Canada-Italy Innovation Award 2026 - Call for proposals

Overview

The Embassy of Canada to Italy is pleased to accept applications for the 14th edition of the Canada-Italy Innovation Award. This Award provides funding to members of the Italian innovation ecosystem including start-ups, innovation experts, researchers, scientists, or creative industry professionals to develop collaborative projects with Canadian partners in areas that will drive innovative, inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development. 

Over the last decade, the award has resulted in transformational discoveries, research, and applications showcasing the significant potential for and impact of Canada-Italy cooperation. 

Mission

The Canada-Italy Innovation Award aims to enable new partnerships between Canadian and Italian experts and deepen existing collaborations to deliver innovations that have impact. 

Eligibility is limited to Italian individuals who are responsible for identifying and securing their own Canadian research counterpart as part of the application. 

Initial outcomes should be delivered over the first 6 to 12 months following the completion of the project. Ideal outcomes would result in real world applications that can be incubated or scaled in evolving domains. This can include: 

• Technology transfer;
• Applied technology development;  
• Creative products and applications; 
• Institutional linkages;  
• Joint publications and projects;  
• Student/researcher exchange programs;  
• Sharing of equipment, materials and facilities;  
• Exchange of skills and techniques. 

The use of innovative models of collaboration is strongly encouraged as is the pursuit of sustained relationships that remain lasting/active beyond the first 12 months. 

Scope and priority areas 

Through this Award, the Embassy of Canada to Italy aims to support the development of strong, targeted relationships between leading individuals, researchers and institutions in Italy and their counterparts in Canada. 

Projects must seek to solve a problem in new ways, result in concrete outcomes, and address one or more of the thematic priorities detailed below, which are aligned with Government of Canada policy priorities and expressed in the Italy-Canada Roadmap for Enhanced Cooperation: 

1. Clean energy and low-carbon technologies 
2. Critical minerals 
3. Innovative and diversified agriculture 
4. Quantum technology 
5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) for health 
6. Space technology 

Under each theme, a menu of preferred areas of focus is outlined. 

Thematic priority 1: Research on clean energy and low-carbon technologies 

Both Canada and Italy are committed to decarbonizing their industries. Italy also aims to reduce its dependency on imported fuels by expanding of renewable and low-carbon energy sources. Both countries recognize that clean energy is essential for sustainable economic growth and resilience and new technologies, material and components will be essential to achieve these goals.  

Projects funded through the Award are designed to strengthen and expand networks and partnerships between Canada and Italy in the following areas: 

1. Hydrogen as a complement to low carbon power: Advancing the production and utilization of clean hydrogen to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as heavy industry, transportation, and power generation. Hydrogen can complement renewable energy sources by providing on-demand power and reducing CO2 emissions. 
2. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS): Advancing technologies to capture and reuse CO2 emissions from industrial processes and power generation. These solutions can store CO2 underground or repurpose it in various applications, helping achieve net-zero emissions by offsetting unavoidable emissions. 
3. Improving energy efficiency in manufacturing: Enhancing energy efficiency in the manufacturing sector through advanced technologies and innovative processes. This includes optimizing energy use, reducing waste, and implementing energy-efficient practices to lower overall energy consumption in industrial processes. 

Thematic priority 2: Critical minerals 

Critical minerals—such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements—are indispensable for clean energy technologies like wind turbines, electricity grids, and electric vehicles, as well as for digital, defense, and aerospace applications. Global demand for these minerals is rising rapidly, yet production is concentrated in a few countries, creating significant supply chain vulnerabilities. Ensuring secure and sustainable extraction and processing is therefore vital to sustaining technological progress and economic growth. 

Projects funded through the Award are designed to strengthen and expand networks and partnerships between Canada and Italy in the following areas: 

1. Improving critical minerals supply chain resilience and developing mitigation strategies of supply chain disruptions. 
2. Investigating environmentally friendly extraction to enhance extraction efficiency, reduce waste, and minimising the ecological footprint. 
3. Exploring alternative sources for critical minerals and advancing techniques for recovering minerals from end-of-life products while promoting a circular economy.  

Thematic priority 3: Innovative and diversified agriculture 

(In collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada) 

Agriculture and agri-food systems are the backbone of global food security and economic resilience, yet they face mounting challenges from climate change, resource constraints, and shifting consumer demands. Canada and Italy share a strong commitment to building sustainable, innovative agri-food systems that can withstand these and other global challenges. Both countries are leaders in agricultural research and technology, with complementary strengths. Cutting-edge innovations - such as precision agriculture, advanced genetics (or biotechnology), digital platforms, and sustainable processing - are redefining how food is grown, distributed, and consumed. These innovations are essential to building resilient, climate-smart and inclusive food systems that can meet the needs of a growing population while safeguarding the environment.  

Projects funded through the Award aim to strengthen and expand networks and partnerships between Canada and Italy in the following areas: 

1. Accelerating research on plant-based protein sources to enhance food diversity and sustainability. Focus on sustainable systems that offer plant-based foods with comparable nutritional benefits to non-plant-based proteins. This includes addressing consumer acceptance and regulatory challenges, as well as opportunities for scaling production. 
2. Developing sustainable agri-food processing and supply chain solutions that minimize waste and enhance circularity. This includes research to support adoption of green technologies & practices in agriculture; ways to transform agriculture and agri-food waste to animal feed, biofuel or fertilizer or the identification and analysis of the key drivers of food waste. 
3. Exploring novel approaches such as biotechnology and digital tools to accelerate innovation and improve food system resilience. Focus on advancement of genomic and biotechnology innovations; application of data management and real-time analytics to access information; approaches to improve quality of agriculture products, including nutrition, and resiliency of crops, including drought and pest resistance. 

