The Canada-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (CIIRDF) and Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS) in Israel Launch New Canada-Israel Energy Science and Technology Fund

The Canada-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (CIIRDF) today launched the Canada-Israel Energy Science and Technology Fund (the CIEST Fund) to facilitate the bilateral development and commercialization of innovative technologies and processes applied to the energy sector. 

This fund complements the Canada-Israel Innovation Initiative managed by MATIMOP, the executive agency of the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS), and the National Research Council Canada (NRC) and creates new mechanisms for two-way R&D cooperation in energy.  It will promote the sustainable development of unconventional oil and gas resources, and applications that address environmental challenges. The fund will also encourage scientific projects that harvest new renewable energy sources of interest to both countries. 

The Government of Canada is committing $5 million to the CIEST Fund over the next three years with matching funds to be allocated by OCS in Israel's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor on a project-by-project basis.  NSERC will fund the Canadian academic portion (researchers from universities and colleges) in partnership with Canadian industry through Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) and Applied Research and Development (ARD) grants.

Leveraging investment from both countries, the fund is expected to generate up to $40 million in collaborative R&D. The emerging bilateral partnerships could yield groundbreaking new technologies that enable Canadian and Israeli innovators to capitalize on the evolving global unconventional oil and gas market.

To learn more, download the complete CIIRDF press release.             

For additional information, please contact: 

Sonya Shorey 
Senior Communications Strategist 
Cell: 613-851-9416 
sonyashorey@ciirdf.ca