The Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) takes the following actions to assess projects for funding:
1) Assess Statements of Interest (SOI)
SIF assesses Statement of Interest (SOI) application forms based on how projects may benefit Canadians.
We will also assess how your project aligns with the Government of Canada's current investment priorities and review your organization's financial information to determine how ready you are to do the proposed project.
Once the assessment is completed, we will inform you whether you will be invited to the full application stage.
Learn more: The application process
2) Conduct due diligence assessment of the full application
For all projects that have been invited to submit a full application, SIF performs a due diligence assessment. This assessment evaluates your organization's capacity and experience to:
- implement the proposed project
- achieve the stated project objective
- fulfill any repayment obligations
To ensure that proposed Collaborations and Networks projects achieve their stated objectives, SIF will also assess the capacity and experience of:
- the lead applicant
- other members in the collaboration or network
Due diligence assessments are full evaluations performed by experts assigned to the project.
During this assessment, these experts will consider the following factors:
- technical feasibility
- greenhouse gas impact (if applicable)
- managerial, technical and workforce capability
- financial and market risk, including a close analysis of eligible project costs
Organization leaders of Collaborations and Networks projects will need to consider similar assessment criteria in their assessment of individual network project applications requesting support.
3) Work with you to develop the Term Sheet and Contribution Agreement
If your project passes the due diligence assessment, we will work with you to determine the terms and conditions for the agreed-on funding and create the following 2 documents:
- the Term Sheet
- the Contribution Agreement
Learn more: Terms and agreements: Strategic Innovation Fund