Service Centres

Owned by the City of Edmonton, the Advanced Technology Centre opened in Edmonton Research Park in 1988 as a business incubator for up to 33 startup companies.

Rents for offices and labs are flexible and sustainable. Tenants must be research-oriented startups and must present a business plan. Companies have access to boardrooms and office equipment such as fax and photocopier. Tenancy is reviewed annually and usually lasts from one to three years, after which companies often move to other quarters such as the Research Centre One in the Edmonton Research Park.

Research Centre One houses emerging companies that have moved beyond the incubator stage. Typically, a tenant company is up and running and in the process of developing a prototype product. It may have outgrown its first space in the nearby Advanced Technology Centre. Often it needs specialized space, such as wet labs or small manufacturing facilities.

The Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator (APBI) is a multi-tenant, CFIA registered facility with eight private, fully serviced processing suites and shared storage space dedicated to assisting food processors in the scale-up and commercialization of food products and technologies leading to successful establishment of their own enterprises. It is the first food processing business incubator in Canada. Also available to tenants are prototyping, mentoring and administrative services offered through the Food Processing Development Centre (FPDC) and the Business Commercialization Branch (BCB), located within the same building as APBI.

Photo courtesy of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

ACAMP coordinates the collaborative efforts among industry, government and academia, providing a path to commercialization for established firms, small start-up companies and researchers on a fee basis. The centre provides support in three critical areas of commercialization: marketing, product development, and packaging and assembly. The ACAMP team works with clients to coordinate product packaging and assembly along with NanoFab at the University of Alberta, the University of Calgary's Advanced Microsystems Integration Facility, the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), and the Microsystems Technology Research Initiative.

Photo courtesy of ACAMP

Alberta Research Council (ARC) is an applied research and development (R&D) public corporation that also develops and commercializes technology to grow innovative enterprises. ARC specializes in converting early stage ideas into marketable technology products and services.

Key lines of business are: applied research, technology assessment, technology development and demonstration, technology commercialization, consultation and policy development, testing and analysis.

ARC serves more than 900 customers and partners around the world in the energy, life sciences, agriculture, environment, forestry and manufacturing sectors. It employs over 600 scientists, engineers, business managers and support staff in five facilities located throughout Alberta in Edmonton, Calgary, Vegreville and Devon. Customers have access to leading edge expertise, equipment and facilities. ARC offers a variety of flexible working arrangements to meet customers' needs including joint ventures, consortia and strategic alliances.

Photo courtesy of Alberta Research Council

Providing information to entrepreneurs in all sectors, this publicly funded not-for-profit Canada Business service centre provides business information and services for those who are starting or expanding a business anywhere in Alberta. The centre offers information about everything from start-up, regulations, marketing, and financing/loan programs to exporting, importing, e-business, Aboriginal business, and government programs and services. Other services include: a toll-free business information line; walk-in information centres in downtown Edmonton and downtown Calgary; an extensive business resource library; small business training available in over 30 regional community business centres throughout Alberta via video conferencing; and a comprehensive website at www.CanadaBusiness.ca/alberta.

Photo courtesy of Business Link

Calgary Technologies Inc. (CTI) accelerates the success of the advanced technology community by helping companies to build, grow and connect. We offer programs and services to help entrepreneurs build their companies. We link them to sources of financing and business experts who can help address the challenges of growth. And we connect companies to the right people at the right time to enhance business to business collaboration.

Photo courtesy of Calgary Technologies Inc.

The Centre for Innovation in Manufacturing can train technical specialists in the design and development of prototypes and products and help technicians learn to innovate. The centre can also provide technology transfer services offered through the Office of Applied Research and Innovation.

Photo courtesy of Red Deer College

Cybera provides provincial leadership in integrating, leveraging and sustaining investments in Cyberinfrastructure (CI) technologies in Alberta and has offices and staff at both the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. Through Cybera, entrepreneurs and researchers can access the following services: Connectivity Services; Grid Services; Project Management; Consultation & Tech Support; Training & Communication.

If you would like to take advantage of the Cybera pilot project program to conduct research or try something out, we are always looking for the latest cyberinfrastructure, grid computing, and Web 2.0 challenges in which to enhance and test infrastructure.

