Technology Access Centre grants

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Overview

Technology Access Centres (TACs) are specialized centres of expertise intended to provide timely innovation support to a college’s community organizations from the private, public, health care or not-for-profit sectors. TACs provide capabilities that serve their community organizations’ applied research and innovation needs. These capabilities may include advice on specific organizational challenges, applied research and/or development projects, or specialized services and training. These centres address innovation challenges by enabling the community organizations to take advantage of the college’s expertise, technology and equipment, leading to beneficial business, social and/or health outcomes for Canada.

TAC grants provide funding for the core operations of TACs. TACs can also apply for other sources of funding to address more long-term and risky applied research projects. All TACs must have non-grant sources of revenue, typically client fees for innovation support and research services offered on a fee-for-service or cost-recovery basis.

TAC grants provide up to $350,000 per year for five years and are renewable.

For colleges and CEGEPs in Quebec, given the substantial network of centres that support local/regional innovation, proposals are limited to a maximum of $100,000 per year to support an added administrative, research management or client development position (and associated expenses) for an established centre.

Colleges that have already been awarded a TAC grant, but wish to launch a new TAC in a different applied research area, may apply for an additional TAC grant. Colleges must clearly demonstrate in the application that the targeted applied research area is distinct from that supported by a previously awarded TAC grant. They must also demonstrate that the new TAC will add significant value to the region’s innovation capacity. The application must show that the new TAC will draw on different applied research disciplines, will require different expertise and facilities, and will support a different and significant client sector from the existing TAC(s).

Who can apply?

Canadian colleges (including CEGEPs and polytechnics) that are declared eligible to administer grants before the application deadline can apply. Colleges must meet the eligibility requirements for colleges of any of the three federal granting agencies — the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and/or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). All applications must be submitted to NSERC. Grants are funded by NSERC, except proposals exclusively in the social sciences and humanities, which are funded by SSHRC, or exclusively in the health sciences, which are funded by CIHR.

What's next?
TAC activities supported by the grant