NGen — AI For Manufacturing Challenge 2024

• Signed Application Agreement.
• Application questions and project description.
• Appendix 1: Project Plan, Appendix 2: Risk Register, and Appendix 3: Intellectual Property Tables.
• Financial due diligence documents for each partner.

Who is eligible?

• For-profit organizations incorporated in Canada.
• Not-for-profit organizations that facilitate and fund research and development.
• Non-federal Crown corporations with commercial revenues.
• Manufacturing companies, AI solution providers, and other industry partners.
• Research organizations and technical partners contributing to project consortia.

Who is not eligible

• Other not-for-profit organizations.
• Post-secondary institutions.
• Federal Crown corporations.
• Government departments and agencies.
• International organizations without an incorporated presence in Canada.

Eligible expenses

• Direct project labour costs and required payroll benefits.
• Subcontracting and consulting services performed in Canada.
• New equipment and related project use or maintenance costs.
• Materials and supplies consumed by the project.
• Project-related travel, software or license fees, facility rental, dissemination, cybersecurity, and eligible SME IP costs.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Projects outside manufacturing AI commercialization.
• Production activities and full-scale production.
• Routine or periodic changes to existing products, processes, or services.
• Experimental or theoretical work without direct commercial application.
• Activities that are anti-competitive or benefit only a single firm.

Eligible geographic areas

• Canada

• Assessment by up to five independent experts.
• Responses to eight application questions are scored equally.
• Two gateway questions determine whether the project is in scope and recommended for funding.
• NGen aims to fund the highest-quality projects based on expert assessment.

• Step 1: Become an NGen member
  • Register as an organization in the NGen portal.
  • Ensure all project partners are registered.
• Step 2: Submit for screening
  • Create the project in the member portal.
  • Enter project summary, partner details, and high-level financial information.
  • Submit the expression of interest for screening.
• Step 3: Complete the full application
  • Answer the eight application questions in the portal or by template.
  • Upload the required appendices and supporting files.
• Step 4: Complete financial due diligence
  • Provide the requested financial documents for each partner.
  • Allow NGen to review the financial capacity of the consortium.
• Step 5: Submit for assessment and contracting
  • Submit the final application through the portal.
  • If approved, proceed to contracting before project launch.

• Projects are first screened for scope, eligibility, and financial due diligence.
• Eligible applications are then reviewed by up to five independent experts.
• The assessment uses ten equally weighted questions and two gateway yes/no questions.
• NGen notifies applicants of the result and provides feedback.
• Successful projects move to contracting, including the Master Project Agreement and Collaboration Agreement.

• NGen can provide pre-assessment support on project scope, partners, and funding sources.
• All project partners should be ready for financial due diligence during the application process.