Mitacs: Talent and Research Powering Innovation
At the heart of our strategy is a bold vision:
A strong and resilient Canadian economy powered by ideas, talent, and innovation.
It’s a vision rooted in the belief that Canada’s future prosperity depends on our ability to harness the full potential of our people and their ideas.
Mitacs is committed to achieving our mission:
To drive industry–academic collaboration, deploy skilled talent, and build innovation capacity to strengthen Canada’s productivity and global competitiveness.
Dr. Stephen Lucas
CEO, Mitacs
This is a critical time for Canada to think big and build a future-proofed economy for the benefit of all Canadians. We need bold and coordinated action to address urgent challenges in global competitiveness, productivity, and technological transformation and disruption. Through our new strategy, Mitacs stands ready to contribute, driving collaboration, supporting the journey to research commercialization, and delivering impact for the economy.
Five Strategic Focus Areas for Mitacs’ Future
- DELIVER IMPACT FOR THE ECONOMY, WORKFORCE, AND SOCIETY
Mitacs will embed a unified impact framework across its programs to ensure measurable contributions to outcomes such as talent development, firm growth, quality of life, productivity, and commercialization. - SUPPORT THE JOURNEY TO COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
Mitacs will strengthen pathways from research to market by tailoring support to firms, helping improve clarity and efficiency of intellectual property management, enabling technology adoption, and supporting interns to thrive in the workplace, including in industry and as entrepreneurs. - DRIVE CONNECTIONS AND COLLABORATION
Mitacs will scale its role as a convener and proactive broker of connections, matching industry needs with research talent and catalyzing larger, more strategic collaborations within and across sectors and disciplines nationally and internationally. - INVEST STRATEGICALLY
Mitacs will purposefully allocate funding that supports both partner-driven proposals and strategic priorities such as national, provincial, territorial, or sectoral opportunities. In addition, Mitacs will strengthen its support for Indigenous students, businesses, and entrepreneurs. - OPERATE WITH EXCELLENCE
Mitacs will invest in its people and our workplace, building the diverse expertise the organization needs to deliver. Mitacs will also modernize its digital platform and processes to create a streamlined, user-friendly experience for partners and data-driven internal operations that will reduce administrative burden and speed up decision-making, underpinned by strong stewardship of resources.
With this plan, Mitacs enters its next chapter with a clear focus on how it will contribute to building a strong and resilient Canadian economy, powered by ideas, talent, and innovation.
About Mitacs
For over 25 years, Mitacs has helped grow the economy and develop the workforce of tomorrow, connecting industry with academia and global partners to solve real-world challenges. We support business–academic research collaboration through internships, co-funded with businesses, for undergraduate to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
As a national innovation connector, Mitacs takes a talent-first approach to strengthen innovation capacity and drive global competitiveness. We serve as an essential research-commercialization bridge, accelerating market entry and growth for new products and services.
This is a critical time for Canada to think big and take bold action. Mitacs is ready to help build a strong and resilient Canadian economy, powered by ideas, talent, and innovation.
Mitacs’ Organizational Values
is comprised of our
vision, mission,
and values.
Impact
We stay true to our mission by being results-focused and delivering bold, creative solutions that provide lasting value.
Integrity
We lead with honesty, transparency, and accountability—doing what we say and ensuring wise stewardship of resources.
Collaboration
We drive meaningful connections and partnerships as One Mitacs, guided by our North Star and relationships rooted in empathy, inclusion, and shared goals.
Excellence
We are committed to high quality, innovative work across all that we do, informed by continuous learning, data, and diverse perspectives.
Talent
We attract and nurture talent by investing in people, workplace well-being, and belonging so everyone can contribute and thrive.
Be Inspired by Innovation: Mitacs-Supported Success Stories
Explore the groundbreaking projects fueled by Mitacs support, where innovation meets real-world impact.
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