Government of Canada Awards $1,776,985 in Funding to Cegep de Trois-Rivieres to Modernize Applied Research Infrastructures

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - March 15, 2011) - The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, announces two contributions totalling $1,776,985 in non-repayable funding to the Cégep de Trois-Rivières to enable the educational institution to offer small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) testing and experimenting services in state-of-the-art research infrastructures.

"The quality of the research infrastructures offered by the Cégep de Trois-Rivières' Centres collégiaux de transfert technologique allows SMEs to conduct new product and process experiments in accordance with the highest industry standards and, ultimately, to break into new markets," noted Minister of State Lebel.

Centre spécialisé en pâtes et papiers (CSPP)

CSPP is committed to contributing to the development of the pulp and paper industry, particularly through the transfer of technology resulting from research and development to SMEs. CSPP will receive a contribution of $1 million, awarded under the Business and Regional Growth program, to modernize its experimental paper machine, which will be used to test new products and processes and develop them in an environment closer to the industrial reality.

Centre de métallurgie du Québec (CMQ)

CMQ is a reference for the metallurgy industry and aims, among other things, to transfer tangible applications resulting from applied research outputs to businesses in this sector. CMQ will receive $776,985 under the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies (TISQFE) to purchase high tech equipment such as a real-time X-ray inspection system and a thermal plasma projection system.

"By ensuring Quebec's Centres collégiaux de transfert technologique have state-of-the-art infrastructure, Canada Economic Development is helping to strengthen the innovation capacity of firms operating in two sectors flagged as priorities for the Mauricie region: forest products and metallurgy," concluded Mr. Lebel.

About the Temporary Initiative for the Strengthening of Quebec's Forest Economies

In force since last June, the TISQFE was established to help communities affected by the forestry crisis diversify their economies in order to secure their development and create and maintain employment. The measure's aim is also to support the viability and sustainable growth of the SMEs in these communities.

This measure is one of many put in place by the Government of Canada in recent months to counteract the effects of the forest crisis. Others include the two-year $1 billion Community Adjustment Fund to mitigate the impacts of the crisis, the $1 billion granted to the Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program, to help enterprises carry out environmentally-friendly projects, and the investment of $230 million in collaboration with the Government of Quebec for silvicultural work and the restoration of bridges and culverts on multi-use forest roads. Workers have also benefited from their fair share of support, with the Government of Canada introducing some of the most generous measures in history to help them through the economic crisis.

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