Major Canadian Microtechnology Company Loses Government Funding

An innovative and high-tech microtechnology company is set to close its doors within the coming months after losing its funding from the government. Gordon Harding, CEO of the Kingston-based non-profit microtechnology company CMC Microsystems, announced that they would be shutting down fabrication of parts by the end of November and leaving 48 researchers, scientists, and engineers to find work elsewhere. The company’s funding was provided directly from the Pierre Trudeau government in 1984 until the responsibility was handed off to the National Science and Engineering Research Council, or NSERC. The NSERC decided to cut off funding for the company in 2016, giving the workers and CEO only a couple of years to find either new funding or a new place to work. The fund cutoff was supposedly done out of an initiative by the NSERC to support individual research projects.

CMC primarily focused on the production of customisable micro-nanotechnologies to be sent out to various educational facilities such as the University of Ottawa. CMC served as a link between Canadian schools and the international world of high-tech industry. Professors in various universities now need to find a new place to receive materials required to run their classes, something that they had previously relied on CMC for. CMC has been consistently innovating since their founding back in the 80’s. One of CMC’s greatest achievements is managing the Canadian National Design Network, which allows researchers across the country easy access to the latest industry tools and technology. The Design Network also helps to train new students in the field as well as supporting the already mentioned researchers in their practice. CMC helps Canada’s global impact in the microtechnology industry by lowering the development and product acquisition costs for their researchers. CMC has been an essential and helpful part in ensuring that local businesses and people across Canada can use the same modern technology as the rest of the world.

CMC isn’t giving up, though. Within these final five months, they are determined to try and regain funding through any means necessary, even though that could mean adjusting their entire business practice. The company is focusing more on education than ever, as well as minimising commercial applications of their technology to focus more on industrial research in an attempt to attract contemporary funders. CMC is also appealing to the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security to try and use their skills for national defense products. If CMC is able to acquire just enough funding to continue manufacturing their product, they can show to other potential investors that they are a smart choice for their money. The CEO of CMC is also urging people to express their concern to the federal government either through a physical letter or through using #NeedMyCMC online in social media, all in a hope for the Canadian government to restore funding to what is an integral part of Canada’s position on both the national and global scales of higher technology.