Grants and Contributions

Thee Idea to Innovation (I2I) Grants aims to accelerate the pre-competitive development of promising technology originating from the university and college sector and promote its transfer to a new or established Canadian company. The I2I Grants provide funding to college and university faculty members to support research and development projects with recognized technology transfer potential. This is achieved through defined phases by providing crucial assistance in the early stages of technology validation and market connection.

This project aims to enhance the social and financial well-being of refugee women caregivers in Mexico, particularly single mothers. It does so by facilitating access to childcare services and private sector employers, thus allowing refugee caregivers to pursue training and employment opportunities. Project activities include: (1) advocating with private sector and government partners to include childcare facilities within companies, promoting workplace support for refugee caregivers; (2) supporting the identification of new childcare centers in collaboration with private sector partners and local civil society organizations; (3) providing technical assistance for the design and establishment of childcare facilities; (4) delivering training sessions for childcare providers; (5) monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the childcare model in meeting the needs of refugee families; and (6) integrating the expertise of local civil society organizations in developing and promoting childcare models that respond to the needs of refugee families. The project benefits 2,500 refugee women caregivers taking part in the UN Refugee Agency’s Local Integration Program.

The Q-AISES Rocket Team competes annually in the NASA First Nations Launch (FNL) high powered rocketry competition, hosted by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC). The team is comprised of Indigenous student members of the Queen's University’s chapter of AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society), which is a broader international organization that encourages and supports Indigenous engagement with study and careers in STEM fields. This team offers an opportunity for Indigenous engineering and science students at Queen's to become involved with a hands-on experiential learning project each year with tangible outcomes. Students come from a collection of programs such as Engineering, Physics, Astrophysics, Computer Science, Health Science, Biology and Concurrent Education. This year, the team will be competing in the Mars challenge in which they will be designing, testing, and fabricating a rocket to reach an altitude of 3200 to 4000 feet above ground level (AGL) and implementing 5 sensors, as determined by the FNL competition handbook, to analyze the flight of the rocket. Throughout the academic year, the team submits a series of presentations and technical engineering reports, which are reviewed by a panel of judges. The team will travel to the Richard Bong State Recreational Area in Kansasville, WI for the competition in April to launch the rocket, attend rocketry workshops, and meet other Indigenous students from universities and tribal colleges with a similar interest in rocketry. Throughout the year, the team will also conduct educational outreach visits with Indigenous and Black youth to promote an interest in rocket science and STEM more broadly. During these outreach visits, the team introduces rocketry through a hands-on experience by launching low-powered model rockets to 500 feet. This outreach also gives youth exposure to proximate-age Indigenous role models who are studying in STEM fields and accomplishing great things through their involvement with NASA's First Nations Launch.

Improving water quality through wetland conservation, education and awareness

Riparian Habitat and Stream Restoration in the Hunter River Watershed

The project will provide procurement actors and policy makers with insights into how procurement processes can be adapted in the face of military uses of Artificial Intelligence and the need to maintain responsible practices.

The project will consist of a one-day workshop to discuss how emerging technologies, including autonomous systems, can be leveraged by the Defence Team through procurement and training.

The Innovation in Apprenticeship Stream aims to support innovative approaches and strengthen partnerships to address apprenticeship challenges in the Red Seal trades.

The stream supports projects that:
• use innovative approaches or expand best practices to address challenges limiting apprenticeship outcomes in Red Seal trades
• involve broad-based partnerships between organizations across sectors, regions or trades

The Women in the Skilled Trades Initiative focuses on funding projects that recruit, retain, and help women apprentices succeed in the 39 eligible Red Seals trades found predominately in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

The initiative supports projects that:
• create partnerships with women’s groups, community colleges, unions or employers to recruit women;
• organize women-led events as an outreach tool to help attract women to the skilled trades;
• offer mentorship by female role models, women-in-the-skilled-trades networks, and opportunities to share success stories; and
• create a welcoming space where women can feel comfortable and safe in the training and work sites.

The objectives for CSC are to create, promote and facilitate access to service opportunities that are meaningful to young Canadian, and support lasting civic engagement, as well as to provide youth with life and work skills.