Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (IFIT): Program eligibility

To meet the basic eligibility criteria for funding under IFIT, projects must meet all mandatory criteria. It is the applicant’s responsibility to demonstrate, in both the Proposal Form [133 kb Word, 305 kb PDF] and supporting documentation, that the proposed project clearly meets each mandatory criterion. Failure to clearly demonstrate that the project meets each mandatory criterion may result in the project being eliminated from consideration for funding.

1. Eligible recipients – Eligible recipients are for-profit companies located in Canada, that either produce forest products in an existing forest product manufacturing facility (for example, pulp, paper, or lumber mills) located in Canada, or that are, or will be, new entrants in the Canadian forest sector for the purpose of the proposed project.
2. Technology advancement –The proposed project must constitute an advancement of forest sector technology in Canada. Once implemented, the advancement will employ new technologies that produce (or will lead to the future production of) bio-products including but not limited to bioenergy, biomaterials, biochemical, and next-generation building products, and can include upstream activities designed to best match fibre qualities with novel product technologies. The proposed project is at a pilot to commercial scale, and the technology does not yet exist, at the proposed scale and specifications, in a forest sector industrial facility in Canada.
3. Location –The project site is located in Canada and the project will be integrated with existing industrial processes in the forest sector. This includes projects located at existing mill sites (open or closed) and projects physically connected to existing forest sector industrial processes or facilities.
4. Wood fibre –The proposed project involves products primarily derived from wood fibre. This includes projects involving the industrial processing of wood fibre and projects directly related to or reliant on by-products generated by wood fibre industrial processing activities.

Applicants will also be required to provide a detailed proposal that will be assessed against rated criteria in a consistent, fair and transparent manner. Please see the IFIT Applicant’s Guide for more information on the evaluation process.