Industry Committee on May 5th, 2016

[Maria Aubrey]

The mandate of the NRC has served Canada well for 100 years, and we are unique in the sense that we bridge the gap from all of the different aspects that come together in regard to funding. IRAP provides grants, and there are other organizations that do that, but NRC is unique is bringing all of it together on a national basis, providing infrastructure, equipment, and so on.

The mandate of the NRC is pretty comprehensive and supports that innovation agenda and the government's mandate letters. We look forward and hope to be able to complement these and contribute to it and build on it.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Is it fair to say, if you have a high performer, leave him to perform and just remove the barriers, in the future?

[Maria Aubrey]

I think that's always potentially a good way to approach things. We shouldn't disrupt what works, if we can help it. On the other hand, I also believe that one thing the NRC has done well over the years is to evolve with change, and so we need to take those things into consideration. As the government evolves the agenda, we need to also evolve to address those things and accommodate them as needed.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Coming back to the role that NRC is taking on the innovation agenda, the reorganization that was supposed to happen from April 1 has been postponed, so there's a bit of flex, I think, in the system. People were expecting change, and suddenly it has been stopped.

What are you doing in the immediate future?

[Maria Aubrey]

I think it's important to note just a clarification.

On April 1 we did not stop an NRC transformation. For all intents and purposes, the NRC transformation is completed. We needed to achieve a balance and bring all of the potential from the NRC together to maximize it and to bring forward solutions for Canada and to tap into all of the great capability that we have.

As of April 1, what we want to do is to stay focused on delivering on the programs that we have, making sure that we really focus on outcomes, making sure that we understand the needs of those programs, and utilizing all of the resources we have across the organization. That's the focus.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Mr. Arya.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

As we start our manufacturing strategy, we don't know what we don't know. If you have any information that can help us improve the manufacturing climate in Canada, improve our support for manufacturing as a government, we'd really appreciate anything you can think of that you think might help us.

[Maria Aubrey]

Mr. Chair, our organization welcomes the opportunity to contribute with all the great knowledge we have at NRC.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Send us Jennifer Mamby.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Thank you very much for that.

With all the successes you have, you can write the manufacturing study.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Mr. Lobb, you have five minutes.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I've had the great pleasure of working in two different industries that both used the IRAP.

I have one question. Do you hear criticisms of IRAP from businesses about the cumbersome nature of recording, managing, and filing back to that program? In many cases, it's small and medium-sized businesses, and they have to add half a person to be able to comply with the requirements. Is there anything you can tell us about that?

[Maria Aubrey]

Mr. Chair, I will allow Mr. Ciobanu to add to this, but before we do that, just from my personal experience working with SMEs, I know the tremendous importance of balancing the needs of managing public funds and doing it right. Handing out money is a difficult thing to do right. I think it's incumbent on the NRC to continually look at our processes and make sure that if anything can be simplified, we do that, while at the same time making sure that the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. As far as the complaints and so on are concerned, I will allow Mr. Ciobanu to say that it could change.

[Bogdan Ciobanu]

Thank you. It's a good question.

IRAP is aware that time for entrepreneurs is often more important than money. That's why we've been continuously trying to simplify the processes, to make their lives easier, and to simplify the paperwork as much as possible. The applications can be now entered by clients on a secure website, which simplifies the way they apply. There is an interaction with the ITA in real time, which accelerates the process. The claims are a major issue for the clients and for a small business. A lot of time, as I'm sure you are aware, they keep their invoices and everything in shoeboxes. We try to help them structure, we try to help them develop a project management approach that will help them later, for the SR and ED, for example, and we provide them the opportunity to send those invoices and their claims on our secure website.

There has been a lot done to simplify processes. For small contributions, our response time is below 10 days. This shows that we try to be as effective and as efficient as possible.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

The other question I have for you—and, again, this is going back almost 10 years now—is about intellectual property, trademarks, copyrights, etc. My experience has been that you have these brilliant minds who are very focused on the technology—I'll use technology for the example—a lot of young and inexperienced people who have a great idea. They're ready to go out, and then they get crushed by an American company because of the patents, or a copyright, or a trademark. Along the way they get great support from governments, universities, etc., but that was a gap, the legalese part of it. Is that something you have worked on, that IRAP's worked on, etc., to provide advice and seek the appropriate legal counsel while you are developing your technology?

[Bogdan Ciobanu]

Of course, ITAs are not legal experts, but a lot of them had previous IP experience while working as senior executives and entrepreneurs themselves. What they are doing is to refer their clients to lawyers in the community who specialize in their particular areas. They are working with CIPO, the federal government intellectual property office, which also provides some form of advice on IP. What we always make sure is that there is a clear agreement between our clients, contractors, consultants, and everybody involved in the project, on the management of IP.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Mr. Baylis, you have five minutes.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

When you're done talking to me, you'll be able to answer Mr. Nuttall's question about directives from the Liberals.

There is information that I would like to have; I don't know whether you'll have it. I'll direct most of my questions to Mr. Ciobanu.

I believe the Canada accelerator and incubator program was run about four years ago. Was it three or four years ago that it was closed?

[Bogdan Ciobanu]

This is the third year.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

This is the third year of it, and it has two more years to run.

I'd like to get a list of all the applicants from whom applications were received; I'd like to get a list of the selection criteria that were used to make the selection; I'd like to get a list of the incubators and accelerators that were funded, showing how much they were funded. I don't assume you'll have all that information here.

[Bogdan Ciobanu]

No, I don't have it, but I will provide this information to the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Dan Ruimy]

Do so through the clerk, please; we'll distribute it for everyone.

[Frank Baylis, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

There is another set of information that I'd like to have, specifically on the IRAP budget. I'd like to know, let's say for the last ten years, because I know that budget has moved around a lot, two things: how much money was actually allocated to companies, and how much was allocated to running the department—that is, all your field staff and so on? I'd like to see those two numbers, specifically for the IRAP program..

[Bogdan Ciobanu]

That's for the last 10 years?