The build in Canada innovation program is run through our office of small and medium enterprises. It's not a subsidy program; it's an opportunity for Canadian companies to trial their products through a buy-and-sell arrangement with government departments, which will then put the products through their paces, see if they're relevant, see how they can be improved, and give that feedback to the companies so that they can take their products from the demonstration stage to a marketable stage. It helps our departments find out what's available out there and what can help them be more efficient and more effective. It helps the Canadian companies, because they get live testing of their products in a real-world situation.
That's good for them to improve their products, but it also gives them the advantage when it comes to doing export business. If they are trying to sell to a foreign government, it's a whole lot easier if they can say that they've already sold to the Canadian government. We've seen a number of companies that have applied to this being hugely successful with it. There have been several quotes. We launched the fourth round of calls for proposals in November; it closed in January. We're going through them now.
This time we have additional funding for the program. We've made it permanent. Previously it was sort of a pilot. I know the word “pilot” is an official term in government. It was a trial program, shall we say. We've now made it permanent. We've added extra funding to it and specifically a military component, because our military is the biggest spender of Canadian dollars in terms of tangibles. They have such a wide range of needs. The focus is going to be on products that protect the soldier. If you recall from the Jenkins report, this is one of the key industrial capabilities that Canada has. It gives us a competitive advantage around the world. We want to build on that strength. That's why we partner with Canadian companies to further increase their skills, their product line, their quality, and their ability to export, because exports from Canada create jobs here in Canada, and that's good for everyone.