Campus Alberta Small Business Engagement

Funding Alberta SMEs and Campus Alberta researchers’ collaboration

The CASBE 2023-24 program is now open.

The Campus Alberta Small Business Engagement “CASBE Program” is a funding Program within Post-Secondary Investments & Emerging Technologies at Alberta Innovates to leverage the different research industry partnerships programs offered by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

During 2023-24, the CASBE program will offer two different streams:

Stream I: is only for applicants from Alberta Colleges and Polytechnics (NSERC ARD program) including 2021 NSERC Applied Research and Technology Partnership (ARTP) grants pilot program applications.

Stream II: is only for applicants from Alberta Universities (NSERC Alliance) including NSERC Alliance Quantum grants applications.

The objectives of the CASBE Program are to:

Facilitate Alberta SMEs (the “Industry Partner”) to adopt emerging technologies in Alberta’s research and commercialization priorities to diversify their technological services and/or products (the “Project”) with the support of Post-Secondary Institutions (the “Applicant”).
Provide the applicants funding to effectively use their technology platforms’ world-class knowledge, facilities and students within Campus Alberta to support the Alberta SMEs.

How Funding Works

Project Funding

The CASBE program leverages NSERC’s contribution per project up to $150,000 per year for one year or a maximum of two years depending on the project duration funded by NSERC.

The industry partner is expected to provide cash and in-kind contributions in the NSERC application (the “Contribution”) following the NSERC Alliance program’s guidelines. If there are additional partners in the proposed NSERC Alliance application, such as large companies, providing cash, the AB SME must provide at least in-kind contribution, and if possible, cash contribution to the project in the Alberta Innovates CASBE application.  

Eligibility

(a) Applicant Eligibility Criteria – To qualify, an Applicant:

must be researchers from Alberta Post-secondary institutions (Alberta Colleges, Polytechnics and Universities)
must meet eligibility criteria for NSERC research programs within the scope of CASBE Stream I and Stream II.
be authorized to undertake the proposed project, and execute a grant agreement with Alberta Innovates on our standard terms;
not otherwise be prohibited from receiving Alberta Innovates funding, for instance due to a past bad debt or otherwise not be in good financial standing with Alberta Innovates or its subsidiaries, InnoTech Alberta and C-FER Technologies;
have a physical presence in Alberta;
demonstrate the relationship between the Applicant and Industry Partner does not create a conflict of interest;

(b) Industry Partner Eligibility Criteria To qualify as an Industry Partner in the CASBE program (Stream I and II), at least one SME as industry partner is required. The SME is required to satisfy the following criteria:

be a for-profit SME; with at least 2 Full Time Employees (FTE);
demonstrate the relationship between the Applicant and Industry Partner(s) does not create a conflict of interest;
have demonstrated operations in Alberta and able to continue to adopt and develop in house the results of the academic research;
meet the following definition of an SME: a company with fewer than 500 Full Time employees, and less than $50,000,000 annual gross revenue;
be a legal entity:
- incorporated in Alberta; or
- incorporated federally or in another jurisdiction AND extra-provincially registered in Alberta; or
- a General Partnership, Limited Partnership or Limited Liability Partnership AND registered in Alberta; and
be in good financial and final reporting standing with Alberta Innovates and its subsidiaries InnoTech Alberta and C-FER Technologies.

(c) Project Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for funding all Projects must:

align with the objectives of the CASBE program;
meet NSERC’s eligibility criteria;
Align with any of Alberta’s research and commercialization priorities outlined in the Alberta Technology and Innovation Strategy (ATIS);
Align with any of the emerging technologies priorities outlined in Alberta-Innovates-CASBE-NSERC-program-Priority-Emerging-Technology;
multiple partners including MNEs are encouraged, however, at least one Alberta SME as Industry Partner is required to get the CASBE match;
be stepped with critical milestones including Mid-project and final presentations and final report;
be completed within the one or two-year term;
comply with other criteria that Alberta Innovates may develop from time to time; and
technology being developed by the Project must be within TRL levels 2 to 6.

Please visit Alberta-Innovates-CASBE-NSERC-program-Priority-Emerging-Technology, to see the list of potential emerging technologies.

