Feds give millions to B.C.'s STEMCELL Technologies and HTEC for facility construction

Feds fund B.C. companies

Photo: The Canadian Press

Anita Anand takes part in an artificial intelligence roundtable in Gatineau, Que., on May 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The federal government says it's pumping nearly $100 million into two B.C. firms to support the construction of a hydrogen fuel facility and two "cutting-edge biomanufacturing facilities" for vaccines and other treatments.

The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry says North Vancouver-based HTEC, a hydrogen energy firm, is getting $49 million toward a facility that turns "industrial byproduct hydrogen" into fuel.

The ministry says the facility is part of the company's plan to create a hydrogen fuel station network between B.C. and Alberta, which has also received support from the provincial government and a sizable loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank last year.

Industry Minister Anita Anand also announced a $49.9-million investment in Burnaby-based STEMCELL Technologies, which will go toward two new biomanufacturing facilities to ramp up production of "specialized inputs that are critical to the development and manufacturing of vaccines, therapies and diagnostics."

Dr. Allen Eaves, the company's founder, says the funding will help fill "a gap in the raw materials required for large-scale manufacturing of vaccines" and other biotechnology products.

The industry ministry says the funding is from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund.