Are you the next great innovator? Canadian Business presents the third annual Great Canadian Innovation Competition

    TORONTO, Feb. 27 /CNW/ - It's not enough to have an idea - it must be
unique, have a viable target market and be worthy of funding. And therein lies
the challenge. Canadians are a creative bunch, but often we have trouble
turning ideas into something that will attract the necessary capital.
    That's why Canadian Business is once again teaming up with innovation
consulting firm Nytric Ltd. of Mississauga, Ont., to try to get one idea off
the drawing board-or cocktail napkin-and into production.The third annual Great Canadian Innovation Competition offers the winning
entrepreneur:
    -   Up to $50,000 in engineering services toward developing a prototype
        of the idea and a free feasibility study (valued at $20,000) from
        Nytric.
    -   Intellectual property legal services valued at $10,000 from
        Bereskin & Parr, a law firm in Toronto, that can help ensure the idea
        doesn't infringe on existing products.
    -   Business and financial advisory services valued at $10,000 from NBP,
        a subsidiary of Nytric.
    -   A feature story in a future issue of Canadian Business magazine.Besides looking for an original and disruptive product, judges are
seeking inventors who can commit their time and energy to seeing their ideas
all the way through the development life cycle.
    "One of the hardest things, especially in these tough economic times, is
to get support for a new innovation even if it is a fantastic idea," says
Canadian Business editor Joe Chidley.
    "That's why we are staging this competition for the third year in a row.
The prize package amounts to up to $90,000 in business services and could
really make a difference for a would-be entrepreneur. We're looking for
someone with a truly innovative idea for a viable product that would change
how the world does things."
    Canadian Business received more than 400 entries during the first two
competitions. Last year's winner as selected by the Nytric team of judges was
an automated device that breaks down a substance and isolates a certain
component. Such extraction systems are used in just about every lab - for
example, food testers use them to measure nutritional content - but are not
fully automated. Called Certo-Ex, the extraction system developed by
Toronto-based Ameer and Ahmed Taha cuts time and costs, and eliminates
cross-contamination between samples.
    Innovators can submit their best ideas at
www.canadianbusiness.com/greatinnovation before midnight, May 1. Entrants must
submit a two-page outline of the innovation, including a description of what
it does, the target market, how it differs from competing products, and how
much work has been put into it so far. Competition rules and regulations are
also available at the same site. The competition is open to all residents of
Canada (excluding Quebec).

    About Canadian Business magazine:

    Founded in 1928, Canadian Business is the longest-serving, best-selling
and most trusted business publication in Canada. Canadian Business stands
alone as the business magazine in Canada with 100% paid circulation. With a
readership of more than one million, the magazine is published every second
Monday, except in January, July and August, when monthly issues are published.
Special annual issues of Canadian Business include the Investor 500, the MBA
Guide, the Rich 100 and the Best and Worst Boards. Visit
www.canadianbusiness.com.