Industrial Research Programme d’aide à la

Assistance Program recherche industrielle

Proposal Guidelines for NRC-IRAP Projects

NRC-IRAP must have a good understanding of your firm – your business, your resources and
your track record in past research and development projects. This proposal provides an NRC-
IRAP representative with a summary of your firm’s profile and your proposed project/activity.
This is not a guarantee of approval. All material/information clearly marked “Proprietary
Business Information” will be treated as commercially confidential under the terms of the
Access to Information Act.

1. Organization Information
1.1 Legal Name
Provide the full legal name of your firm. Also provide the firm’s operating name if different from
the legal name.
1.2 Firm’s Contact Information
Provide the firm’s full address, phone number, fax number, e-mail address and website. If the
firm’s mailing address differs from the physical address, provide this information as well.
1.3 Legal Status
Indicate the firm’s date of legal creation or incorporation and its legal status. State if your firm is
a for-profit organization. Only for-profit organizations established in Canada are eligible for
NRC-IRAP contributions. This requirement refers to the legal jurisdiction of the firms, not the
nationality of the firm’s owners.
1.4 Products and services
Provide a brief description of the firm’s products and services.
1.5 Financial year-end
Specify the firm’s financial year-end.
1.6 Registration Numbers
Provide your GST/HST number and your Business Registration Number.
1.7 Number of employees
Indicate the level of employment in your firm. Express employment in terms of full-time-
equivalent employees. Only firms with 500 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees are eligible
for NRC-IRAP. The term “full-time equivalent” is used to properly account for part-time and
seasonal workers. For example, a firm with 800 half-time employees would be eligible for the
NRC-IRAP Program because it would only have 400 full-time-equivalent employees.
Technically, a full-time equivalent employee is an employee who works 1600 hours per year.
However, for practical purposes, and where hourly data are not available, it is sufficient to count
each full-time employee as one full-time equivalent and estimate the fraction of a full-time
equivalent represented by each part-time or seasonal employee. Breakdown full-time equivalent
into number of Engineers, Scientists, Technicians and Other employees.
1.8 Organization Description
Address the following in this section:
 Nature of firm’s business, main products;
 Affiliations to other companies;
 Main customers and competitors;

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  Mission and corporate strategy, include key business challenges, plans for expansion;
 Commitment to operations in Canada;
 Does the firm have a business plan? Is it available for consultation by an NRC-IRAP
representative?
1.9 Innovation Background
Address the following in this section:
 Technical capability, staff, facilities, plans (including proposed project);
 Key project contacts (business, technical and financial, as appropriate);
 Previous R&D projects;
 Supported by the firm (past two years); and
 Government supported.
2. Project Information
To facilitate the preparation of your proposal and to ensure that information necessary for the
technical review and approval process is provided, the following format is recommended for the
written description. The information contained in each section serves as guidelines; they need
not be rigidly followed, nor must all the issues mentioned be addressed, especially for small
projects.
2.1 Proposed Project Start Date
What is the estimated project start date?
2.2 Project Title
Provide a brief and descriptive project title.
2.3 Quantified Technical Objectives
Address the following in this section:
 Overall objective: what is the project outcome?
 Sub-objectives: what performance targets must be met to reach the desired outcome?
The sub-objectives should list and quantify the key steps or sub-targets in the proposed
research.

Objectives should be quantified. In the case of a product or process, the overall objective should
provide proposed or desired specifications and includes comparisons with existing products or
processes.
2.4 Plan of Work
Provide an overall description of the methodology to be used in the project. This section should
clearly indicate the major activities to be undertaken in order to achieve the desired
technical objectives of the project.
More detailed information on the project activities, results and costs will be covered under the
Phases section of this document.

2.5 Anticipated Challenges and Difficulties

Describe anticipated challenges and difficulties in meeting your objectives and related tasks.
2.6 Technological Environment
Address the following in this section:
 Current industrial practice - problems and opportunities;
 Need for the product, improvements provided by the product, key innovative aspects of
the product or service;
 Is this a preliminary investigation or a continuation of an earlier IRAP project?
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2.7 Description of Work to Date
Include a description of work already completed leading up to this project, including literature
and patent searches and associated projects. Describe the current stage of development of the
project.
2.8 Proposed Technical Solutions
Address the following in this section:
 The firm’s strategy in selecting the technology to be developed and the primary
applications;
 Competitive advantages expected;
 Scientific basis for proposed technical advance;
 Source and ownership of technology, if external to firm; the possibility of acquiring the
technology through licensing; and
 Other resources pursued.
2.9 Business Opportunity
This section describes the potential applications and uses of the project results in the context of
your firm's business model.

