More than a million dollars in federal money was announced in Sudbury Aug. 26 to support two NORCAT initiatives aimed at boosting artificial intelligence (AI) support to small and medium businesses, as well as money to support businesses to continue with NORCAT's Innovation Acceleration Program.
The funding announcement came from Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe, on behalf of FedNor Minister Patty Hajdu, also the MP for Thunder Bay – Superior North.
Laporte said it was an exciting day for Sudbury and Northern Ontario, given that so many leading entrepreneurs and high-tech businesses are calling the North their home.
"The Government of Canada is working very hard to ensure that innovation centres like NORCAT are well positioned to help businesses evolve and thrive in the economy, and increasingly an economy that's driven by technology and by innovation," said Lapointe.
"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I am pleased to announce a FedNor investment of over $1 million to support innovators and job creators here at home and across Northern Ontario," said Lapointe.
She said the bulk of that money — $700,000 — would be used for funding innovative businesses to support the adoption, the integration and the commercialization of AI tools, products and services.
Using the FedNor money, NORCAT would be delivering the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative, which aims to provide advisory services and funding to innovative small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), said a news release.
"The other part of that million dollars includes $350,000 to extend NORCAT's Innovation Acceleration Program until 2028. Now this program provides early-stage technology startups in Greater Sudbury with up to $20,000 so these startups can each receive up to $20,000 to develop and commercialize new innovations and promote the economic prosperity of our region," said Lapointe.
"So it's a win, win, win all the way around for Sudbury and Northern Ontario. It will also support services or direct costs for product development, such as software and application development, product testing and certification, as well as market expansion," she added.
The federal funding support for new companies is essential, said Luke Begley, founder and CEO of Circuit IQ, a Sudbury electrical consulting company.
"You know, when a startup begins, it's all about speed, small teams, big ideas and a ton of hustle. But when startups start to scale, that's when the game changes. Suddenly, you need experienced engineers, you need better tools. You need more help from services like these — people with years of experience — and that support can be expensive without these groups," said Begley.
"Today, raising the capital you need for that kind of support has become harder. But if you live in Canada, especially Northern Ontario, it's even tougher. That's why programs like these matter so much, and they bridge that gap that we're missing. They provide the resources we need right when we need them," Begley added.
Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre said he was pleased to see the funding and to watch the city’s tech industries moving forward.
“Greater Sudbury has long been recognized as a global leader in mining and resource development, but we didn't stop there. The same spirit of hard work, perseverance and innovation that built our mining industry has fuelled the diversification of our economy. Innovation has become central to who we are as a community and how we see our future.” said Lefebvre.
“Today our community is home to world class expertise in health and safety, medicine, education, manufacturing and advanced technologies,” he added.
