PRE Labs Inc., headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia, is a manufacturer of innovative body armour solutions. They combine the expertise and experience of law enforcement, military manufacturing professionals, scientists, and engineers specializing in polymer chemistry and armour solutions engineering to best serve their clients and maximize protection and safety.

PRE Labs Inc. has recently received a federal government contract of $210,468 from the Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP).

To accelerate the development of their pre-commercial innovation into a commercially sellable product, PRE Labs Inc. applied and was successfully invited to participate in the Build in Canada Innovation Program. BCIP is a first-procurement program offered through the federal government. It offers innovators a government contract to supply their product and allows for valuable feedback from the government department that tests/evaluates the product’s benefits over its current products or processes.

$210k in BCIP Funding Awarded for Innovative Defence Technology

PRE Labs Inc. creates products for many industries including law enforcement and police, correctional officers, first responders, private security and government agencies, prison guards, and military. They have recently been awarded a government contract from the Build in Canada Innovation Program to develop a modular hard body armour system.

A total of $210,468 in BCIP funding is being invested into PRE Labs Inc. for their military innovation.

The company has developed a lightweight modular hard body armour system, which will be used by Canadian Federal Law Enforcement, military agencies, and policing and security personnel across government and the security and defence industries. The innovative design of the armour will give the individuals wearing it the ability to tailor the protection levels of their hard body armour plates. Weighing less than three pounds, the base plate design will protect against NIJ Level III threats. Secondary plates can then be attached to the base plate to increase the protection levels to III+ – to protect against 5.56 armour-piercing rounds – and level IV, which will protect the user from 7.62 armour-piercing rounds.

The Build in Canada Innovation Program offers funding for the technology’s first sale, and will provide testing by a government department whose results will help PRE Labs improve the product prior to mass commercialization. The defence technology was purchased and will be tested in real-life settings through Defence Research and Development Canada.

Build in Canada Innovation Program: Federal Government Contacts for Pre-Commercial Technologies

The Build in Canada Innovation Program is a permanent, competitive first purchase program offered by the Canadian government. Businesses across Canada can receive support from the program to partner with federal government departments, who purchase and test their pre-commercial technologies. BCIP funding invests in Canadian companies with cutting-edge technologies to generate economic growth in communities across the country.

BCIP funding supports technology projects with contracts up to $500,000 (standard innovations) or up to $1 million (military innovations).

• Standard Component: Provides Canadian government contracts for health technologies, environmental technologies, safety and security technologies, and enabling technologies.
• Military Component: Offers federal government contracts for command and support technologies, technologies that protect soldiers, training system technologies, in-service support technologies, and arctic and maritime security technologies.

To be eligible for BCIP, applicants must be able to demonstrate how their innovation could be used to improve function in the government or broader public sector. The program typically has a continuous call for proposals, therefore companies can connect with a government department and apply at any time before the closing date.

Please note that the call for proposals is currently closed due to a large volume of submissions. Register for Mentor Works’ Funding Snapshot newsletter to learn when BCIP re-opens.

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