Call for Proposals: Canada – South Korea Co-Innovation 2025 (Canada)

Themes

• Projects must focus on 1 or more of the following themes:
  • advanced manufacturing, including smart factory and smart manufacturing, advanced materials, automotive manufacturing, robotics, and automation
  • clean technologies, including water and wastewater management, smart grid and energy storage, battery-related technologies, renewable energy, hydrogen technologies, and carbon management, etc.
  • digital technologies, including artificial intelligence for industry, cybersecurity, smart vehicle, and smart cities, etc.
  • health and biosciences, including pharmaceuticals, digital health, medical devices, and mobile health, etc.
  • quantum technologies, including quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing, cryptography, imaging, security, and quantum materials, etc.

Funding Information

• Canadian funding:
  • In Canada, this call for proposals is offered through the Canadian International Innovation Program (CIIP) – an international innovation R&D funding program offered by Global Affairs Canada in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP). NRC IRAP is responsible for delivering this call for proposals and for managing any resulting funding agreements.
  • Canadian SMEs:
    • Eligible Canadian SMEs may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible project costs up to a maximum total funding amount of $600,000 CAD over 12 to 36 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be considered for funding, applicants must form a project consortium and develop a collaborative research and development (R&D) project that meets the following criteria:
  • Canadian SME applicant:
    • The Canadian small or medium‑sized enterprise (SME) applicant must:
      • be an incorporated, profit-oriented small or medium-sized business in Canada
      • have 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees
      • pursue growth and profit by developing and commercializing innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services, or processes in Canada
      • have a differentiated and protectable technology with commercial potential in global markets
      • have sufficient working capital (e.g. revenue, investment, etc.) and resources to undertake a multi-year R&D collaboration and commercialize the results
      • be committed to significant growth through international market expansion
    • Preference may be given to SME applicants who:
      • have a minimum of 15 full‑time equivalent employees
      • have commercialized one or more products domestically or internationally
      • have greater than $500,000 CAD in annual revenue
  • Consortium:
    • The project consortium must include at least:
      • 1 incorporated Canadian SME
      • 1 eligible Korean partner
      • The parties listed above must be unrelated parties (i.e. no direct, indirect, beneficial, or constructive ownership interest between these parties)
    • The project partners that form the consortium must agree on a plan addressing intellectual property rights and intent to commercialize.
  • Project:
    • The project must focus on co-development, adaptation, and/or validation of an innovative product, process, or technology-based service that has:
      • commercial potential and outcomes that can be realized within 2-3 years upon completion of the project
      • a civilian (non-military) purpose
    • The project must demonstrate:
      • a complementary technological contribution from each partner
      • an obvious advantage and added value resulting from the cooperation between the participants
      • a balanced contribution between project partners and countries (i.e. no more than 70% of the effort contributed by any one partner or country)

For more information, visit NRC.