Humber Polytechnic will serve as the Ontario Hub lead as part of a national network designed to harness the expertise and capabilities of applied research facilities and staff to turn said research into market-ready innovations.

The Government of Canada has awarded $24,067,229 in Lab to Market funding to the College-University Lab to Market Network for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization (the Network), which is led by Red River College Polytechnic. The Lab to Market grants are administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

The Network aims to advance entrepreneurship training, mentorship and the commercialization of academic research in Canada.

Over the next five years, the Network’s 38 partnering colleges, polytechnics, and universities with 24 Technology Access Centres, 610 business mentors, more than 2,100 applied research and industry specialists, and vast networks of industry and innovation ecosystem partners will be mobilized to provide researcher-entrepreneurs with the skills to commercialize their research.

Through transformative, hands-on entrepreneurship training and mentorship programs delivered in the near-to-market environments of Canada’s colleges and polytechnics, the Network will train 8,680 participants and direct 20 pet cent of total project funding to Indigenous students and Indigenous-owned businesses. These initiatives aim to support 700 new company starts and the creation of 175 new commercialized products or services.

Canada has experienced dramatically declining productivity in recent years. In 1984, Canada was producing 88 per cent of what the U.S. did per hour. By 2022, that number dropped to 71 per cent. In 2023, Canada placed 18th in world productivity.   

"Transforming innovation into commercial success is a significant challenge in Canada and, at Humber, we’re committed to tackling this issue from every angle to drive progress for our students, partners and the country,” said Ann Marie Vaughan, president and CEO of Humber Polytechnic. “Through partnerships such as the College-University Lab to Market Network for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization, we’re working together to address society’s wicked productivity crisis head-on."

Humber will be the Ontario Hub lead with partners including Loyalist College, Mohawk College, Western University and the University of Waterloo. Collaborations extend to Sheridan College, Flint Hub and the University of Guelph, ensuring a wide regional and academic-industry engagement.

The Ontario Hub will leverage 28 research facilities, the Effectuation Entrepreneurship Model through the Longo Centre for Entrepreneurship and expertise in business-to-business and business-to-consumer innovations to link trainees with local resources and industry connections, enhancing the national training program’s regional effectiveness.

Humber will coordinate research commercialization and entrepreneurship training activities across partner institutions and will ensure national frameworks are implemented locally and that regional engagement strategies are in place across colleges and polytechnics as well as with ecosystem collaborators and stakeholders.  

There will also be outreach to small and medium-sized technology companies via networking within the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor. The Corridor is a major driver of Canada’s high-tech and manufacturing sectors and the second-largest technology cluster in North America with more than 15,000 technology companies, 300,000 technology workers and $3.6 billion in direct GDP.

Humber will also track participation outcomes, including the number of students trained, and will report on progress and outcomes.