Digital Alberta is an industry-led organization devoted to promoting and connecting our thriving digital media community across Alberta, Canada. Through professional development workshops, advocacy work, and business development activity, Digital Alberta is building the digital media industry provincially and promoting it abroad.

The Leduc Food Processing Development Centre is a modern, fully equipped pilot plant and product development laboratory facility. It's staffed with experienced food scientists, engineers and technologists. Centre services are designed to strengthen and expand the capability of Alberta's food processors to meet the challenges of the marketplace through application of new technology and the development of new or improved products and processes.

Photo courtesy of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development

The NAIT Prototype Development Program works closely with TEC Edmonton and NABI in addition to inventors and industry to provide relevant cost shared services that are needed in today's market. The program supports the development of technologies, entrepreneurs and companies through two areas of focus: technical consultancy and prototype development including the testing of designs or processes. With the vast array of expertise and resources provided by over 200 programs at NAIT, PDP personnel work with faculty, students and industry to facilitate the process of technology commercialization. Available services include: prototype development, beta testing, computer software development and assessment, industrial engineering technology support, and development of specialized instructional materials.

Photo courtesy of NAIT

The NAIT Shell Manufacturing Centre helps Alberta's small and medium enterprises to become globally competitive. We provide companies with access to: training in nearly a dozen areas related to productivity enhancement; applied research solutions in manufacturing; NAIT-wide faculty with experience in modern manufacturing.

We have helped more than fifty companies through our Productivity Enhancement Services, and executed several projects via Manufacturing Solutions.

For 19 years NABI has been helping businesses succeed. Based in St. Albert, Alberta, NABI offers office space, comprehensive business training, coaching, networking and support services to help grow new business ideas. In 2002 NABI received the Mixed-Use Business Incubator of the Year Award from the National Business Incubation Association. NABI is presently home to 30 small businesses and several virtual clients.

This publicly funded not-for-profit company supports pre-commercial development of leading-edge ICT technologies. It works with companies seeking to commercialize their new ideas and get an edge in global markets. Unlike other research funding programs, Precarn uses a collaborative model that includes a developer, a customer and an academic research partner in every project. The collaboration accelerates development, reduces risk and shares the cost of the R&D. This company provides access to an extensive national network of world-class researchers, innovative companies, and sources of funding.

Industry can partner with SAIT's Applied Research and Innovation Services to access the following expertise and resources: Develop and improve products and processes; Prototype, simulate and validate new technologies; Develop and incubate new business; Commercialize innovative technologies; Gain access to research and innovation funding; Learn of new technology development opportunities.
Click here to download brochure.

Photo courtesy of Alberta Advanced Education and Technology

TEC Edmonton is a business accelerator, offering advanced technology inventors, entrepreneurs and companies access to: expertise in Intellectual Property (IP) protection, experience in technology and business evaluation, resources such as facilitating business development sessions, providing lab and office space in the TEC Centre, investment preparation, corporate structuring and documentation, as well as connections to investor forums, technology development contacts, Executives-in-Residence, and networking opportunities. A unique non-for-profit, TEC Edmonton is a joint venture between the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) and the University of Alberta

Photo courtesy of TEC Edmonton

University Technologies International (UTI) is the University of Calgary's technology transfer, commercialization and incubation centre for inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs. UTI's reach expands beyond the University community to include the local business and inventor community. With 18 years of experience and a proven track record of catalyzing the commercialization of a wide variety of innovative technologies, UTI is dedicated to providing services on all matters related to technology transfer, commercialization, company creation and incubation.

Established in March of 2002 as a division of TRLabs, NEWT has a mandate to promote wireless commercialization in Western Canada. The vendor-neutral innovation centre offers development support on leading wireless communications platforms (HSDPA/GSM, CDMA, WiMAX, 802.11 and Bluetooth). NEWT also offers education, mentorship programs, strategic business and product management support, and technical resources. It functions as a hub for businesses, service providers, and consultants connecting small to medium sized companies to technical advisors and team members; tech start-ups to business advisors and consulting services. NEWT has access to a large database of qualified industry people and companies for: engineering, product development, manufacturing, software development, certification and conformance testing.

Photo courtesy of Alberta Advanced Education and Technology