February 2022 Innovation Funding Bulletin!
February 2022 Innovation Funding Bulletin!
Hello All!
“Alberta balances budget! Deficit gone! Due to spending restraint + dynamic growth in every sector, Alberta projects first surplus in 14 years. Alberta leads Canada in growth. The economy’s diversifying.” Premier Kenny, Feb 25/22 (Twitter). (And, oil prices are up.)
PLUS! The Alberta at Work Initiative
$600B will be devoted over the next 3 years primarily to address skill shortages with $171M over 3 years to expand student enrollment in areas with skills shortages targeted to the tech sector - adding 7000 spaces and $30M for apprenticeship expansion programs. What a way to boost the tremendous work we have all done to keep our businesses operational. Alberta is back! We have been growing in the most difficult of times, and we will be growing that much more. Hallelujah!
https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=81973C22BF8F6-C88A-B0F2-164C624F25613DE6#jumplinks-1
The Budget Address: https://www.alberta.ca/budget-documents.aspx
The 2022 Budget in Graphic form
https://twitter.com/trevortombe/status/1496988340947546216/photo/1
Innovation Funding & Employment Training Funding
The most efficient and comprehensive way to gain an understanding of the innovation funding, and, employment/training funding programs is to build a Grant Strategy & Timeline. The quickest way for your company to learn about the funding programs is to purchase the subscriptions for the Overviews - the 60+! Employment & Training Funding Programs and the 130+! Innovation funding programs - this comes with 4 hours of consulting time per Overview. Call today to get the funding ball rolling for your company in 2022!
Social Innovation is Coming to the Fore!
But - what is social innovation? Here’s Wikipedia’s definition: Social innovations are new social practices that aim to meet social needs in a better way than the existing solutions, resulting from - for example - working conditions, education, community development or health - with the goal of extending and strengthening civil society. Social innovation includes the social processes of innovation, such as open source methods and techniques and also the innovations which have a social purpose—like activism, virtual volunteering, microcredit, or distance learning.
Definitions of social innovation usually include the broad criteria about social objectives, social interaction between actors or actor diversity, social outputs, and innovativeness. Different definitions include different combinations and different number of these criteria.
To Note: Transformative social innovation not only introduces innovative approaches to seemingly intractable problems but is successful in changing the social institutions that created the problem in the first place.
Put simply, social innovation could be directed to advancing, altering, and/or dramatically changing working conditions for the better for all of us and not just for 60% to 70% of us but for of all of us. Here’s my first stab at what social innovation can do for us. It could be something like we all work a 4 hour 4 day week such that everyone is working and there is no unemployment therefore no poverty ensuring that all of us have enough income to live in a safe home, safe community, have enough to eat every day, enjoy participating in children’s events and community events, have some spending money, and, can save money for emergencies, kid’s needs, a vacation, our retirement and all. The end result would be like we all feel equal to each other, accepted by each other and also know that our presence and contributions are valued and encouraged. Social innovation from my perspective appears to be a vehicle for realizing our societal dreams.
(The Social Innovation Fund is managed by the McConnell Foundation with regard to social innovation project work.)
GOING GREEN! NET ZERO HOMES
Just Announced: $4.4 million to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) to enable energy efficiency in the residential sector in municipalities across Canada.
“The project will fund deep energy retrofits in houses and low-rise multi-unit residential buildings to demonstrate the various approaches that can be used to achieve net-zero-energy–ready performance in residential units. Net-zero-energy–ready buildings are designed and constructed to high performance levels that could produce at least as much energy as they consume on an annual basis, with the addition of renewable power generation.
CHBA will focus on finding the most cost‐effective solutions for up to 150 residential units to help find optimum approaches to net-zero home retrofits and inform the development of energy codes for existing homes, targeting multiple building archetypes in various climate zones and varying business models.
Federal funding is provided through Natural Resources Canada’s Green Infrastructure – Energy Efficient Buildings Program. This program supports the development and implementation of building codes for existing buildings and new net-zero-energy–ready buildings through research, development and demonstration projects.”
GOING GREEN IN OUR HOMES - ADJUSTING!
Although not something that reduces Enmax and Direct Energy bills, continuing to adjust the thermostat throughout the day reduces GHG emissions per household. In my home there are very big windows and when the sun comes through, the home heats up. On a warm day like yesterday, the furnace was set at 17C from Sunday morning through to this morning. It the furnace didn’t turn on last night, that’s 19.75 hours GHG free! A winter GHG feat for every home in Alberta!
EXCITING EVENTS NOT TO MISS!
- PTACs Virtual Innovation Showcase https://www.ptac.org/current-events/ - April 26th
- Inventures: https://inventurescanada.com/ - June 1, 2 & 3 I can’t wait to see you all!
- Propel https://propelenergytech.com/registration/ - June 14 & 16.
Check out Platform Innovation Centre » Platform Calgary for when it will open as this will be one exciting day in the history of Calgary and the history of Alberta!
Also, the Famous Five’s guest speaker for its Pink Tea on March 4th is the Governor-General of Canada - it’s an online event and tickets are free. Famous 5 was a grassroots organization know at the Alberta Five - they petitioned the federal government to refer the issue of the eligibility of women to be senators and that women could vote in federal and provincial elections in 1927 (except for Quebec). T 97 years ago! Our great grandmothers and grandmothers must have been so proud of them - and our grandfathers somewhat wary maybe very wary and maybe a little grumbling here and there and most likely outright provocation at times and / or ‘That’s never going to happen!’
THE PUTIN PROBLEM - FOR SHAME
The world is praying for Ukrainians - and for sanctions that put Putin in his place as a disgraced & emotionally corrupt, incapable leader, and, perhaps someone who is mentally deranged. Imagine trying to take over Ukraine with all the riches available in Russia yet to be claimed, mined, and, sold to the rest of the world. The Russian people need a leader who can create wealth and prosperity in their country. Bravo to the courageous Russians that oppose the invasion of Ukraine. They will have family and friends living in Ukraine and most importantly it’s about respecting humanity, our sense of decency and safety and what’s good and kind that makes for happiness, growth and making a living for one’s family and one’s country. FOR SHAME!
That’s it for me! Call or email to be in touch about your funding requirements today!
The Best! Eileen Ashmore, MBA - Technology Funding Specialist
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