Space Strategy for Canada
Delivering the Vision – Canada's Space Strategy (continued)
4 Position Canada's commercial space sector to help grow the economy and create the jobs of the future (continued)
- Help our space firms start up and scale up: Through investments in our Innovation and Skills Plan and unprecedented support for fundamental science, Canada is creating the conditions for success. Canada will further build on these efforts by launching a Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP), which will provide $150 million over five years to help firms develop and demonstrate space technologies that will create new commercial opportunities in Canada linked to our participation in the Lunar Gateway mission. LEAP will build on the CSA's highly successful Space Technology Development Program (STDP), which has invested over $64 million since to help build the space industry of tomorrow here in Canada.
- Partner with industry to make investments and create jobs here in Canada: Initiatives such as the SIF are providing new opportunities for space companies and academia to link to other industrial sectors and develop new partnerships to accelerate technology solutions to broader market applications. Since , the Government has invested over $45 million in the space sector through the SIF and related programs. Partnering with industry through programs such as the SIF, the STDP and Innovative Solutions Canada helps attract investments, create jobs and scale up firms, and supports cutting-edge R&D. Our plan will also leverage the purchasing power of government to help grow the sector.
Leveraging Government procurement to help grow the space sector
The Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy allows Canada to ensure our investments in our military and coast guard create economic activity here in Canada. In , the Government made improvements to the policy through the identification of Key Industrial Capabilities including in space systems, which will help drive investments into the sector.
The Innovative Solutions Canada program challenges Canadian innovators to develop solutions to important problems while providing them an opportunity to have the Government act as a first customer. This program is opening up valuable procurement opportunities for Canadian small businesses while advancing our ability to tackle pressing challenges in space. For example, the CSA asked Canadian innovators to help identify how artificial intelligence and big data analytics can be applied to help improve the operation and utilization of space assets, an innovation that could have important benefits across government.