Part 1: Company Eligibility

List of criteria necessary for SDTC eligibility.

• Canadian company: the applicant must be Canadian Controlled Corporation. This means, the majority ownership must be Canadian.
• Innovation: The applicant must be developing an innovative solution with Intellectual Property (IP) potential.
• Company size: the applicant must be a Small or Medium Sized Enterprise (SME), which means you have less than 500 employees.

Part 2: Project Eligibility Criteria

• Commercialization Partner : Applicant companies must identify a commercialization partner that can validate the product or service in a market setting. (Ex: A facility or site provider that is willing to host a commercial demonstration).
• Budget: SDTC contributes up to 33% of eligible project costs to successful applicants. Applicant companies must obtain the balance of funding from other sources. SDTC allows up to a maximum of 75% of project costs to be from public sources (including SDTC).
• Project costs: At least 50% of all project’s costs must be incurred within Canada. SDTC also has an eligible project costs guide, which describes what expenses can be claimed to SDTC once an approved project has started.
• IP Ownership: SDTC requires that the applicant company owns and has full license to the IP for the technology that is the subject of the application.
• Environmental or sustainability benefits: The project must have potential for quantifiable, significant and scalable environmental and/or sustainability benefits.

Introduction

• SDTC receives hundreds of applications annually, making it a highly competitive process. It can take between 5-8 months to fully proceed through the application process. Perspective applicants are encouraged to carefully assess their eligibility before applying.

Step 1: Self-assessment of eligibility

• Read the eligibility criteria above and consider the eligibility of your company and project.
• Review the application template.

Step 2: SDTC Webinar

• Attend the next webinar which reviews eligibility criteria in detail. The SDTC host is available to answer any questions you have.
• During the webinar, the next steps will be outlined for those who maybe eligible on how to move forward with beginning an application.
• The webinar additionally will provide the next steps to access the application portal. Read further to get an in-depth understanding of our application process.

Step 3: Initial Application

• Download our application template. See a sample of a completed application.
• Access the portal, complete the application template and fill in all required fields. Once completed you may click “Submit”.
• Once submitted, a team of internal SDTC experts will review your application to determine eligibility and fit with SDTC’s mandate.
• If the outcome of the application review concludes that the project meets SDTC criteria, you are invited to the next step of the application process; the Video presentation and conference.

Step 4: Video presentation and conference

• The video presentation and conference is a 1-hour virtual meeting where companies present their project for 15 minutes, and there is a 45-minute Q&A.
• The attendees include the investments team from SDTC and the applicant company.
• If the SDTC review team deems the project to be eligible, and compelling after the video presentation, the applicant company is invited to submit a Detailed Proposal.

Step 5: Detailed Proposal

• The companies are given 6-8 weeks to prepare the detailed proposal. This document will require companies to provide full project details including; project work plan, financing plan, details on IP, innovation and other items.
• Once this detailed proposal is submitted it goes through the SDTC due diligence process.

Step 6: Due Diligence

• The SDTC Project Review Committee will review your project.
• Due diligence may include a visit to your facility or operations.
• All recommended projects are presented to the SDTC Board of Directors for approval.

Step 7: Next Steps/Approvals

• If your project is approved, SDTC will work with you to prepare a Contribution Agreement (contract) to advance the project.
• For additional technical support and questions please contact: applications@sdtc.ca.