FedDev Ontario invests nearly $5.4M to support companies through Invest Ottawa’s Area X.O
by CM Staff
Through this project, Invest Ottawa will add remote simulation capabilities at Area X.O to allow entrepreneurs to remotely conduct tests and demonstrations.
There is a strong correlation between the level of company growth and amount of R&D investment.
OTTAWA — Invest Ottawa has tried to provide innovators in the Ottawa Region with the tools and space needed to realize their ideas for products and services. This includes Area X.O, which provides access to connected and autonomous vehicles, low-speed automated shuttles, advanced robotic and unmanned aerial systems, cybersecurity technologies, and one of the most advanced communications infrastructures in the world with pre-commercial 5G to help Canadian entrepreneurs fast-track product R&D design testing and validation to build and sell products that can reach global markets.
On Jan. 31, at Invest Ottawa’s 10-year anniversary event and six-year anniversary of Bayview Yards (Invest Ottawa’s Innovation Hub), Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), joined by Chandra Arya, Member of Parliament for Nepean; Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre and Jenna Sudds, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth and Member of Parliament for Kanata–Carleton, announced a contribution of nearly $5.4 million, through the Jobs and Growth Fund, to expand the capabilities of Invest Ottawa’s Area X.O.
Through this project, Invest Ottawa will add remote simulation capabilities at Area X.O to allow entrepreneurs to remotely conduct tests and demonstrations. In addition, this investment will support new programming developed to boost the growth and market success of companies involved in defence, emergency management, public safety, security, and disaster preparedness. The new programming will focus on testing and validating solutions to quickly bring products and services to market, and will enable the creation of the first advanced robotic and unmanned aerial systems testbed of its kind in Canada. It will also support increased access to foreign direct investment and global smart mobility, autonomy, and connectivity market access for client and partner organizations by creating collaboration opportunities across Ontario and internationally.
As a result, Area X.O will enable the commercialization 40 new products, services or processes, create and maintain 745 jobs, and support 140 SMEs. The investment builds on a previous $7-million investment from FedDev Ontario that was instrumental in the creation of Area X.O, supporting more than 35 SMEs and over 360 jobs, and continues to position Area X.O as a unique national asset supporting not only Canadian-made innovations but also attracting foreign direct investment.
With the goal of supporting an inclusive economy, Invest Ottawa is also targeting 70 percent of participating businesses to be founded, owned or co-led by members of underrepresented groups, including women, racialized Canadians, Black entrepreneurs, Indigenous entrepreneurs, and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
