Updates for March 31, 2020

Government of Canada

On March 20, 2020, the Government of Canada called on Canadian businesses and manufacturers to help deliver critical health supplies
The government has spoken directly with almost 3,000 Canadian companies that have offered their expertise and capacity to meet the country’s need for personal protective equipment and critical health supplies
The government is looking for cooperation of other companies and industries to offer their support during the COVID-19 pandemic
- This includes efforts from companies to re-tool their facilities and double their production capacity, to collect and donate existing supplies and equipment, and to combine resources to manufacture needed supplies more quickly
$50 million has been made available in funding for members of the Next Generation Manufacturing Supercluster to develop and scale-up new, in-demand technologies, equipment, and medical products
The Federal Government’s Strategic Innovation Fund will support Canadian companies that are working on large-scale and later-stage promising research and development projects aimed at providing medical countermeasures to COVID-19
The National Research Council of Canada is partnering with Innovative Solutions Canada to launch challenges seeking near-to-market solutions from Canadian small and medium-sized businesses that need financial support to refine and sell their products or solution to meet a COVID-19-related need

Ontario has finalized an agreement with eCampusOntario to make digital learning supports available to postsecondary institutions
The digital learning supports, available in both French and English, will provide publicly-assisted colleges and universities with the technology they need to conduct year-end assessments
Ontario will work with other partners who may be interested in offering digital learning, such as Indigenous Institutes and private career colleges
The province is also distributing $25 million in additional funding to publicly-assisted colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes to help address each institution’s most pressing needs