Toronto (April 20, 2021) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) welcomes the Canadian government's decision to propose an additional $10 million in its 2021 federal budget to support collaboration between Canadian and Israeli companies.

The additional funding, to be provided over five years, would help "expand opportunities for Canadian SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] to engage in research and development partnerships with Israeli SMEs as part of the Canadian International Innovation Program."

The federal budget also proposes providing $2 million to Public Safety Canada to enhance its Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program, which "helps protect communities at risk of hate-motivated crimes, by providing not-for-profit organizations such as places of worship, schools, and community cultural centres with funding to enhance their security infrastructure."

"It is great to see Canada's ongoing commitment to its relationship with Israel and to helping expand and enhance innovation by supporting collaboration between both countries' small and medium-sized enterprises," said Michael Levitt, president and CEO of FSWC. "Tragically we’ve seen incidents of hate targeting at-risk communities continue to rise during the pandemic, making it so important to see an additional $2 million being allocated to the Security Infrastructure Program to keep our places of worship, schools and community centres safe."