The governments of Canada and Ontario are contributing up to $529 million and $513 million respectively to support a $3.6 billion investment by automaker Stellantis to convert its Windsor and Brampton assembly plants to flexible vehicle platforms. Ontario's funding includes up to $287 million for the assembly line at its Windsor plant and up to $94 million towards the establishment of the Electric Vehicle and Battery Pack Testing Centres of Competency, which will act as major R&D hubs. The Brampton plant will receive up to $132 million from Ontario for the overhaul to battery and hybrid vehicle production. GOC Government of Ontario

NGen Canada is investing $76 million in advanced manufacturing processes and technologies for 15 new zero-emission vehicle projects. Projects are being funded under Canada’s Innovation Supercluster Initiative and will include the following collaborations: Advanced Manufacturing Process Innovations (Flex-Ion Battery Innovation Center – Ventra Group and eCAMION); Green Recycling of EV Battery Black Mass (Cnem Corporation, Talon Metals Services, and Palcan Energy) and Next Generation Membrane Electrode Assembly (Momentum Materials Solutions and BlissEarth Energy Research). NGEN

Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne has launched a call for proposals for the $90-million ElevateIP program announced in Budget 2021. The program will provide funding to business accelerators and incubators (BAI) and their networks to help startups make the most of IP development, implementation and awareness. ElevateIP began accepting proposals on April 26, 2022, and will remain open until June 28, 2022. GOC

The Government of Manitoba is contributing $50 million to establish a venture capital fund (VCF) that will be partnered with private capital to boost Manitoba-focused investment funds. The Manitoba Technology Accelerator will manage the funding earmarked for the VCF on an interim basis. The VCF is expected to be operational later this year, at which point MTA will turn over the funding to VCF according to the terms to be established in the agreement. Government of Manitoba

The Government of Alberta is contributing $50 million towards a clean hydrogen centre of excellence to accelerate R&D of promising hydrogen technologies in the province. The bulk of the funding ($40 million) will come from Alberta's Technology, Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) fund, which will be collected through a carbon tax on large emitters and spent by Alberta Innovates. The remaining $10 million was committed in Alberta's 2022 budget as capital funding to build the centre. Government of Alberta

RELATED: Ottawa and Alberta collaborating to accelerate development of Canada’s hydrogen economy

Pacific Economic Development Canada is investing more than $17 million to help 11 Edmonton area companies dealing in advanced manufacturing, clean energy and digital technologies to scale-up and bring their products and services to new markets. Companies include AltaML (receives nearly $2.6 million to scale up business development and marketing capacity, and deliver enhanced artificial intelligence-enabled solutions to improve productivity, reduce costs, and increase efficiency); PBG BioPharma (receives nearly $5.4 million to increase biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and develop natural health products and medicines) and Landmark Group of Companies (receives $1,000,000 to establish a pilot microfactory that increases home-building efficiency by using artificial intelligence-enabled robots to manufacture precision-built housing components). GOC

Pacific Economic Development Canada is contributing more than $13 million in funding to local clean technology companies in British Columbia, including $9.75 million through PacifiCan's Jobs and Growth Fund to Loop Energy (Burnaby) to bring part of its hydrogen fuel cell systems manufacturing process in-house. Acuna Technologies (Burnaby) receives $3 million through PacifiCan's Scale-Up and Productivity (BSP) program to improve its water purification systems technology, while Vancouver-based innovator CORE Energy Recovery Solutions (Vancouver) receives $673,050 in BSP funding to commercialize its fuel cell humidifier prototype. GOC

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau has announced nearly $2 million in investments towards the development of a digital food innovation hub for the Canadian Food Innovation Network. The hub will serve as a connection point for businesses to access mentorship, knowledge, research and innovation resources as well as fostering partnerships in the industry. GOC

The Government of Saskatchewan has re-signed a 2016 Memorandum of Co-operation (MOC) with Fertilizer Canada to support continued education, training and expansion in what is known as “4R” nutrient stewardship — the Right fertilizer source at the Right rate at the Right time and Right place — for an additional three years. Land under 4R stewardship is among the five measures and targets within Saskatchewan's Climate Resilience Measurement Framework that represent related priority areas for the agriculture industry. Saskatchewan is working toward a goal of 25 per cent of its cropland being under 4R designation by 2025. Government of Saskatchewan

