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Funding for the Southern Ontario Water Consortium

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The government is committed to building a more sustainable economy that ensures a cleaner environment for all Canadians. To this end, it is providing up to $12 million dollars to the Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) to advance clean water-related technologies. As the SOWC lead partner, the University of Waterloo is directly receiving the funds.

This support, through FedDev Ontario’s Investing in Commercialization Partnerships (ICP) initiative, will give the SOWC partners the opportunity to develop and accelerate the commercialization of new technologies in all areas of water and wastewater treatment and monitoring.

The initiative will provide several benefits for southern Ontario. It will:

  • advance up to 80 water-related projects with partners that will benefit up to 90 businesses and not-for-profit organizations in southern Ontario;
  • enable companies in southern Ontario to compete globally, extending their market reach to meet the growing demand for water and water-related technologies;
  • create or maintain 520 jobs, across all partner companies and organizations, including jobs for students, and will support at least 14 new partnerships; and,
  • support the development of technologies that will help municipalities in southern Ontario  better manage their wastewater, reduce energy consumption in treatment plants, improve water quality and create a more sustainable environment.

The Southern Ontario Water Consortium

The Southern Ontario Water Consortium (SOWC) was established in 2011 with a mandate to encourage collaboration between private companies and academic researchers to accelerate and commercialize innovative water technologies.

FedDev Ontario provided $19.6 million for the creation of the Consortium, which is led by the University of Waterloo and now includes nine other post-secondary institutions: Fleming College, McMaster University, Queen’s University, Ryerson University, the University of Guelph, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the University of Toronto, Western University and Wilfrid Laurier University. 

Additional key partners of the SOWC include: the City of Guelph, the City of London, the London Economic Development Corporation, IBM, the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) and WaterTAP. 

FedDev Ontario’s Investing in Commercialization Partnerships initiative

FedDev Ontario’s Investing in Commercialization Partnerships (ICP) initiative supports business-led partnerships with a focus on developing globally-competitive products and services, as well as innovation platforms that can demonstrate commercial value.

Under ICP, funding is being provided for projects that:

  • increase the capacity of the private sector to collaborate with existing and emerging innovation ecosystems within southern Ontario;
  • create innovative products, technologies and services through business-led collaborations;
  • develop commercially-relevant technology platforms; and,
  • support the development of a critical mass of research and development activity in emerging clusters in southern Ontario.

Post-secondary institutions and incorporated not-for-profit organizations, publicly-funded colleges and universities, research institutions and industry associations located in southern Ontario are eligible to apply under this initiative for projects that are business-led and focus on new technologies or platforms with demonstrated commercial value.

Government of Canada Support for Clean Technologies

The Government of Canada will be supporting Canadian communities and the economy by making significant new investments in green infrastructure and clean technologies. This includes pledging $300 million a year on clean technology by:

  • investing an additional $100 million each year in clean technology producers; and,
  • investing an additional $200 million each year to support innovation and the use of clean technologies in the natural resources sector.

Since its inception in 2009, FedDev Ontario has committed more than $107 million towards 36 projects related to the clean technology sector.

Canada is also participating in Mission Innovation, a partnership of 20 countries that aims to double government funding for transformative, clean energy research, development and demonstration over five years. The government is also committed to ensuring that Canada’s actions are effective, and will be working with a broad range of stakeholders to that end.