Canada call for projects winter-spring 2025

This project call is for R&D projects in all technological fields and application domains.

Your project should:

• demonstrate the potential to research or develop a product, process or service for commercialisation.

01 December 2024: Call opens

01 April 2025: Registration deadline (Canadian SME applicants only)

15 April 2025: Expression of Interest deadline (Canadian SME applicants only)

30 May 2025: Submission deadline (23:59 CEST) / 17:59 EDT (Ottawa)

August-September 2025: National funding procedures

September-October 2025: Projects can begin (expected)

In Canada, this call for projects is offered through 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.

NRC IRAP funds R&D costs for Canadian SMEs participating in our Eureka Network projects programme.

Eligible Canadian SMEs may receive up to 50% reimbursement of eligible project costs, up to a maximum total funding amount of $500,000 CAD, over 12 to 36 months.

The funding is a non-repayable contribution against approved work completed and invoiced.

For more information, please consult the NRC IRAP International opportunities call webpage.

If there is no allocated budget for your organisation type in your country and you want to participate in a project consortium, contact your national funding body using the form below to see whether there are other funding opportunities available or talk to them about self-funding.

Eureka has limited eligibility criteria for organizations participating in a Network project consortium:

• Your project idea must represent international cooperation in the form of a specific project.
• The project must be directed at researching or developing an innovative product, process or service with the goal of commercialisation.
• The project must have a civilian purpose.
• Your consortium must include at least two mutually independent legal entities from a minimum of two Eureka countries.
• No single organization or country can be responsible for more than 70% of the project budget.

NRC IRAP has additional criteria for Canadian organizations to be eligible to receive funding which include:

• Your organisation must be a small and medium-sized enterprise in Canada, incorporated and profit-oriented.
• Your organisation must have 500 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.
• You must have the objective to grow and generate profits through development and commercialisation of innovative, technology-driven new or improved products, services, or processes in Canada.

Canadian SME applicants must be eligible for funding as NRC IRAP clients before they can be considered for funding through this call for proposals.

For more information on NRC IRAP eligibility and becoming an NRC IRAP client, please contact NRC IRAP at 1-877-994-4727.

For all criteria, please refer to the NRC IRAP International opportunities call webpage for this call for proposals. Filter using “Canada Eureka Network”.

Your project application will be reviewed according to our Network projects evaluation methodology.

1. Impact

• Is the market properly addressed (i.e. size, access and risks)?
• Is the value creation properly addressed (i.e. employment opportunities and environmental and societal benefits)?
• What are the competitive advantages of your project (i.e. strategic importance, enhanced capabilities and visibility)?
• Are your commercialisation plans clear and realistic (i.e. return on investment, geographical and sectoral impact)?

2. Excellence

• What is the degree of innovation? (i.e. is the proposed product, process or service state-of-the-art? Is there sufficient technological maturity and risk)?
• How is the new knowledge going to be used?
• Is your project scientifically and technically challenging for consortium partners?
• Is the technical achievability and risk properly addressed?

3. Quality and efficiency of implementation

• What is the quality of your consortium (i.e. balance of the partnership and technological, managerial and financial capabilities of each partner)?
• Is there added value through international cooperation?
• Is your project management and planning realistic and clearly defined (i.e. methodology, planning approach, milestones and deliverables)?
• Is your cost structure reasonable (i.e. costs and financial commitment for each consortium partner)?

4. Overall perception

Experts will list three positive and negative points to your application and finally state whether they recommend your project for public investment.

Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the national project coordinator and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.

1. Contact your national funding body using the contact form on Eureka’s website to discuss your project idea, financial viability, eligibility and national procedures.
2. Create an account on our application portal (one per consortium) and select the funding opportunity you want to apply to.
3. Using the portal, complete one application form per consortium (in English) and invite other consortium partners to fill in a partner form.
4. Upload a GANTT chart (one per consortium), a signed and completed co-signature form (which you can download from the platform) and any additional required annexes.
5. Your application will be checked for completeness and eligibility before being reviewed using a standard evaluation procedure. If successful, your project will receive a Eureka label.
6. Your national funding body may carry out a further evaluation (performed by the NPC and technical experts) according to national rules before allocating funds to successful applicants.
7. The final step is to complete and sign a consortium agreement (CA). We recommend that you seek legal advice when drafting your CA.

Canada has additional steps for submitting your application:

1. You must register with NRC IRAP to determine basic NRC IRAP eligibility and to obtain the required Expression of Interest (EOI) form by April 1, 2025. Registration is done using the NRC IRAP International Opportunities call webpage. Filter using “Canada Eureka Network”. This webpage details all the Canadian requirements and application steps for this call.
2. Complete and submit the EOI form to NRC IRAP by April 15, 2025. We strongly recommend Canadian applicants to complete the EOI phase as early as possible, in order for NRC IRAP to confirm the firm’s potential eligibility for funding before assembling and submitting a proposal.
3. Qualified applicants will be invited to submit the more detailed Eureka Network projects proposal and draft consortium agreement in collaboration with their project partner(s). Qualified Canadian applicants will be provided an NRC IRAP Canadian SME Annex form that must be completed along with the Eureka Network projects proposal.

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