HI

Eligibility criteria

Who is eligible to enter the Homegrown Innovation Challenge?

The eligibility criteria for the Homegrown Innovation Challenge include the following:

  • You may enter as a single lead organization or as a team, however, all teams must include a lead organization.
  • Lead organizations must be qualified donees, as this term is defined by the Canada Revenue Agency. Lead organizations must also be based in Canada.
  • Lead organizations must be in compliance with their obligations under the Canada’s Income Tax Act and with all CRA guidelines governing qualified donees. Only qualified donees can receive grants from the Weston Family Foundation and these funds must be used solely in the furtherance of eligible research and development projects.
  • Subject to the Terms and Conditions outlined in the grant agreement, organizations may join or leave a team at any stage of the Challenge provided the lead organization does not change.
  • Organizations that are not classified as qualified donees (including international and for-profit entities) can participate as part of an innovation team led by a qualified donee (lead organization).
  • Each submission must name a principal investigator (individual leading the submission, affiliated with the lead organization). This individual must spend >50% of their time in Canada for the duration of their participation in the Challenge. Each principal investigator can only lead a single application but can collaborate or partner on other submissions for which they are not the principal investigator. Should the principal investigator sever their relationship with the lead organization, the Foundation reserves the right to cancel future payments under any grants that have been awarded and remove the lead organization from the Challenge.
  • The proposed system must be optimized for the Canadian market. At a minimum, all research, development, testing and demonstration activities in the Scaling Phase of the challenge must be conducted in Canada. While international organizations may be part of innovation teams, solutions solely tested or demonstrated outside of Canada are not eligible.
  • The proposed system must be designed to produce one or more berries according to the following inclusion and exclusion criteria:

Inclusion criteria

  • Growing system is transferable to other fruits and vegetables
  • Culturally and/or culinarily important to Canada

Exclusion criteria

  • Fruit borne of annual plants
  • Fruit borne of trees
  • Fruit not primarily intended as a food (e.g., wine grapes)
  • Fruit with an atypical growing approach (e.g., cranberries)

Example eligible berries*

  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Raspberries
  • Blackberries
  • Cloudberries
  • Ground cherries
  • Partridgeberries / lingonberries
  • Saskatoon berries / haskaps
  • Bakeapples
  • Crowberries
  • Dewberries
  • Salmonberries
*Examples only; non-exhaustive list.

*If your berry of interest is not on the example list, you can confirm its eligibility by emailing us at challenge@westonfoundation.ca.