HEALTH RESEARCH

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is contributing $5 million towards the creation of a national research network focused on improving the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care of heart failure (HF). The new Canadian Heart Function Alliance will be led by Dr. Jean Rouleau at the Montreal Heart Institute and will consist of 100 researchers from across Canada. The network will include Indigenous-led research focusing on priorities identified by Indigenous leaders and Elders, as well as First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples with lived HF experience. GOC

Genome Canada has launched a new precision health partnership to expand access to genomic testing across Canada for diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases. The All for One initiative includes $13 million in federal investment through Genome Canada and $26 million in co-funding from industry, health-care organizations, provincial and other partners brought in through six regional Genome Centres funded through the Genomic Applications Partnership Program(GAPP). Genome Canada

Meanwhile, Genome Canada and Genome Quebec in partnership with Elanco Animal Health have awarded $6 million in research funding through Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) to Concordia University biology professor Dr. Adrian Tsang. This funding will support the production of an alternative to antibiotics in livestock animals’ feed, which could improve animal gut health, reduce waste and disease, and allow for large-scale feed production and long-term storage. Concordia

The Government of Canada will invest $2 million in two projects through Innovative Solutions Canada that focus on improving organ and tissue donation matches. BI Expertise (Quebec City) and Ortho BioMed (Toronto) will each receive $1 million over two years from Health Canada to develop and test prototype tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) to match organ donors with recipients. GOC

RESEARCH AND COLLABORATION

An international consortium of institutions — including McGill University, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), Mila – Quebec AI Institute, France’s Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris-Saclay, and the École Centrale Supélec — has formed a new International Research Laboratory to be based in Montreal. The laboratory will focus on five themes related to artificial intelligence (AI): fundamental aspects of AI, sequential (real-time) machine learning, robust autonomous systems, natural language and speech processing, and applications to computer vision, signals, and information processing. McGill U

Western University's 2022-23 budget has been approved, with significant investments to support and expand research capacity. These include: more than $22 million to augment an endowment fund for the Western Research Chairs program; $15-million in one-time funding to support the Endowed Chairs Matching program; $5.5 million to support the renewal and expansion of clinical research facilities; $4.6 million to support university-wide research initiatives under the office of the vice-president (research); and nearly $2 million to support the continuation of the post-doctoral fellowship program. Western

THE GRAPEVINE

Lisa Baiton has been appointed president and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), effective May 2. She replaces outgoing CAPP president and CEO Tim McMillan. Baiton was the vice-president and practice lead of government relations for Environics Communications, worked for the Canadian Bankers Association and was a policy maker in three Canadian governments. She most recently led the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board global public affairs activities across more than 50 countries. CAPP

Toshifumi Tada is the new president and CEO of Quebec City-based biopharmaceutical company Medicago, effective May 1. Tada succeeds Takashi Nagao, who has served as Medicago's president and CEO since 2020. Tada has served on Medicago's board of directors since 2018, and was head of vaccine business development at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for more than four years. Medicago

Yuan Shi, the former Vancouver director for the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), has joined The51, the women-led financial platform, as a principal of its first sector-specific fund, devoted to Food and AgTech. Shi joined The51 after five years at CDL-Vancouver, where she founded and launched the climate stream at the accelerator. Betakit

Commercial aerospace company Maritime Launch Services (MLS) has begun trading on the NEO Exchange. MLS is the first space-related corporate listing on the exchange and is developing Spaceport Nova Scotia, a launch site that will provide satellite delivery services to clients and will be the first commercial orbital launch complex in Canada. MLS

Rogers Communications has unveiled the inaugural advisory council for its proposed THINKLab, the National Centre of Technology and Engineering Excellence to be created in Calgary. The council will include Deborah Yedlin, CEO, Calgary Chamber of Commerce; Bill Rosehart, Dean, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary; Laura Jo Gunter, CEO, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology; Kory Wilson, Executive Director, Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships, BCIT; Bala Kathiresan, President & CEO, BCNET; Rhys Andrews, Vice President, Education, Selkirk College, and Robert Rohling, Professor and Director ICICS, UBC. Rogers