Across Canada, businesses and organizations grappling with the impact of COVID-19 are getting support from an unexpected resource: top local business students.

Thanks to the recently launched Business Strategy Internship (BSI) program, Mitacs helps match students from top schools with employers looking for support to manage and grow their operations in an environment disrupted by the pandemic.

There are few words more painful to imagine than “your child has cancer.”

Overhearing these life-altering words prompted Mitacs research intern Taylor Jamieson-Datzkiw to pursue a career in pediatric oncology — that is, cancer treatments for children and young adults.

With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, CAMufacturing Solutions Inc. knew they needed to bring their expertise in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to support the rising demand for quick production of personnel protective equipment (PPE) for the health care community.

As of May 27, 2020, there have been 2,925,466 infected COVID-19 patients reported worldwide, with a total of 355,727 deaths. The rapid progression of the COVID-19 pandemic has raised concerns regarding the short supply of medical equipment needed to control the rate of transmission and mortality. In most developing countries, transporting vaccines can be difficult without the proper storage technologies, since vaccines and equipment can spoil in high temperatures.

When postdoctoral fellow Mahdiyeh Hasani of University of Guelph came to Canada in 2017 and began working with Professor Keith Warriner to decontaminate produce, she had no idea that in just a few years COVID-19 would dramatically change the world — and the impact of her research.

In urgent situations like natural disasters — or even the current pandemic — Canadian first-response teams rely on mobile radio systems to communicate in a fast and secure way. Manufacturers globally also use radio systems in their production plants. Enabling radio communications requires a complex infrastructure with hundreds of thousands of radio repeater sites spread across North America and the globe.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, the total number of COVID-19 cases reached a high of 71,486 as of May 13, 2020 — with Ontario and Quebec collectively accounting for 83% of all cases and 92% of the Canadian death toll. With a mortality rate of 3.4%, COVID-19 has created an unprecedented — and growing — demand for a vaccine.

St.Amant, located in Manitoba, supports nearly 2,000 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. In 2014, the St.Amant Foundation launched their Community Transitions program through which they offer community living options to people living at the residential care facilities administrated by St.Amant. While this transition enables them to live a full and active lifestyle in their communities, there was no study to actually assess what this means for their health and quality of life.

The traditional residential-building industry in Canada suffers from poorly designed ducts with undervented and over-vented areas causing large temperature variations, discomfort, and inefficiency. Most of the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in Canada work based on a single-zone design in which only one thermostat with a single temperature sensor turns the system on and off.

When your business relies on a natural habitat, your number one priority is protecting it. For John Grace and his family — owners and operators of the world-class Old Post Lodge on Northwestern Ontario’s Lake St. Joseph — conservation has been an important part of the corporate vision from day one.