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Canada's province of Québec and the Israel Innovation Authority launched a new $12 million bilateral program.

Both jurisdictions committed $3 million over 5 years to support Québec-Israel industrial R&D projects. Their $6 million investment will be matched by participating research partners.

The Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation will administer the program on behalf of the Province of Québec. The initiative supports industry-led collaboration, including partnerships between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large firms, and academic institutions, to support the joint development of innovative technologies.

“The Government of Québec welcomes the launch of the Québec-Israel Industrial R&D Program,” Québec's Economy, Science, and Innovation Minister Dominique Anglade said.

“In addition to supporting the development of innovative companies, this initiative will help foster fruitful and long-term alliances between companies and organizations involved in joint projects in Québec and Israel.”

Together, Québec and the IIA have developed this customized bilateral program to address industry challenges through highly innovative collaboration.

"International partnerships in R&D and innovation have become a must in the world today,” Anglade added. “For Québec companies and research teams, it means access to world-renowned expertise and new markets.

“Israel’s leadership in technology, research and innovation makes it a partner of choice to develop advanced technologies and state-of-the-art commercialization tools. Ultimately, this initiative will help reinforce the working relationship between our innovation agencies.”

Projects, which may include technology and knowledge applications, product customization, near commercialization or new market creation, are expected to contribute economically to both Québec and Israel and to take place primarily in the two jurisdictions.

Israel Innovation Authority CEO Aharon Aharon said, “The agreement will enable Québec and Israel to strengthen their collaboration in the realms of industrial research and innovation. In this way, we can support visionary projects that will create synergy between Québec and Israel and promote expertise and innovative technologies on both sides.”

“I am convinced that this agreement will pave the way for the establishment of profitable partnerships between Québec and Israeli researchers and businesses, for the benefit of our respective economies.”

Israeli and Québec-based companies are asked to present cooperative proposals, which will be vetted for feasibility. Funding will be awarded to those companies demonstrating promising partnerships and near-term potential for commercialization, as well as economic benefit in both jurisdictions.

Teams must submit a two-step application, including a bilateral cooperation form that describes the project and the collaboration envisioned between the Québec company and the Israeli company. Applications open on June 1st, 2017. The applications are independently evaluated and scored by the Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation du Québec and the Israel Innovation Authority, which then jointly agree which applications will be funded.