During its inaugural N3 Summit, NGen announced the funding will be combined with $54.4 million in industry contributions for a total of $86.7 million spread between 15 projects

Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen) announced it is awarding $32.3 million in new funding to 15 advanced manufacturing projects across Canada during its recent N3 Summit in Toronto.

The industry-led, non-profit organization leads Canada’s Global Innovation Cluster for Advanced Manufacturing. Its role is to provide funding to scale up manufacturing in Canada.

“The Innovation Cluster model is working — and the results speak for themselves. NGen is excited to build on our successes with another round of advanced manufacturing projects,” said Jayson Myers, CEO of NGen.

“Our role as an innovation catalyst is only possible because of the commitment from our industry and ecosystem partners.”

The N3 Summit hosted industry speakers ranging from Canadian auto parts manufacturer, Linamar, to energy management tools provider, Edgecom AI.

The 15 funding recipients announced during the N3 Summit are applicants who responded to NGen’s most recent request for proposals (RFP) in this sector last year. In addition to NGen’s funding, industry is also contributing $54.4 million to the projects for a total of $86.7 million.

Future transportation focus

Most of the companies successful in this most recent funding round are not transportation-related. Just one company makes hydrogen fuel cells. But in an interview with Electric Autonomy, NGen’s chief technology officer, John Laughlin, says there are plans underway to inject more capital into the zero-emission mobility industry.

It’s an area where he sees significant potential.

“Canada has an ace up its sleeve in terms of sustainable manufacturing,” says Laughlin. “The next three years will be really, really interesting.”

NGen is currently evaluating applicants for a previous RFP for EVs that closed in 2023. That funding stream supports the EV value chain with an announcement about successful projects coming soon.

But looking beyond that, Laughlin says NGen plans to be at the centre of the made-in-Canada sustainable manufacturing innovations.

“What we’re targeting at NGen is how do we build stronger value chains and grow the value chains for the components from the raw materials.”

To do that, NGen will be launching two new RFPs in greening manufacturing and EV supply chain development 2.0.

“We’re trying to work out where the best places to position our funding to have the biggest impact,” says Laughlin, who explains greening manufacturing covers “everyone” while the EV supply chain will be done with close consideration to how foundational players PowerCo and Northvolt are setting up their factories and supply chains.

“At the Electric Autonomy [EV Innovation & Technology] Conference, Volkswagen/Power Co, did mention that they’re very interested in building value chains within Canada. We have enough time to work with them to make sure that we have strong content from Canada.”