To help create and maintain capacity to manufacture essential PPE items in Canada, the NRC, facilitated by NRC IRAP and Innovative Solutions Canada, challenged small and medium-sized businesses to come up with innovative solutions for alternative filtration material that could be sourced and made in large quantities here in Canada, and used to produce N95 respirators and surgical masks for our many front-line workers across the country. Now, NRC IRAP is investing over $200,000 to support 3 companies working on solutions to this important challenge:
- Stedfast Inc. is receiving $32,570 to develop washable masks with barrier properties, and a prototype N95 respirator, surgical mask, and community mask
- Roswell Downhole Technologies is receiving $70,253 for rapid reconfiguration of plastic extrusion equipment to manufacture N95 filter material
- Performance BioFilaments Inc. is receiving $102,524 to develop novel cellulose-based filtration material for N95 respirators and surgical masks that are either recyclable or compostable
This funding will help these companies further their research and development to prove the feasibility of their ideas. The projects will then be evaluated for Phase 2 funding to develop a working prototype, with the goal of scaling up the production of filtration materials for respirators and masks by late summer.