My information on this opportunity is scanty but here goes (from an Information Technology Association of Canada notice page),

Industry Canada has been approached by Nava Swersky Sofer, Co-Chairperson, NanoIsrael, seeking assistance to identify Canadian firms having an interest in nanotechnology/materials that might be interested in participating in NanoIsrael 2012, an international conference and exhibition to be held in Tel Aviv, March 26-27, 2012.

Interested firms should contact Swersky Sofer directly, at: +972-54-489-8551, nava@swersky.com.

You can get more information about NanoIsrael 2012 here. I gather the conference is hosted by the Israel Nanotechnology Initiative (INNI), from the About INNI webpage,

The INNI mission is to make nanotechnology the next wave of successful industry in Israel by creating an engine for global leadership.

A primary task for the INNI is to promote fruitful collaboration between Israeli and global nanotechnology stakeholders, particularly for projects that lead to continuing success in academia and industry.

To achieve this task, INNI activities include:

• Establishing a national policy for resource allocation in nanotechnology, with the aim of optimizing resources for faster commercialization.
• Formulating long-range nanotechnology programs for scientific research and technology development in academia and industry, and promote development of a world-class infrastructure in Israel to support them.
• Leading in the creation of projects that promote agreed national priorities; allocate their budgets and review development progress.
• Actively seeking funding resources from public and private sources in order to implement the selected projects.
• Promoting development of innovative local nanotechnology industries which will strongly impact Israeli economic growth and benefit investors.

The contrast between the Canadian nanotechnology scene and the Israeli scene is quite striking. We don’t have a central initiative or nanotechnology project and there is no national nanotechnology policy or roadmap.

The Israeli approach is similar to what I’ve seen in the US and elsewhere and while I don’t know if it will make any difference in the end, it does mean that in the short term, identifying Canadian companies and scientists with an interest in nanotechnology can be a bit of a challenge as there is no central information hub as there is elsewhere.