Canadian businesses are answering their country’s call in this time of need.
Navdeep Bains is the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and says that as of Monday, they’ve received over 3,200 emails from companies looking to chip in.
“Companies with ready to go products, with products not yet authorized, or for companies who need a little more development,” says Bains, “If you tell us you want help, we will connect you with the relevant federal support to make sure we increase the domestic supply and have Canadian solutions ready to protect Canadians.”
Bains explains that they’ve directly connected with over 2,900 of those who responded.
In addition, he tells us that the Federal Government has advanced the next generation manufacturing super-cluster initiative, which creates a network of over 970 members across the country.
“They put out a call for proposals to its members, and is making $50 million available to develop and scale up new health products and equipment that are in short supply,” he explains.
He says that within 48 hours of putting out the call, the super-cluster conditionally approved three projects for innovative manufacturers to create ventilators, COVID-19 test kits and face shields.
Bains adds that the ability to build the masks here in Canada remains a core objective.