Thematic priority 4: Quantum technology 

Quantum science presents considerable opportunities for new insights, discoveries, technological developments, and applications that can enhance lives and livelihoods. 

Projects funded through the Award are meant to develop and amplify new or existing networks and relationships between Canada and Italy focused on:  

1. Quantum computing and simulation: Advancing practical applications of quantum computing and/or the theory of quantum algorithms and architectures. 
2. Privacy and security: Real-world applications and/or theoretical work on quantum-based secure communication. 
3. Quantum applications in other sectors: Quantum technologies and devices for magnetometry, prospection, imaging, navigation, biomedical applications, and other cutting-edge applications. 
4. Fostering greater participation of and enhanced conditions for women and gender diverse people in the advanced technology and quantum science field. 

Thematic priority 5: Artificial Intelligence (AI) for health 

Italy and Canada have established a Joint Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence to explore the advancement of safe, secure and trustworthy design, development and use of AI. Building on the expansion of AI into health sciences, there is scope for further research on how AI can support healthy populations and enhance physical health. 

Projects funded through the Award are meant to develop and amplify new or existing networks and relationships between Canada and Italy focused on: 

1. Data-Driven Decision Making for Early Risk Detection: Developing AI algorithms that analyze health data to identify potential risks at an early stage, enabling healthcare providers to implement timely interventions and improve patient outcomes. 
2. Health Monitoring and Lifestyle Optimization: Creating AI-powered tools that track health metrics over the medium and long term, supporting individuals in making informed lifestyle choices while contributing to broader research on population health trends. 
3. Clinical trials: Advancing AI applications that focus on clinical trials. This theme aims to connect scientific expertise, regulatory considerations and industry participation. 

Thematic priority 6: Space technology 

Canada and Italy are major international players and partners on international Space programmes. Canada, through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), is a cooperating state of the European Space Agency (ESA) and has several formal and informal partnerships and collaborative programs with space agencies in other countries, including with ASI, NASA, ISRO, JAXA, and SNSA. The CSA and ASI (Italian Space Agency) co-signed two recent bilateral MOUs in 2021 and 2024 focused respectively on “Peaceful Cooperation in Space” and “Cube Sats Enhanced Cooperation”. 

Projects funded through the Award are meant to develop and amplify new and/or existing networks and relationships between Canada and Italy in this sector that are focused on:  

1. Enhancing cooperation between Canada and Italy’s Space ecosystems: with partnerships between industry, research entities, university, and public sector stakeholders.  
2. Addressing global sustainability and resilience challenges: through the collaboration between Canadian and Italian leaders in the Space sector and experts in environmental technology.  
3. Further developing innovation in the Space sector: to define and develop innovative and value-added solutions that have a wide range of applications including in the areas of: Satellite Communications, Data Systems, Robotics, Cube Sats, Lunar Exploration, Scientific missions, and Earth Observation. 

Funding scope

Awards are to support the applicant’s travel to Canada. The value of an Award will be up to a maximum of €4,000 (EUR). Travel expenses that are eligible for reimbursement include:  

• economy class airfare (not premium economy) 
• accommodation 
• local transportation 
• €75 (EUR) per diem (per day of travel) 

Insurance is not eligible for Innovation Award funding. 

Eligibility and funding criteria 

The Canada-Italy Innovation Award is available to start-ups, innovation experts, researchers, scientists, and creative industries professionals, collaborating with Canadian partners. Private/public partnerships are encouraged.  

Funding through the Canada-Italy Innovation Award is to support expenses incurred by the Italian awardee only for travel to Canada. Successful applicants will be required to complete a report immediately following the completion of the travel and must commit to providing brief updates on follow-up activities and outcomes 6 and 12 months after the completion of the project. 

Evaluation criteria 

Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:  

• Research excellence: Quality, originality, and potential impact of the proposed research project. 
• Relevance to innovation goals: Alignment of the research project with the program’s objectives of fostering innovation and knowledge transfer. 
• Collaborative and long-term impact: Strength of collaboration with the Canadian partner, including mutual, societal, or economic benefits and knowledge exchange leading to sustainable partnerships. 
• Feasibility: Practicality and achievability of the research plan, including timeline, methodology, resources, and outcome. 
• Track record of applicant: Applicant’s prior research achievements, publications, and experience relevant to the proposed project. 
• Concrete outcome: Tangible, measurable, and clearly demonstrable results. 
• Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+): Alignment of the project with the GBA+, the process for understanding who is impacted by issues or opportunities addressed by the initiative. 

Special consideration will be given to applications that demonstrate why the proposed project would particularly benefit from an international collaboration. 

Applications will be reviewed by relevant experts from the Embassy of Canada to Italy. 

How to apply  

Applications should be prepared in English or French using the Canada-Italy Innovation Award application form and submitted according to the instructions.  

Note: If the link will not open the PDF, you can right-click on the link and select “Save link as…” to download it to your device. For more information, please contact rome-pa@international.gc.ca. 

Disbursement of the Canada-Italy Innovation Award 

The Canada-Italy Innovation Award will be provided as a reimbursement for the expenses incurred. The original expense receipts, a letter from the Canadian partner, and the final report must be returned for the payment to be issued. 

Important dates

• April 7, 2026: (23:59, Rome time): Application deadline
  • All applicants will receive an email acknowledging receipt of their application. 
• May 15, 2026: Announcement of the winner(s)
  • Winners will be notified by email and their names announced on the Embassy's social media. All other applicants will receive a standard email.
• November 15, 2026: Deadline for completion of the trip to Canada. 

Within two weeks of completion the final report, the letter by the Canadian partner, and the expenditure records must be submitted. 

For more information, please contact rome-pa@international.gc.ca.