On April 29, we attended the FedDev Ontario announcement of the i.d.e.a Fund. Below is the response we received, after our attendance, and more information about the program.
Hello,
Thank you for joining us on Friday, April 29, 2022, as we announced a $10-million Government of Canada investment, delivered by FedDev Ontario, for Innovation Guelph to lead the delivery of the i.d.e.a. Fund.
The i.d.e.a. Fund will help clean growth firms unlock their potential, by providing financial and business advisory supports to develop new green products, services, processes and technologies and/or redesign existing products, services, processes, and technologies to reduce their impact on the environment.
Led by Innovation Guelph, the fund is being delivered in partnership with five southwestern Ontario Regional Innovation Centres (RICs): Haltech (Halton Region), Innovate Niagara, Innovation Factory (Hamilton), TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario (London) and WEtech Alliance (Windsor and Chatham-Kent). This project will support 240 businesses, create and maintain 840 jobs and commercialize 135 new clean tech products and services.
The Fund is also supporting an inclusive recovery. Fifty percent percent of the businesses receiving support will be owned or led by women and 30 percent owned or led by Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, Black communities, racialized communities and members of the LGBTQ2+ community.
Applications for the fund are being accepted until June 7, 2022. Additional details related to the Fund and application process can be found at www.idea-fund.ca.
FedDev Ontario is working to ensure businesses, organizations and communities across southern Ontario have the support they need to build resiliency, seize new opportunities for growth and foster a stronger, more diverse, inclusive and more competitive southern Ontario. This includes making targeted investments to support communities and promote economic recovery and growth through our available programs.
I invite you to subscribe to our Southern Ontario Spotlight monthly newsletter, view our Pivotal Projects and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook for more information on programming and how we are growing businesses, cultivating partnerships and building strong communities in southern Ontario.
Sincerely,
Kerri Dunning
Director, Communications, Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
