Amount: maximum of $5.25 million with up to 35% of total eligible costs

The Sustainable Manufacturing Challenge, supported by Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), is seeking projects that will support Canada’s path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and target challenges like emissions reduction. These Projects will aim to accelerate the application of Canadian cleantech and other advanced technologies to improve the environmental sustainability of Canadian manufacturing.

NGen will invest up to $35 million of Global Innovation Cluster funding and is seeking more than $65 million from industry to launch over $100 million in new collaborative projects.

Eligible projects

Projects must be collaborative and transformative, promising to push the boundaries of advanced manufacturing technology and world-class cleantech. Focus areas should include:

  • Low carbon – fuel, feedstock, energy – applied to manufacturing.
  • Implementation of net-zero facilities.
  • Innovative solutions for high heat generation – applied to manufacturing.
  • Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage – applied to manufacturing.
  • Tracking and managing GHG emissions across the supply chain.
  • Smart Manufacturing for efficiency gains and GHG reduction.
  • Greener/circular/sustainable materials.

Projects should pursue one or more of the following objectives:

  • Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
  • Reduction of energy usage and natural resource consumption.
  • Operational efficiency gains.
  • Waste reduction.
  • Use of recycled and sustainable materials.
  • Full life cycle product management and closed loop manufacturing.
  • Circular manufacturing of materials.

Eligible projects must meet NGen’s four core strategic criteria:  

  • Transformative: must confer significant competitive advantage to Canadian industry 
  • Collaborative: project must demonstrate meaningful collaboration with a minimum of two Canadian industry partners  
  • Applied: project must have a short to medium path to commercialization, and generate significant commercial and economic benefits   
  • Enduring: project must provide broader benefits to Canada’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

Non-eligible activities

Project activities that are out of scope and will not be funded include:

  • Activities where benefits accrue to a single firm or organization.
  • Projects that do not demonstrate collaborative partnerships with a manufacturer and a clear demonstration of improving sustainable manufacturing processes.
  • Projects that would be undertaken at the same scale or scope and within the same period without NGen funding.
  • Projects that focus primarily on product development or the design of products themselves. The project must focus on the development and/or scale-up of advanced sustainable manufacturing processes.
  • Projects related to experimental or theoretical work without any direct commercial application or use. Projects must demonstrate a strong commercialization strategy and path to commercial success.
  • Production activities themselves or activities that subsidize full-scale production.
  • Capital investment for production or for purposes not related to the project. Equipment not related to sustainable manufacturing technology is out of scope for reimbursement.
  • Activities that could be viewed as anti-competitive.
  • Any routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services, and other operations in progress, even if those changes may represent improvements.
  • Repeat deployments of previously developed technologies. The challenge focuses on novel transformative sustainable manufacturing technology applied in Canadian advanced manufacturing settings.

Eligibility Requirements

  • Any NGen member company may apply for project funding or apply to be considered as a partner or co-investor in NGen-funded projects. It is free to become a member.
  • Recipients of NGen funding must be a business registered in Canada and have a valueadded presence beyond a sales office.
  • Funding recipients must be:
    • for-profit organizations,
    • not-for-profit organizations that facilitate and fund research and development on behalf of the ecosystem and whose funding and/or revenue is received primarily from private-sector or industry organizations,
    • non-federal Crown corporations whose funding is from commercial activities,
    • indigenous organizations.

Other publicly funded not-for-profit organizations, post-secondary institutions, federal Crown Corporations, and government departments or agencies are not eligible to receive Global Innovation Cluster funding directly, although they may bring their contributions to projects or be subcontracted by funded recipients to carry out project activities.

International organizations (offshore companies and research organizations without a registered business presence in Canada) may also participate in NGen-funded projects, but any project activity undertaken by these organizations will not be eligible for NGen funding.

Challenge amount

The challenge reimburses up to $5.25 million of up to 35% of total eligible costs incurred by industry partners.

The total amount of eligible project costs should be between Cdn$2 million and Cdn$15 million.

It is important to note that:

  • No single partner may receive more than 70% of the NGen funding.
  • The acquisition cost of new equipment to support sustainable manufacturing may be claimed, but it cannot be more than 25% of the total eligible project costs.
  • Subcontracting cannot be more than 25% of the total eligible project costs.
  • An amount of product development, testing, and validation is allowed if it can be demonstrated as critical for the advanced sustainable manufacturing goals, and it cannot be more than 15% of the total eligible project costs.

Project administration fee

NGen is a not-for-profit organization. Project administration fees are applied to projects as a condition of funding. The fee is a non-refundable project administration fee payable to NGen, equal to 5% of the total cost of the project. Payment of the fee is a non-negotiable condition of project funding. 3.5% is payable at the point of project launch and 1.5% is payable within the subsequent 9 months. The fee enables NGen to support projects through its project monitoring and claims management process.

Program Timeline

Two application deadlines must be met to submit a compliant proposal:

  1. Screening Deadline – The first is a mandatory submission for screening so that NGen can ensure that the project is in scope and can complete financial due diligence. Deadline: June 26, 2024, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.
    Failing to meet this deadline will mean the proposal will not be considered for funding. 
  2. Final Application Deadline – Projects that have been successfully screened will have to submit their final application before September 18, 2024, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.