NGen — Pilot Projects

• Application Agreement
• Project Plan (Gantt chart or schedule)
• Risk Register
• IP Strategy
• Financial Workbooks – one for each partner

Who is eligible?

• Any member of NGen (Canada’s advanced manufacturing Supercluster).
• Small or Medium Enterprises with less than 500 employees globally.
• For-profit organizations.
• Not-for-profit organizations that facilitate and fund research and development and whose funding is received primarily from private-sector organizations.

Who is not eligible

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

Eligible expenses

• Salaries and wages for personnel based in Canada and working directly on the project, including CPP, EI and EHT, but excluding discretionary benefits and bonuses.
• Subcontracted work essential to the success of the project, where the expertise does not exist among the partners, provided the work is performed in Canada and valued at fair market value.
• New equipment, rentals, direct operation and maintenance costs, materials consumed by the project, and room or facility rentals.
• Service fees and subscription or license fees directly related to the project, conference costs with a specific and direct link to project activities, and travel costs in accordance with the National Joint Council Travel Directive.
• Patent protection costs for foreground intellectual property, publication costs of project results, and other direct costs specifically identified and measured as being incurred on behalf of project activities.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Experimental or theoretical work without any direct commercial application or use.
• Production activities themselves, activities that subsidize full scale production, capital investment for production or for purposes not related to the project, and routine or periodic changes made to existing products, production lines, manufacturing processes, services and other operations in progress.
• Activities that could be viewed as anti-competitive or where benefits accrue to a single firm or organization.
• Infrastructure costs, construction or purchase of a building or land, and utilization of existing capital or equipment costs.
• Fines and penalties, provisions for contingencies, taxes and duties, honoraria, gifts, donations, entertainment expenses, alcoholic beverages, and costs for which the recipient is eligible for a rebate from government sources.

• Applications are scored on 10 questions, worth 10 marks each.
• Responses are equally weighted in the assessment.
• Only the highest scoring projects are recommended for funding.

• Join NGen as an organizational member.
• Under the Supercluster projects heading, select the funding stream you want to apply to.
• Log in to the Hockeystick application portal using exactly the same credentials as your NGen account.
• Complete the project information page and the screening requirements before being formally accepted into the application.
• If eligible, submit the Pilot Project Application or Feasibility Study Application.

• NGen will undertake a financial assessment of each participating project partner.
• If the supporting financial information is insufficient, NGen may request additional information, reject the proposed program, or approve the project for a reduced amount of funding until further assurances on liquidity are provided.
• Approved recipients will enter into a contractual agreement with NGen defining the terms and conditions by which funding will be provided.
• Claims will be made on a reimbursement basis and are normally paid within 45 days after NGen receives the claim and supporting documentation.
• Claims are to be submitted every three months, and the final claim has 30 days post Project End Date to submit invoices for goods received or services incurred during the project term.

• Applicants may request guidance from NGen by emailing project@ngen.ca.
• NGen may provide high-level advice on funding rules, eligible activities, and project requirements.
• NGen may identify potential project partners and other sources of funding for project activities.
• Resources for this support are limited and individual help is offered on a first come first served basis.