Smart Agriculture Living Lab Call for Proposal

• Org Info form, Project Application form, and Initial Budget
• CENGN Living Lab Initiative Program Guide
• Smart Agriculture Call for Proposal
• CENGN Services and Living Labs
• Call for Proposal Budget Template

Who is eligible?

• Canadian startups
• Canadian scaleups
• Canadian-registered organizations with 499 or fewer full-time employees

Who is not eligible

• Organizations not registered in Canada.
• Companies with more than 499 full-time employees.

Eligible expenses

• Ecosystem-related expenses, including organizing networking events, participation in collaborative R&D activities, attendance at conferences and workshops, and operation of regional offices across Canada.
• Operational costs, including salaries, office equipment, professional services, overhead, and travel.
• Research and development project costs that support innovation and commercialization.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Interest on invested capital; bonds, debentures, bank or other loans; related bond discounts and finance charges.
• Legal, accounting, and consulting fees connected to financial reorganization, security issues, capital stock issues, obtaining licenses, and prosecution of claims against the Minister, except fees incurred to obtain patents or other statutory protection for Project Intellectual Property.
• Losses on investments, bad debts and collection charges; losses on other projects or contracts; federal and provincial income taxes, GST, excess profit taxes or surtaxes, and special expenses connected to those taxes.
• Provisions for contingencies; life insurance premiums on officers and/or directors where proceeds accrue to the Recipient; amortization of unrealized appreciation of assets; depreciation of assets paid for by the Minister; fines and penalties; expenses and depreciation of excess facilities; unreasonable compensation for officers and employees.
• Product development or improvement expenses not associated with the Project; advertising except reasonable industrial or institutional advertising in trade, technical or professional journals; entertainment; donations; dues and memberships other than regular trade and professional associations; extraordinary professional advice fees without Minister approval; selling and marketing expenses for the products or services being developed.

Eligible geographic areas

• Organizations registered in Canada.
• Projects deployable in CENGN Living Labs located in British Columbia, Ontario, or Quebec.

• Eligible applications are ranked according to total overall point-rated score, region, and available Project capacity at the Living Lab.
• Applicants must achieve a minimum score of 70.
• Point-rated criteria are understanding of market challenge, solution value proposition and commercial potential (10), team experience and capability (10), feasibility through access to the Living Lab (30), project plan (25), risk management and mitigation strategies (10), and benefits to Canada (15).

• Submit your proposal using the secure online portal at portal.cengn.ca/prog/call_for_proposal_smart_agriculture.
• Log in to the CENGN Portal to begin the application, review, and approval process.
• Complete the Org Info form, Project Application form, and Initial Budget.

• CENGN reviews all submitted applications for the nine mandatory eligibility criteria.
• Only applications that satisfy all requirements proceed to the next stage.
• An External Review Panel and the CENGN Living Lab Project Team evaluate eligible applications using predefined scoring criteria.
• Selected SMEs enter a feasibility and definition phase to develop the project charter, technical feasibility assessment, schedule and work plan, budget and funding award details, partner feedback, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Upon approval of the project plan, CENGN issues an Ultimate Recipient Agreement (URA) that sets out project requirements, reporting obligations, and roles and responsibilities; project execution begins after the URA is signed.

• Applications open on 23 Sep 2025 at 12:00 AM (EDT) and close on 14 Nov 2025 at 11:59 PM (EST).
• Application review and award decision: 16 Jan 2026.
• Project start: 1 Feb 2026.
• Late applications will not be considered.