Municipal Infrastructure Innovation Fund Seeking Proposals

CT has recently announced a new initiative called the Communities of Tomorrow
Municipal Infrastructure Innovation Fund. The fund is targeted to support the development of innovations that solve real world problems identified by municipalities. It will invest in moving promising technologies forward to commercial market-readiness or to direct application in municipal infrastructure systems.

“We’ve spent a great deal of time talking directly to Saskatchewan municipalities about their needs and challenges,” says President John Lee. “As a result we’re getting a handle on what areas of innovation could make the most difference to them. That information will allow us to invest dollars for the greatest potential impact.”

The new Municipal Infrastructure Innovation Fund has two major streams.

One is acceleration funds, directed towards accelerating high potential innovations that are in the later stages of development to becoming market-ready products or services. Typically these projects will already have quantified markets, a formalized commercialization plan, and strong demonstrated technical feasibility.

The other funding stream is exploration funds, which aim to assist early stage innovations that need further exploration in areas such as concept development, prototype design, market validation, and laboratory bench-scale testing.

“Typically projects approved under the fund will receive somewhere in the range of fifteen to forty thousand dollars,” says Lee. “Our experience tells us that this level of funding will be enough to take an idea to the next level.  However, we are not closed to any application that has clearly demonstrated potential.”

CT has previously funded over 100 such projects, five of which are already commercially marketed, and another dozen of which are at various stages of development.

If you’ve got a great idea in innovative municipal infrastructure, CT wants to hear from you.

“Make contact and get into a dialogue with our staff”, Lee urges. “That’s how we’ll know what we’re able to do to help you.”

You can learn more about the Communities of Tomorrow Municipal Infrastructure Innovation Fund here.