“Ontario’s colleges, universities and research institutes are key sources of innovation and commercialization, making them leading contributors to Ontario’s productivity and economic growth,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities. “By making it easier for industry to access the talent and resources they need at postsecondary institutions and research partners across the province, our government is helping businesses bring more Ontario-made ideas and inventions from the lab to market.”

The Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform (OCIP) is designed to be responsive and flexible and will simplify pathways to research and commercialization. After piloting the online platform in 2020 at select postsecondary institutions, the province is now expanding this resource to businesses and all publicly assisted colleges and universities in Ontario.

Collaborative initiatives supported through the pilot stage focused on urgent needs related to the pandemic and included projects that:

• Developed a low-cost decontamination process for disposable N95 masks
• Explored potential economic and labour market trends the City of Toronto may experience over the next three to five years
• Investigated the impacts of telework on both the environment and employee performance.

“With the launch of OCIP, eCampusOntario is thrilled to support innovation and collaboration by increasing research partnerships between Ontario businesses and the province’s colleges, universities and Indigenous Institutes,” said Robert Luke, CEO, eCampusOntario. “By helping businesses remain at the forefront of their sector while giving students valuable work experiences, we will not only help industry succeed today, but also ensure Ontario’s innovation capacity is stronger for tomorrow.”

Ontario businesses interested in accessing postsecondary research, innovation and expertise can learn more about the Ontario Collaborative Innovative Platform through eCampusOntario.

• The Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform leverages a combination of existing technology and a new collaborative platform administered by eCampusOntario.
• The platform builds on the proven Tech-Access Canada model for linking small- and medium-sized enterprises to expertise and resources at Canadian postsecondary institutions.
• The Ontario government is supporting the province’s innovators in developing, managing and commercializing their intellectual property (IP) with the launch of services at Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON).
• Through partnerships with Mitacs, the government is continuing to fund thousands of research internships for undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.
• The Ontario government is supporting Ontario-made innovation with an investment of more than $198 million in research projects at colleges, universities and research hospitals across the province.