Describe:
 The innovative characteristics which will give your firm a clear competitive an advantage
in the market. What makes your product or process different from existing ones in the
market and what makes it superior? What will it do that other products or services in the
market cannot do?
 The economical advantages of the product (pricing aspects);
 What leads you to believe that this project will generate sufficient income to make it
profitable. Explain and quantify the profits and rate of return for the project, if possible;
and
 The commercial risks and the anticipated competition.

A comparative table of existing and anticipated products or services characteristics would be

welcome.

If need be, complete with the following information:

 The relevance of this project with the actual positioning of the firm and its strategic plan;
 The reasons why this project represents a business priority for your firm;
 Other advantages to the project: positioning in the market place, new generic
technology, etc.; and
 Summary of the marketing plan, if one exists.
2.10 Technology and Market
Describe the precommercialization activities that your firm must successfully carry out once the
project is completed, before the new technology can be exploited commercially. The
precommercialization activities may include:
 Process or product certification testing;
 Other trials designed to determine and/or improve the technology's performance;
 Engineering to meet user and usability requirements;
 Pilot facilities;
 Scale-up; and
 Technical and production support.

Describe the sub-contractor programs or your firm's production capabilities in Canada;

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Describe the commercialization activities in terms of commercial objectives, main target market,
proposed method of commercialization, distribution channels that will enable your firm to exploit
the new technology commercially. State the planned start date of the commercial application
and sales; and

Briefly describe your firm’s marketing management capabilities in relation with the results of the
proposed project.

3. Resources
Identify internal and external resources including any Related Parties assigned to the project
and their roles.

Provide brief résumés of key staff and descriptions of collaborators (universities, laboratories of
government departments or agencies [e.g. NRC], research organizations, etc.) and their roles in
the project (e.g. the collaborator's proposal or work statement). These can be provided to your
Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) under separate attachment. Repeat as necessary for all the
internal resources and contractors working on the project.
3.1 Internal Resources
Internal Resources are employees who will receive a salary from your firm to work on the
project. These employees must be on your payroll.

Provide the name, project role, phone number, e-mail..

3.2 Contractors
A contractor is a person or organization hired by your firm under contract to perform a task,
provide expertise or advice required to achieve the objectives of the project.

Identify if the contractor is a Related Party. Two or more parties are considered to be related
parties if one of them is controlled, directly or indirectly in any manner whatever, by the other.
Where two unrelated parties are related to the same third party as described above, they will
also be deemed as related parties. A non arm’s length relationship covers people acting in
concert without separate interest, including individuals who are related to each other by blood,
marriage, adoption, common-law relationships, or close business ties. Such a relationship may
also exist between individuals and partnerships or corporations.

Provide the contractor’s name, postal code, phone number, the contractor’s labour fee. Note: if
the Contractor is a Related Party, then the costs charged must be actual costs incurred by the
related party and not the charge-out rate.

Describe why the proposed contractors are best suited to perform the work. Note that fees
charged by a contractor should be reasonable – meaning that they fit with current market rates
and/or that it is a comparative fee paid by the firm to contractors in the past for similar work.

4. Phases
Divide the work into a number of logical phases. Every phase should include: objectives,
planned activities, desired results, duration in weeks and estimated phase costs.

