Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) in the Prairie provinces

• Financial statements for the past 2 years
• Interim financial statements for at least the last 6 months
• Business plan or pitch deck (supporting information)
• Confirmation of other funding sources (e.g., bank statements, letters, agreements, term sheets)

• Be an incorporated high-growth business scaling up and producing innovative goods, services, or technologies.
• Be incorporated in Canada and have been in business in Canada for at least 2 years.
• Have staffed operating facilities in the Prairie provinces.
• Have confirmed funding from all other sources at the time of expression of interest submission, with non-government funding representing at least 50% of project costs.
• Propose a project with a maximum duration of 3 years focused on productivity improvement, business scale-up, and/or technology commercialization.

Who is eligible?

• Incorporated high-growth businesses operating in the Prairie provinces
• Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 500 full-time employees (preference)
• Businesses in advanced manufacturing
• Businesses in clean technology/clean resources, digital industries, or health/bio-sciences
• Businesses in value-added agriculture or natural resources value-added processing

Who is not eligible

• Unincorporated businesses
• Businesses without staffed operating facilities in the Prairie provinces
• Businesses focused on basic or applied R&D only (TRL 1–6)

Eligible expenses

• Capital costs (equipment, machinery)
• Labour (wages, benefits)
• Marketing costs
• Intellectual property-related costs
• Technology development and commercial demonstrations
• Professional, advisory, and technical service fees

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Basic and applied R&D (Technology Readiness Level 1–6)
• Land acquisition and goodwill
• Salary bonuses and dividend payments
• Refinancing of existing debts
• Entertainment expenses, lobbying activities, and donations/dues/membership fees

Eligible geographic areas

• Prairie provinces (Canada)

• Market potential
• Management capability
• Financial capacity
• Economic benefits
• Technology readiness (technology commercialization projects only) and alignment with departmental/regional priorities

• Step 1: Pre-application guidance
  • Consult the BSP EOI help guide (and the BSP applicant guide for reference).
  • Contact a PrairiesCan local office prior to submitting an EOI (recommended).
• Step 2: Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI)
  • Complete the abbreviated online EOI form describing the project purpose, rationale, eligibility, activities, and budget.
  • Submit the EOI with required supporting documents (e.g., financial statements and confirmation of other funding sources).
• Step 3: Full application (by invitation)
  • If invited, provide additional project details through PrairiesCan’s online portal.

• EOIs are screened and those with the strongest merit and alignment may be invited to submit a full application.
• Within 30 days of EOI submission, PrairiesCan invites selected applicants to submit a full application; if not contacted, the project is not considered further.
• Funding decisions are made within approximately 90 business days of receiving a complete funding application.
• Full applications may undergo a detailed assessment, and PrairiesCan may request additional information during review.
• A technical assessment may be conducted by NRC-IRAP for projects using novel technology; clean tech/clean resources projects may be consulted on by the Clean Growth Hub.

• Continuous intake: expressions of interest (EOIs) are accepted on an ongoing basis.
• Before submitting an EOI, applicants are encouraged to consult the BSP EOI help guide and the BSP applicant guide.
• Applicants are encouraged to report on efforts to support inclusiveness (e.g., participation of underrepresented groups).
• One successful project per organization per calendar year.