Feds beef up clean tech support with $700 million in BDC assistance

Details of the federal government’s $2.3-billion investment in clean tech – unveiled in the 2017 Budget -- are emerging with an announcement by Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) of $700 million over five years to allow the federal banker to assume a higher risk profile in its loans to business. The BDC investment is aligned with the new Clean Growth Hub being established at the department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development to provide greater coherence and direction to the government’s clean tech investments. Other recipients of the new clean tech funding include Export Development Canada and Sustainable Development Technology Canada to recapitalize its popular SD Tech Fund. The BDC funding is intended to support firms expand operations by hiring new staff, boosting product development and enhancing marketing efforts. The government’s clean tech investments are being guided by its Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which it released late last year to include climate change adaptation targets and greenhouse gas emissions reduction in all facets of the economy.