Mitacs announces new strategic plan, renewing commitment to talent and research to power innovation

Vancouver, BC – Mitacs is pleased to release its new Strategic Plan 2026-2030: Talent and Research Powering Innovation.

At the heart of the strategy is a bold vision for 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.

The new strategy builds on Mitacs’ highly successful model and reaffirms Mitacs’ mission to drive industry-academic collaboration, deploy skilled talent, and build innovation capacity to strengthen Canada’s productivity and global competitiveness.

The strategy is rooted in five focus areas to guide Mitacs for the future:

• Deliver impact for the economy, workforce, and society, based on an impact framework with measurable contributions to talent development, firm growth, quality of life, productivity, and commercialization.
• Support the journey to commercial success, strengthening pathways from research to market, tailoring support to firms, and launching a new focus on technology adoption.
• Drive connections and collaboration, scaling role as convener and proactive broker of connections to facilitate strategic industry-academia partnerships across the country and globally.
• Invest strategically, allocating funding with intention to support partner-driven proposals, strategic opportunities, and national and regional priorities.
• Operate with excellence, supporting the workforce to deliver on the plan and modernizing Mitacs digital platform and processes to create a streamlined, user-friendly experience.

With this strategic 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.

Read the Full Strategic Plan Here: Strategic Plan 2026-2030: Talent and Research Powering Innovation – Mitacs

Quotes

“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.”

Dr. Stephen Lucas, CEO, Mitacs

“On behalf of Mitacs Board of Directors, I am very happy to congratulate the team on the launch of Strategic Plan 2026-2030: Talent and Research Powering Innovation. The plan was shaped through comprehensive consultation and reflects broad support for Mitacs as Canada’s go-to partner for talent and research collaboration. It is bold, responsive, and grounded by the real-world needs of the Canadian economy in this moment.”

Bruce MacDougall, Chair, Mitacs Board of Directors

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 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.