Update: 04/27/2017— Toronto, ON — The Government of Ontario announced a $15 million investment over three years for more than 3,000 internships and fellowships through Mitacs. This funding is part of the province’s Career Kick-Start Strategy and leverages a new federal investment. Career Kick-Start will create more opportunities for high school and postsecondary students, along with recent graduates, to build their resumes and develop job relevant skills. Full release below.
Toronto, ON — Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, and Deb Matthews, Deputy Premier and Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, announced the province’s new Career Kick-Start Strategy will support 3,000 Mitacs research internships in Ontario, fostering work-integrated learning and training through Mitacs programs.
Mitacs connects businesses and not-for-profit organizations with local experts in the academic community to address research challenges. These collaborations promote innovation in Ontario across all sectors of the economy. Mitacs programs support the training and retaining of skilled workers, as well as job creation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship, as revealed in a longitudinal survey.
The announcement will bring research and training opportunities to undergraduates, grad students, and postdocs in the province. Mitacs internships are supported financially by the Government of Ontario and other provincial governments, the Government of Canada, and industry, in partnership with Canadian universities.
Quotes:
Alejandro Adem, CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs
“Today’s announcement highlights the importance of creating training and research opportunities to ensure Ontario’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have the career skills they need to easily transition into the job market. We are grateful for the Government of Ontario’s support and we look forward to working with the province’s post-secondary institutions, businesses, and organizations to build the next generation of innovation leaders.”
Mark Daley, Associate Vice-President (Research), Western University
“Partnerships with industry provide an extremely important way for us to take knowledge generated on our campuses and better apply it to benefit our communities. Today’s announcement by the Government of Ontario is an investment in innovation and training that will make companies more competitive, enable new discoveries, empower our students to develop new skills, and create new opportunities for prosperity across the province.”
Allison Stephens, Technical Leader, Ford Motor Company
“The Mitacs internship program has given us the opportunity to build relationships with some of the best talent in the field. In fact, we hired one of the students right after an internship with us last year.”
Impact stories:
Quick facts:
- Mitacs is a national not-for-profit organization led by Canadian universities that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for more than 17 years.
- Working with 60 universities, thousands of companies, and both federal and provincial governments, Mitacs builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.
- Open to all disciplines and all industry sectors, projects can span a wide range of areas, including manufacturing, business processes, IT, social sciences, design, and more.
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Photo: Deb Matthews, Deputy Premier and Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development.
