NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP)

The National Research Council Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) is Canada's premier innovation assistance program for Canadian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Providing technical and business advisory services, coupled with funding opportunities, NRC-IRAP is a cornerstone in Canada's innovation system.

Eligibility Criteria

Canadian small and medium enterprises (500 employees or less) that are incorporated.

Summary

The NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) provides a range of both technical and business oriented advisory services along with potential financial support to growth-oriented Canadian small and medium enterprises. The program is delivered by an extensive integrated network of 260 professionals in 100 communities across the country. Working directly with clients, NRC-IRAP supports innovative research and development and commercialization of new products and services.

NRC-IRAP views SMEs as the strategic backbone of the Canadian economy and is committed to working with them while they realize their full potential and turn knowledge and innovation into strategic opportunities, jobs and prosperity for all Canadians.

Recognized globally for research and innovation, NRC is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology.

How IRAP can help

The NRC-IRAP portfolio of services has four main components:

• Technology Expertise and Advisory Services;
• Financial Assistance for R&D Activities;
• Networking Opportunities;
• Partnerships and Collaborations.

Technology Expertise and Advisory Services

NRC-IRAP provides specific technology expertise and advisory services through its integrated network of professionals whose specialties encompass many technology sectors. Their skills in science and technology, as well as their hands-on experience in business, allow Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs) to provide customized solutions to clients.

Financial Assistance for R&D Activities

NRC-IRAP offers two kinds of financial assistance:

• Research and Technology Development Activities - NRC-IRAP makes funding contributions to Canadian SMEs interested in using technology to commercialize services, products and processes for Canadian and international markets. NRC-IRAP also invests on a cost-shared basis in research and in pre-competitive development technical projects. In addition, NRC-IRAP provides financial support indirectly through contributions to regional and national partner organizations that supply technical and research assistance to Canadian SMEs.
• Youth Employment Strategy Programs - On behalf of YES — the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy program funded by the Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) — NRC-IRAP delivers two initiatives that enable SMEs to hire recent postsecondary graduates with the specific skills and expertise needed to advance innovative projects:
  • Internship Program with Innovative Small and Medium Enterprises;
  • Collaborative Research Internship Program.

Both firms and graduates benefit from these programs: firms can make use of up-to-date, specialized expertise in a wide variety of disciplines, and graduates gain valuable first-hand practical experience from working with innovative entrepreneurs. Internships last from six to twelve months and are available anywhere in Canada.

Networking Opportunities

NRC-IRAP networks play a critical role in bringing together the key players in the Canadian innovation system for the economic and technical benefit of SMEs. Through these extensive networks, ITAs can link SMEs to industrial experts, technology brokers, technology transfer centres, and research and development institutes such as NRC, other government laboratories, and universities/colleges across Canada.

NRC-IRAP networks extend past Canada's borders, with international connections forged by technology missions, linkages and collaborations with science and technology counsellors via International Trade Canada's (ITCan) locations around the world.

Partnerships and Collaborations

Through strong partner relationships with organizations at regional, national and international levels, the program provides access to a broad range of services to its clients.

Linking more than 100 partner organizations, NRC-IRAP taps into the full power of Canada's innovation opportunities benefiting many of Canada's SMEs.  The program's relationships with universities and other educational institutions promote the transfer of knowledge and research over to the industrial sector.

NRC-IRAP has also taken a collaborative approach in building upon community innovation over the past decade. Increasingly, innovation is taking the form of community-based "technology clusters" - a concentration of innovative companies around a nucleus of research and development facilities. In recent years, NRC's research institutes have become central hubs for dynamic technology clusters from coast to coast, and NRC-IRAP fully utilizes these collaborative relationships to provide additional services to SMEs.

For more information on NRC-IRAP or to reach an Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA), contact the IRAP regional office nearest you listed below or call toll free 1 877 994-4727.

Newfoundland & Labrador Contact(s):
NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program
National Research Council Canada
Kerwin Place and Arctic Avenue
Memorial University Campus
P.O. Box 12093
St. John's, Newfoundland & Labrador  A1B 3T5
Telephone: (709) 772-5228
Fax: (709) 772-5067
Toll-free (information): 1-877-994-4727
Web site: http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/main_e.html