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Supporting Innovation and International Education | ||
Post Date: Nov. 20, 2013 | ||
The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today highlighted a $13-million federal contribution to Mitacs Inc., a national not-for-profit organization that helps the next generation of innovators develop vital scientific and business skills.
“Our government is proud to invest in the leaders of tomorrow while creating new jobs and opportunities today,” said Minister Fast. “We know that education is a key driver of the Canadian economy and that when we expose our students and researchers to new ideas through international connections, we are also making the link to tomorrow’s jobs and opportunities.”
The Mitacs Globalink Program was established in 2009 to bring top international undergraduate students to universities across Canada for research internships. The new funding will also enable Canadian students to take advantage of research and training opportunities abroad.
“Mitacs has a proven track record of providing graduate students and post-doctoral fellows with opportunities to gain valuable applied research experience while helping private sector firms gain a competitive advantage,” said Greg Rickford, Minister of State (Science and Technology). “By investing in Mitacs, our government is attracting top international talent, promoting learning opportunities for Canadian students abroad, and increasing knowledge transfer between universities and businesses.”
“The Government of Canada is ensuring that Canada has the skilled workforce required to promote economic growth and improve productivity,” said Arvind Gupta, CEO of Mitacs. “We look forward to working closely with our university, industry and government partners through Globalink to help ensure that Canada is well-positioned to compete in a global market.”
Mitacs supports national innovation by coordinating collaborative industry-university research projects with human capital development at their core. Since 1999, Mitacs has been promoting academic-industrial research and development by supporting future innovation leaders. Mitacs has developed a proactive and successful approach to supporting innovation, both directly through collaborative R & D and indirectly through long-term development of skilled human capital.
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