Canadian government chips in $3M for four Canadore College projects

The Canadian government is investing nearly $3 million through FedNor, Infrastructure Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to support four initiatives at Canadore College.

The projects include work at Canadore’s Innovation Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping (ICAMP) facility, The Village and more.

"Canadore College has been, and will continue to be, the catalyst for change in many areas, and we take our responsibility as a social and economic leader very seriously," said Canadore College President and CEO George Burton.

Canadore College will receive FedNor funding of $1.1 million to establish a Concept Development Lab (CDL) at its (ICAMP) facility.

The funding is meant to "enhance the regional innovation ecosystem" by supporting businesses and start-ups throughout the commercialization process including scale-up and product development.

Over the next three years, the CDL will complete technology audits and help businesses develop and commercialize new or modified products, processes, services or technologies. This project is expected to create 44 jobs and maintain 60 more.

The college will also receive FedNor funding of $750,000 to create an Indigenous clean water learning lodge. It will be used to create a platform of technologies, services and educational programs tailored to fit First Nations needs and values, while addressing the challenges of delivering reliable and sustainable clean drinking water to remote Indigenous communities.

Once fully operational, the lodge will feature a water treatment plant and demonstration lab to showcase innovative water treatment technologies and services. This project is expected to create 25 jobs.

The announcement also includes $1 million help 'ThinkOn' establish a digital public safety centre at the college. As Canada’s first and only exclusive provider of storage, computer and networking resources, ThinkOn’s North Bay facility will feature a Secret Cleared Security Operations Centre (SOC) and Digital Evidence Management (DEM) Archive.

The SOC will be a highly secure facility that identifies and resolves all security events and incidents.

The archive will provide secure hosting of vendor neutral digital evidence, content management and archiving evidence for public safety agencies and groups in Ontario and Canada. This targeted investment will also allow ThinkOn to host a major cyber-security event to showcase North Bay as a prime location for digital technology. This priority project is expected to create 28 full-time jobs over the next two years.

"We'll manage over 400 or 500 petabytes of data from this location. It won't all be stored here," said ThinkOn President and CEO Craig McLellan.

"It will start with some data and it will grow pretty quickly here. This so going to be our cyber security head office too. We plan to grow a pool of local talent through a combination of excellent education and real-world work experience."

Finally, through the college’s ‘New Horizons for Seniors Program’, $25,000 is being set aside for a community-based project to help the college host information sessions on financial literacy and promote the awareness of elder abuse among seniors.

"These projects will help unleash the economic potential of Northern Ontario’s innovation ecosystem, provide vital support for seniors and pave the way to providing a sustainable source of clean drinking water to rural and remote First Nations," Nipissing-Timiskaming MP Anthony Rota said Tuesday.

"These projects with Canadore College are great examples of how we are helping to maximize opportunities for social and business growth, while supporting jobs a strong economy."