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February 26, 2026
Toronto, ON – Mitacs and the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance research and develop future-ready talent, creating opportunities for students, employers, and Canada’s broader innovation ecosystem.
Through this agreement, Mitacs and BHER will work together to identify and pursue collaborative initiatives including joint thought leadership roundtables and ecosystem conversations, opportunities for communications and knowledge sharing, and the development of referral pathways to create expanded opportunities through aligned networks and complementary programming.
As a national innovation connector, Mitacs supports business-academic research collaboration through co-funded internships for postsecondary students and postdoctoral fellows. Mitacs serves as an essential research-commercialization bridge, accelerating market entry and growth for new products and services.
BHER is the only organization in Canada that brings together leaders from the country’s top companies and post-secondary institutions to build a better social and economic future for all. BHER is a leader in member-driven change and works collaboratively to tackle some of Canada’s biggest skills, talent, and innovation challenges.
Effective February 25, 2026, and active for two years, this collaboration will help advance the workforce of tomorrow. Today’s partnership builds on Mitacs’ growing network of strategic collaborations with organizations across Canada’s innovation landscape, reinforcing a shared commitment to talent-first approaches that strengthen innovation capacity and drive global competitiveness.
Quotes
“Mitacs and BHER are committed to supporting Canada’s students, researchers, and businesses by bridging academia and industry. This partnership is an important example of how cross-sector collaboration can build innovation capacity, develop the workforce of tomorrow, and strengthen Canada’s global competitiveness.”
Dr. Stephen Lucas, CEO, Mitacs
“Through this partnership, BHER and Mitacs will work collaboratively to pursue new initiatives that not only support Canada’s businesses and post-secondary institutions, but also turn insight into action. BHER will continue to use our convening power to accelerate productivity, fuel innovation, support sustainable economic growth, and help solve Canada’s big challenges.”
Val Walker, CEO, Business + Higher Education Roundtable
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.
Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.
About Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER)
The Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization bringing together some of Canada’s largest companies and leading post-secondary institutions.
Since 2015, BHER has worked to harness the strengths of Canada’s business and post-secondary education sectors to build opportunities for young Canadians, boost innovation and drive collaboration. Learn more at www.bher.ca.
For further information, please contact:
Caroline Dobuzinskis
Manager, Communications & Public Affairs
Mitacs
[email protected] | 236-334-3863
Ziona Eyob
Senior Communications & Public Affairs Specialist
Mitacs
[email protected]
Meg Jaques
Communications Manager
Business + Higher Education Roundtable
[email protected]