As I outlined earlier, Mr. Chair, this is a competitive procurement program, so we call for proposals every year. The fifth call for proposals was launched just recently, in June 2014, and closed in September. We received 221 proposals, and they are currently under evaluation. We will regularly have calls for proposals, and any company in Canada, including companies that have already submitted innovations under this program, can submit proposals under this program. They will be rigorously, transparently, openly, and fairly evaluated. If they are pre-qualified, they will have access to potential contracts with federal government departments to test their innovations.
The Department of Public Works and Government Services has a network of small and medium-sized enterprise support offices across the country. Part of the services we offer are information sessions for small and medium-sized enterprises on how to access this program and all the other procurement programs we have in PWGSC.