Today colleges across Canada received industry-relevant research infrastructure funding – access to college tools and expertise key to success for local businesses

September 7, 2016–Our federal government is committed to helping keep its industries clean and efficient. Today an exciting announcement was made that will support innovative research in our region. On behalf of the Minister of Science, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, the Honourable MaryAnn Mihychuk today announced that the Government of Canada will invest more than $6.3 million for eight projects at colleges across the country, including $763,183 for Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning’s Advanced Multimaterial Additive Manufacturing: Product and Process program. The funding is made through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s College-Industry Innovation Fund, a program that helps colleges work with Canadian businesses to innovate and thrive, and the Infrastructure Operating Fund, which helps institutions with the operating and maintenance costs associated with the new infrastructure.

The College-Industry Innovation Fund (CIIF) targets projects that will enhance the capacity of colleges to support business innovation in Canada by giving them state-of-the art, industry-relevant research infrastructure. Research infrastructure investments through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) College-Industry Innovation Fund drive growth through industry-college collaboration. These collaborations spur innovation and encourage the growth of Canadian businesses.

Host MPs for Sheridan College Campuses came together to applaud this investment in our collective future. Our Liberal Caucus realizes that we can only accomplish our ambitious and exciting agenda by collaborating our partners in the education and industry sectors. This approach is built on the spirit of the promises made in the last election which Canadians strongly endorsed.

Member of Parliament for Brampton South, Sonia Sidhu, toured Sheridan College’s Davis Campus’ Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Digital Technology earlier this year. She saw first-hand the innovative work happening in the region that the government is today investing in.

Quotes:

“Sheridan College is a staple of our community, and we are so pleased to applaud and support their work with this funding boost through CFI’s College-Industry Innovation Fund. Our government recognizes that innovation starts here in our community. I am very pleased to see Sheridan College continue the work of fostering a stronger, more innovative future in partnership with our government. I am proud to have such an institution here in Brampton."

– Sonia Sidhu, Member of Parliament for Brampton South

“Through today’s investment, the Government of Canada is supporting collaborations between talented scientists and engineers working hard on college campuses and their counterparts who are leading local businesses. Such partnerships can lead to the commercialization of ideas, job creation for the middle class and sustainable economic growth that benefits all Canadians.”
– The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science

“Sheridan’s Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Design Technologies (CAMDT) has established itself as a leader in additive manufacturing, with one of the most impressive suites of additive manufacturing of any institution in Canada. The new equipment made possible by this grant will enable CAMDT’s research and industry partnerships, in concert with the School of Engineering Sciences, to explore new applications for additive manufacturing, with a focus on biomedical devices and aerospace technology.”

– Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, President and Vice Chancellor, Sheridan College