Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicles
Impacts Southern Alberta
RADF Investment: $3 million
Other Investment: $1,071,333
Total Investment: $4,071,333
Project Period: November 2007–February 2011
Economic Development
Technology or Communications
Project Description
The Unmanned Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Medicine Hat is a project led by the Canadian Centre for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (CCUVS). The CCUVS is a not-for-profit company that provides unbiased, joint-use facilities for companies, governments, and universities that want to research, develop, commercialize, test, and evaluate unmanned vehicles for air, ground, or marine use. There is a growing international need for such a facility and CCUVS is building on the strengths of the unmanned vehicle technology cluster that already exists in southern Alberta.
Expected Outcomes and Benefits
All projects go through a selection process to ensure they will improve the quality of life for Albertans. This project meets this objective through the following outcomes and benefits:
- Support economic growth, increase employment, and increase investment in southern Alberta
- Diversify southern Alberta’s economy in a high-technology industry
- Enhance opportunities for technology growth in existing resource and agriculturally driven sectors
- Improve ability to accommodate new companies, technology, and people through expanded infrastructure
- Forge partnerships on the provincial, federal, and international levels
- CCUVS is now considered by the expert press as one of the most important global centres for furthering the deployment of civil and commercial unmanned systems technologies.