Canada-UK Semiconductors 2025 – UK-Canada Joint Innovation Funding

This competition seeks semiconductor innovation projects that can range across the entire value chain. Examples of relevant areas include:

• Semiconductor device fabrication

• Novel chip architectures

• Advanced materials for semiconductors

• Semiconductor assembly and packaging

• Enabling technologies for semiconductor manufacturing

The overarching aim is to develop “innovative semiconductor technologies” that have strong commercial potential.

Projects should propose outcomes that are significantly ahead of current state-of-the-art or offer novel uses of existing semiconductor tech. To be eligible, your consortium must include:

• At least one UK SME (small or medium-sized enterprise) as a grant-claiming partner, and

• At least one Canadian SME as the Canadian lead (a profit-oriented, incorporated Canadian SME)

Additional partners such as universities, larger companies, or research institutes can participate in the UK consortium (and can share the UK grant) as long as an eligible UK business leads. In Canada, non-SME collaborators can join but the lead must be an SME. Each UK business may lead at most one application (though it can collaborate in an additional one). A Canadian SME can only be involved in one application as lead or partner.

Canadian participants must complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) process before the full application. Canadian SMEs needed to register by 9 July 2025 and submit an EOI by 23 July 2025 to be invited to the full proposal stage. Only projects with an approved Canadian EOI can proceed – if the Canadian partner hasn’t been invited after the EOI, the joint project is not eligible for this funding. This staged process ensures that Canadian interest and suitability are confirmed early.

For UK applicants, standard Innovate UK eligibility rules apply. Projects should plan to carry out the majority of work in the UK and Canada, and exploitation of results should benefit at least one of the countries (preferably both). Projects can last 12 to 24 months, and must not start before 1 April 2026 or end after 31 March 2028, to align with funding timelines.

The Canada-UK Semiconductors 2025 competition is a bilateral funding opportunity aimed at stimulating innovation in the semiconductor sector through UK-Canada collaboration. UK registered organisations can apply for a share of at least £1 million in partnership with Canadian SMEs on joint R&D projects in semiconductor technologies.

Innovate UK and Canada’s National Research Council IRAP are co-funding this initiative to drive advancements in semiconductor products, processes and services. Under this scheme, UK SMEs team up with Canadian SMEs to tackle technical challenges in semiconductors – from materials and chip design to manufacturing processes. The goal is to combine UK and Canadian strengths in semiconductor research and industry, accelerating development of innovative solutions that neither country could easily achieve alone.

Projects must be highly innovative and commercially viable, with the potential to benefit both economies and strengthen the semiconductor supply chain. Successful applicants on the UK side receive grant funding up to £500,000 per project (covering up to 70% of eligible project costs). Canadian partners are funded separately by NRC IRAP – UK funds support UK organisations only, while Canadian SMEs receive their funding from Canada. Importantly, a project will only be awarded funding if it is approved by both Innovate UK and NRC IRAP, ensuring it meets each country’s strategic priorities.