus for Quantum Technologies) Institute to boost research and support innovation and commercialization in photonics. The institute will focus on a variety of areas, including quantum imaging, sensors, computing and devices, and real-life applications. It will be co-directed by Dr. Ebrahim Karimi, Canada Research Chair in Structured Quantum Waves, and member of the Department of Physics and the Max Planck Centre for Extreme and Quantum Photonics; and Dr. Elena Baranova, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. UOttawa

Health Canada has introduced new regulations for supplemented foods. Pre-packaged foods containing one or more added ingredients including vitamins, mineral nutrients, amino acids, caffeine or herbal extracts will display a standardized supplemented food facts table, similar to the nutrition facts table that helps inform food choices, and which includes information on the amount of each supplemental ingredient added. Health Canada has also recently introduced new front-of-package nutrition labelling regulations for packaged foods that are high in saturated fat, sugars and/or sodium. Manufacturers have until January 1, 2026, to change their labels and comply with the new requirement. GOC

VC NEWS

Vancouver-based housing technology company Intelligent City has raised $22 million, bringing the total capital invested in the company to $30 million. The company, which applies automation and robotics to the design and manufacturing of prefabricated mass timber buildings, will use the funding to scale operations, commercialize its Platforms for Life building solution, grow factory automation, and expand its footprint. The raise includes Series A venture funding with participation by BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice, Greensoil PropTech Ventures, UIT Growth Equity GP, Fulmer & Company, and over 30 independent investors, in combination with government programs and accelerators such as the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Investments in Forest Industry Transformation program, the Sustainable Development Technology Canada Start-Up Fund, and the Next Generation Manufacturing Supercluster Manufacturing Project Funding. Intelligent City

REPORTS

A Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) report comparing land use and sustainable farming practices between 2021, 2016 and 2011 shows a continuation in the trend of total farm area declining and of farms being fewer, larger and adopting sustainable practices.  Among other key takeaways in CAPI's Quick Think report: despite decreasing total farm area, land in crops is on the rise, while pasture and grassland are decreasing. The results are based on Statistics Canada's recently released Census of Agriculture. CAPI is hosting a webinar on July 27 from 11-12:30 ET to explore the results of the 2021 Census and hear from sector experts on what the numbers mean for the future of agriculture and food in Canada. CAPI

A report from the C.D. Howe Institute lauds the federal government's review of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit but says strong changes are needed to modernize the program and improve its effectiveness. Suggested changes include reducing R&D support for smaller firms and increasing R&D support for large firms where the spillover benefits are greater. The report also says credit rates should vary to reflect the difference between the social benefits gained from basic and applied R&D, which are higher than the social benefits derived from experimental development. C.D. Howe Institute

THE GRAPEVINE

Dr. Jason Acker has been appointed associate vice-president (AVP) of research integrity support at the University of Alberta for a three-year term, effective August 1. Acker is a senior research scientist in the Innovation and Portfolio Management group at Canadian Blood Services. The AVP position is a new position in U of A's research and innovation portfolio. Acker will be responsible for "building, implementing and managing a framework that supports programs and services encompassing all research integrity areas, including compliance, ethics certification, clinical trials monitoring, human and animal ethics, safeguarding research, and legal requirements related to research." U of A

Janet Annesley, chief sustainability officer of Kiwetinohk Energy (Calgary); Dave Collyer, former president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers; Judy Cotte, head of ESG, Onex (Toronto); Lawrence Lewis, founder of OneFeather (Victoria), and Mario Thomas, president and board chair of Precision Biomonitoring (Guelph) have been appointed as new members of Export Development Canada's environmental, social and governance (ESG) advisory council. EDC has recently updated its mandate and terms of reference, and says the council changes will ensure EDC has access to a "broadened range of expertise, in line with the rapidly evolving ESG landscape." EDC

Dr. Mark Daley has been appointed Western University's first-ever chief digital officer, a new role designed to lead the university’s digital transformation and fulfill its commitment towards technology innovation in its strategic plan, Towards Western at 150. Daley is currently vice-president of research for CIFAR (previously the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research) and chair of the board of directors at Compute Ontario. In 2020, he co-founded CanCOVID, an expert network of Canadian COVID-19 researchers, clinical collaborators, and health-care professionals. Western U.

Paul-Xavier Etter has been appointed director of technical training at the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (Charlottetown). Etter has more than 20 years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, and has held roles with Sanofi Pasteur, Medicago, and GlaxoSmithKline. He will be responsible for leading operations at the biopharmaceutical training facilities in Charlottetown (opening September 2022), Montreal, and future sites and will "oversee delivery of the practical and theoretical biopharmaceutical manufacturing training programs and new curriculum development in response to the Canadian industry’s needs." CASTL

Dr. Marcel Behr has been appointed the director of the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity at McGill University, launched in 2018 to build interdisciplinary research teams to develop solutions for infectious and immune diseases for patients and populations. Behr has been acting as interim director since December 2021. The initiative currently supports over 200 researchers engaged in nearly 130 projects, representing 23 centres, groups and partners. McGill

Dr. Aravind Ganesh, an assistant professor at University of Calgary, has won the 2022 Panmure House Prize, an annual U.K. award of US $75,000 for research into long-term investing and its relationship with innovation. The prize is awarded to emerging leaders in academia who plan to produce research on the long-term funding of innovation in the spirit of Adam Smith. Ganesh’s research seeks to analyze a new crowdfunding platform for peer reviews and test whether it can achieve better funding success rates than traditional agencies. Heriot Watt University