Strategic partnerships

Engaging small business: Procurement Assistance Canada

IDEaS and Procurement Assistance Canada (PAC) have partnered to encourage the participation of small businesses in federal government procurement. PAC’s five regional offices across Canada have in-depth knowledge of the Canadian SME community and experience with supplier and buyer stakeholders. Through Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements, PAC has helped increase stakeholder outreach, holding and attending events and providing information sessions to potential IDEaS innovators. In 2021-2022, PAC attended or hosted 167 virtual and in-person events. Through these events, PAC connected with more than 3,000 potential innovators on behalf of the program. As events return to in-person attendance, PAC expected their outreach engagements to increase in 2022.

Protecting IP: MOU with Canadian Intellectual Property Office

For innovators, generating Intellectual Property (IP) is one of the main benefits of working with the IDEaS program. To increase awareness and use of IP by Canadian innovators, IDEaS and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together to encourage Canadians to develop and protect their IP. The agreement will allow IDEaS and CIPO to collaborate on the development of digital and virtual content and tools to help identify, protect, and manage IP effectively. It will also strengthen key partnerships between government, industry, and academia to better inform and support SMEs on IP-related issues, and deliver a data-driven and evidence-based approach to ensure higher impact of IP program delivery.