How to apply

Alberta Innovates and NSERC recommend that the applicant applies first to Alberta Innovates 2023-24 CASBE program and then, if recommended, submit the completed AI CASBE NSERC joint application to NSERC, for funding consideration.

i) To start the application process for CASBE grants, researchers should begin by contacting the CASBE program manager with the NSERC–CASBE proposal idea to assess initial alignment to the program requirements.

ii) If alignment has been identified, the applicant will need to submit the Post-Secondary Investments & Emerging Technologies (PSIET) Intake Form choosing CASBE within the Funding Opportunities tab on the AI online portal (also known as the SmartSimple application portal).

iii) If the PSIET Intake Form is approved, the applicant is invited to submit an AI CASBE NSERC Full proposal.

The applicant completes the AI CASBE application using SmartSimple. As part of the AI CASBE SmartSimple application, the Applicant must attach a draft PDF version of the corresponding NSERC application form using the NSERC online portal. Applicants are advised to read instructions available in the NSERC website for the CASBE program (NSERC ARD or NSERC Alliance, or Alliance Quantum grants), as applicable.

iv) Ensure all elements in the application form are completed.

a) Stream I:

- NSERC ARD: Complete the NSERC ARD application (draft)

1. If conditionally approved, Alberta Innovates will provide an email to the applicant indicating note of conditional approval (for NSERC ARD), which the applicant needs to include with their NSERC application under Other Documents

2. Then the applicants can proceed with applying to NSERC through the appropriate NSERC application portal (NSERC Convergence portal).

b) Stream II:

- NSERC Alliance: Applicants complete the NSERC Alliance application (draft)

1. 1. Note that the applicant for general NSERC Alliance, must ensure that they,

a. For the Type of call field, select Alberta Innovates – CASBE from the drop-down menu, and

b. In the Contributions section of the form 101, add AIberta Innovates as Joint call funding partner

– If conditionally approved, Alberta Innovates will sign the NSERC ‘joint call funding partner’ form in the NSERC application portal (for NSERC Alliance)

– Then the applicants can proceed with applying to NSERC through the appropriate NSERC application portal (NSERC online system).

- NSERC Alliance Quantum: Applicants complete the NSERC Alliance application (draft) and are advised to read the instructions available in the funding opportunity’s web page.

– Applicants must ensure in NSERC’s online system that they,

a. For the Type of call field, select Quantum – Strengthening Capacity from the drop-down menu, and

b. In the Contributions section of the form 101, add AIberta Innovates as Other funder (not involved in the research)

– If conditionally approved, Alberta Innovates will provide an email to the applicant indicating note of conditional approval (for NSERC Alliance Quantum grants) which the applicant needs to include with their NSERC application under Other Documents

– Then the applicants can proceed with applying to NSERC through the appropriate NSERC application portal (NSERC online system).

Applicants with approved NSERC research partnership grant:

This category is applicable for applicants who are interested in the CASBE program and meet the program eligibility criteria, including one of the following:

a. Stream I:

- Approved NSERC ARD grant in the last 12 months, or
- Approved 2021 NSERC ARTP grant, or

b. Stream II:

- Approved NSERC Alliance grant in the last 12 months

The following application process steps are involved:

i. Researchers should begin by contacting the CASBE program manager with the NSERC approved project description and potential additional R&D activities intended to be covered by Alberta Innovates CASBE program to assess alignment to the program requirements.

ii. If alignment has been identified, the applicant will then need to submit the Post-Secondary Investments & Emerging Technologies (PSIET) Intake Form by choosing CASBE within the Funding Opportunities tab on the AI online portal.

iii. If the PSIET Intake Form is approved, the applicant is invited to submit a CASBE Full proposal.

iv. The applicant completes the AI CASBE application using SmartSimple. The applicant ensures the following are included in the application: the original approved NSERC project, reviewers’ comments, NSERC Notice of Decision (NOD) and Terms & Conditions. A Gantt chart including CASBE and NSERC R&D activities, description (~2-3 pages) of the additional CASBE R&D activities, and associated budget, are also required as attachments in the AI online portal.

By submitting their CASBE application to Alberta Innovates and the related NSERC application to NSERC, applicants, co-applicants and partner organizations agree to the sharing between Alberta Innovates and NSERC of any and all information, including personal information, in any way related to the applications, their adjudication and to the awards.