For each phase, provide a breakdown of internal resources and/or contractor costs as per the
following format.
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Internal Resources (salary net of any incentive or bonus)
Name Rate Frequency Number of units Total
e.g. Internal resource A $50 Hour 200 hours $10,000
e.g. Internal resource B $100 Daily 15 days $1,500
TOTAL $11,500

Contractors Labour Fee (exclude all other fees)

Name Rate Frequency Number of units Total
e.g. Contractor A $1500 Day 10 days $15,000
TOTAL $15,000

Total cost of the phase $26,500

5. Costs
5.1 Project Costs breakdown
The level of support provided by NRC-IRAP will be determined under the Contribution
Agreement. NRC-IRAP Project Costs is the sum of salary costs, contactor labour fee and
overhead costs associated with the Work to be carried out over the project period. Although
NRC-IRAP may only support a percentage of salaries and contractor labour fees, for evaluation
purposes, you are required to provide a project costs breakdown as follows:

Internal Costs
Internal Resources (Salaries) $
Overhead (% of salaries) $
Other internal costs* $
Total Internal Costs $(A)

External Costs
Contractor Labour Fee $
Other external costs* $
Total External Costs $(B)

TOTAL PROJECT COSTS $(A)+(B)

Some examples of overhead costs are (but not limited to): supervisory costs; accounting
expenses; office personnel; purchasing; computer support; leasing of materials; location, and
maintenance and materials handling.
*Provide a detailed breakdown of what encompasses “Other Costs”.
6. Financing
One of the elements taken into consideration when establishing the level of financial
contribution is the influence the NRC-IRAP contribution will have on the technological innovation
capacity of your firm. In regards to this criteria, we will evaluate the influence of our financial
contribution on factors such as: the choice of the project and the activity, the magnitude of the
project, the reach, the acceleration in time, the choice of resource, the quality of potential results
and the importance of the financial assistance.

6.1 Sources of funds for the project: Complete the following table, showing the projected
sources of financing for the project. The Firm’s share of the cost of the project must be at least
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25 per cent. The Firm’s share does not include R&D tax credits and federal, provincial and
municipal support (grants, contracts, etc.) received as part of the project. Note that the total
government support from the NRC-IRAP contribution, R&D tax credits related to the project and
all other government financial assistance (federal, provincial and municipal) may not exceed 75
percent of the total eligible costs.

Sources of funds for the project Amount

Requested NRC-IRAP Contribution $
Other government assistance $
Firm’s contribution $
Total project costs $

6.2 Firm’s financial contribution to the project

Provide details on how the firm will finance its share of the project costs. Include any
involvement by third parties and specify the conditions for this support.
6.3 Need for financial assistance
Describe why NRC-IRAP assistance is necessary.
6.4 Additional expenses to reach commercialization
Identify the additional expenses required to reach commercialization. How will the firm finance
these additional investments?

7. Impact

7.1 Direct impact of the project on the firm’s competitiveness

How will the increased technical ability affect the firm's competitive position relative to the
leaders and/or main competitors in its field? What intellectual property will be developed as a
result of this project? How will it be protected? How will this project help your firm's chances in
obtaining additional investment? Are there any Benefits to Canada expected to result from this
project other than the project’s direct commercial benefits?
7.2 Impact of the project on the firm’s capacity for technological innovation
How will the project improve the firm's innovation capability? (R&D staffing, R&D activity, etc.).
How will the new technical capability affect the firm's ability to undertake research after NRC-
IRAP support ceases? Is there a potential for further innovation or spin-off of new products as a
result of the supported research? Describe how will this project enable the firm to attract
additional investment to the firm?
7.3 Related project considerations
This section should address issues such as the effect of the project on the environment,
occupational health or safety and experiments with human or animal subjects. If none of the
above applies, a sentence stating so is all that is required. The potential environmental impact
of both the research phase (short-term effect) and the resulting product or process (longer-term
effect) should be assessed. If there are any concerns regarding the effect of the proposed
project on the health or safety of firm employees, these should be discussed. Research
involving testing of human or animal subjects must follow established ethical protocols. If you
are not already aware of the relevant protocols, the ITA can provide information.

8. Declaration
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If NRC-IRAP does subsequently provide financial support, the firm will be required to sign a
Contribution Agreement which contains the attached Conditions of Contribution. State whether
the firm accept the following statements:

The firm declares that all information provided to NRC-IRAP related to this
Yes/no project proposal is true and correct. The firm further declares that it is not
withholding any information that may materially affect this project application.
The submission of false or misleading representation of information is grounds
for immediate termination of this project application.
Yes/no I have read the Conditions of Contribution.
Yes/no I accept the Conditions of Contribution.

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