OVIN — Electric Vehicle (EV) — Stream 1

• Client intake form
• Signed Letter of Support from contributing Partner organizations

Who is eligible?

• Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with fewer than 500 global, full-time employees

Eligible expenses

• Actual costs directly attributable and necessary for the completion of the project, and one-time costs directly attributable to implementation of the project; all procurement activities must conform to the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act (BPSAA).
• Travel expenses that are explicitly project-related and represent the most economical option; travel outside Ontario requires pre-approval from OCI.
• Incremental salary and benefits for company employees working exclusively on eligible project activities.
• Sub-contractor and consultant fees approved by OCI management; research and development costs directly related to the project; project-related computer hardware and software; cost of usage of equipment; direct materials; materials used for prototypes, configuring, testing production processes, systems, and training employees; training and development in novel techniques; moving or upgrading project-related equipment; capital lease of equipment; project-related leasehold improvement costs; sales and marketing costs; training costs; regulatory compliance costs; professional services; and premises costs including rent, lease, and utilities.
• Cost of utilization or depreciation of capital items specifically required for the delivery of the eligible project.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Institutional overhead.
• Costs related to proposal development, including staff.
• Travel items that are not eligible: meals and incidentals, airfare purchased with personal frequent flyer points, commuting costs between residence and place of employment, and passport and immigration fees.
• Costs not directly associated with meeting the deliverables and milestones in the OCI funding agreement, expenses of a personal nature, ongoing production costs, interest on capital leases, general working capital, staff awards and recognition, bonuses, dividends, cash incentives, merger and acquisition costs, monthly parking fees, meals and entertainment, gifts, alcoholic beverages, lobbying or government relations, tax expenses, interest on invested capital or loans, infrastructure costs except IT related, and tangible capital costs such as land, buildings, and vehicles.
• Costs incurred outside Ontario unless otherwise approved by OCI.

• The program is discretionary and non-entitlement, and not all eligible applications can be funded.
• Projects are assessed on merit against program objectives and evaluation criteria, with preference for projects with the greatest economic benefits and contribution to transportation advancements in Ontario, including potential social and environmental benefits.
• Clarity of the challenge, significance of the market opportunity, and expected economic benefit to the companies and Ontario.
• Technical merit, novelty, and the ability of the innovation to address the identified challenge and market opportunity.
• Expertise and experience of the team, evidence of collaboration, scalable outcomes, strong commercial pull, competitive advantage, clarity and feasibility of the project plan and budget, capacity to bring results to market, and overall quality and completeness of the application.

• Complete the client intake form to begin the EOI submission process.
• An OCI Business Development Manager will contact you to discuss the opportunity and assist you with developing your Full Application.
• Develop and submit your Full Application using OCI's AccessOCI web portal.
• Submit the Full Application for internal and external review.
• Your BDM must endorse the application for eligibility and suitability before submission.
• Include a signed Letter of Support from contributing Partner organizations with the application.

• Full Applications are reviewed internally for eligibility, completeness, and financial compliance before evaluation by independent external reviewers with domain and sector expertise.
• ERP makes funding recommendations to OCI's Internal Review Panel, and the Internal Review Panel makes the final decision.
• Successful applicants are notified by OCI and provided with an outline of conditions and additional information necessary to activate the project; unsuccessful applicants are notified and may receive feedback from their BDM.
• The Applicant, Primary Partner, and Secondary Partners must execute the OCI Funding Agreement within 30 days of the announcement of award.
• Quarterly reports, the final report, annual metrics surveys when the project crosses OCI's fiscal year end, and retrospective surveys at one, two, and three years after project completion are required for reimbursement and program reporting; at project completion, recipients must demonstrate their product or service developed or advanced through Ontario's support, and public communications about the project, OVIN, or Ontario funding require OCI review and approval before release.

• Applicants should start negotiations with their project Partner(s) regarding intellectual property before submitting the application.