Harper Government Kick-starts Canadian Entrepreneurship with New Build in Canada Innovation Program Call for Proposals

June 20, 2014 – Gatineau, Quebec – Public Works and Government Services Canada

Today, the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, announced the launch of the fifth Call for Proposals for the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP), while visiting Tektrap, a Gatineau-based company that received a BCIP contract and is now selling its product internationally.

The Harper Government is helping to bring Canadian businesses one step closer in moving their products and services into domestic and international markets, contributing to job creation and economic growth in Canada.

Minister Finley also announced that the Government of Canada has pre qualified 72 innovations under the fourth round of the BCIP.

Over the coming months, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) will match the pre-qualified innovations from the fourth call with various government departments.

The BCIP encourages Canadian entrepreneurs to submit innovative designs that can potentially help departments find solutions for achieving their operational objectives. If innovations are successfully matched with a department’s needs, businesses will have their pre-commercial innovative products and services tested within a government environment and will receive valuable feedback.

There are many success stories of small companies like Tektrap. Tektrap’s innovation, the CargoKeeperTM, is a small, undetectable electronic tag for GPS tracking of maritime cargo containers. It can also detect when a container has been mishandled or even opened. Since Tektrap was awarded a BCIP contract, international clients have purchased its innovation. The BCIP helps Canadian businesses expand and succeed, directly benefiting Canadian workers and their families.

The Harper Government encourages all Canadian entrepreneurs to submit their proposals for the fifth round on Buyandsell.gc.ca/tenders before the September 16, 2014 deadline.

Quick Facts

• The BCIP was launched in 2010 as a pilot program to connect Canadian companies with federal departments and agencies that have a need for innovative products and services.
• To build on the early success of the pilot program, Economic Action Plan 2012 allocated additional funding for three years, starting in 2013. As of 2016, $40 million will be permanently dedicated to the BCIP annually.
• Since 2010, 1,244 proposals were submitted, 84 innovations were pre-qualified during the pilot phase of the program, of which 72 contracts were awarded to Canadian companies to test their products and services with government departments.
• An additional 72 innovations (61 standard and 11 military) were pre-qualified under the fourth Call for Proposals, which was the first Call for Proposals under the permanent program, and the first to include the military component.
• The fifth Call for Proposals, which includes a military component, is currently available on Buyandsell.gc.ca/tenders. Suppliers have until September 16, 2014, to submit their proposals.

Quotes

“Our Government’s top priorities are creating jobs and economic growth right here in Canada. The BCIP’s purpose is to kick-start Canadian businesses by getting home-grown innovations from the lab to the marketplace. This program helps keep the Canadian economy moving and ensures that Canadian small and medium-sized businesses can grow and prosper not only in Canada, but on the world stage as well.”

The Honourable Diane Finley
Minister of Public Works and Government Services

Associated Links

Build in Canada Innovation Program

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Contacts
Marcel Poulin
Office of the Honourable Diane Finley
819-997-5421

Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315

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BACKGROUNDER
Build in Canada Innovation Program

The Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP) is a procurement program created to bolster innovation in Canada’s business sector, and to help companies bridge the pre-commercialization gap for their innovative products and services.

The program provides the opportunity for innovators to:

• sell their pre-commercialized goods and services to the Government of Canada through an open, transparent, competitive and fair procurement process;
• connect with potential clients in federal government departments and showcase their innovations to them;
• get feedback on the use of their innovations in an operational setting before taking them to market; and
• enter the marketplace with a successful application of their innovations.

Whether or not innovators are successful in being awarded a contract, they will also:

• find out how to sell to the Government of Canada;
• learn more about opportunities for supplying innovative goods and services to the Government of Canada; and
• improve their understanding of how to do business with the Government of Canada.

Building on the early success of this pilot program, Economic Action Plan 2012 allocated additional funding for three years, starting in 2013. As of 2016, $40 million will be permanently dedicated to the BCIP annually. The program also now includes a military procurement component.

The BCIP has two complementary objectives. The first is to identify Canadian innovations to test within federal operations to support businesses as they move their innovations to commercialization. The second builds on improving small and medium enterprises’ (SME) access to federal procurement activities, and enables companies to showcase innovative products and services to potential government users.

The BCIP targets innovations in five key areas:

• the environment;
• safety and security;
• health;
• enabling technologies; and
• a military component.

The value of contracts under the program’s standard component will continue to be up to $500,000. Under the military component, innovations could be eligible for contracts of up to $1 million.

Proposals related to the opportunity to test innovative products and services are accepted through competitive Calls for Proposals. The initial Call for Proposals was announced in October 2010, the second in July 2011, the third in February 2012, and the fourth in November 2013. The fifth Call for Proposals was announced on June 20, 2014, and will close on September 16, 2014.

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) continues to work with all stakeholders to ensure that SMEs receive the vital government support needed to thrive in today’s evolving economy.

The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) assists SMEs as they navigate through the government procurement system. It is strengthening access to government business for SMEs by collaborating with industry associations and individual businesses on training, providing information, developing support tools, and recommending procurement policy changes. OSME is also working with SMEs to identify and pursue opportunities that encourage the introduction of innovative products and services to the marketplace.

PWGSC will be working with government departments to match innovations with the right test departments, and with the selected companies to put contracts in place to test their innovations, should the right department be found. Marking the first sale for these innovations, these contracts will also facilitate Canadian companies in moving their innovations into domestic and international markets by having the Government of Canada as a first client reference.

Descriptions of the innovations can be found on the BCIP website.

For more information about the program, please visit the BCIP web page.

NT3