About CanExport Community Investments (CECI)
Program objectives | Programming priorities | Annual cycle | Important notes
Program objectives
The goal of the CanExport Community Investments program is to increase Canadian employment by supporting Canadian communities’ collaborative efforts to attract, retain and expand foreign direct investment (FDI).
Objectives
- To enhance the capability and effectiveness of Canadian communities to attract employment—creating FDI by providing assistance to communities in developing FDI attraction, retention and expansion initiatives.
- To help build business cases that will make foreign investors aware of the proven advantages of expanding into and within Canada.
- To encourage and promote the pursuit of excellence in the development of investment programs by allocating funds on the basis of competition that is judged on clear, long-term planning principles and demonstrated cooperation between the private sector and municipal governments.
- To help Canadian communities become more effective in dealing with FDI aftercare and support for specific foreign investment promotion initiatives.
- To encourage intergovernmental cooperation, promote partnerships with the private sector and demonstrate federal commitment to encourage FDI and retention.
Programming priorities
The program prioritizes a number of key FDI sectors and markets.
Proactive FDI industry sectors
- Advanced manufacturing: automotive, aerospace and defence, machinery and equipment
- Agrifood: Food Processing
- Chemicals and plastics
- Information and Communication Technology: Digital media, software, wireless communications
- Life Science: Biopharmaceuticals, medical devices
- Services: Business services, financial services
- Clean Technologies: Renewable-energy technologies, environmental technologies
The program’s FDI target markets
- The Americas: United States, Brazil.
- Asia and Oceania: Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, India, Australia.
- Europe: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Israel, Austria.
Annual cycle
- Specific dates vary from year to year—these are posted on the program’s main page—but key milestones remain the same on an annual basis.
- The Call for Proposals is opened in September and closes in October.
- Applications are evaluated by an adjudication committee by January.
- Funded activities may begin as early as January 1.
- Claims for reimbursement with accompanying progress reports may be submitted starting in April.
- Funded activities must be completed by December 31 at the latest.
- Final reports and final claims must be submitted by the end of January at the latest.
Important notes
- The main funding process occurs once a year using a comparative adjudication process.
- Applications are evaluated by an adjudication committee using the assessment criteria.
- Communities must provide expected results of the proposed activities, and report actual results against these as part of submitting claims for payment.
- Successful applicants are required to sign a legal agreement with the Government of Canada detailing the activities and funds authorized.
- Recipients must complete and pay for the authorized activities before submitting a claim to receive funds. The program contributes to the recipients’ initiatives to a maximum amount of 50 percent of eligible expenses.
