Colleges across the country partner with industry on applied research and innovation projects that enable firms to innovate, grow and increase competitiveness. Colleges work with companies from a broad range of sectors that range in size from start-up, to small, to large enterprises and multinationals. Colleges tend to focus on collaborating with Canadian companies, but some also partner with firms conducting applied research abroad. College research is motivated by industry needs (industry “pull” rather than institution or researcher “push” model)—industry comes to the college with an identified business challenge, and the college provides access to talent, state-of-the-art facilities and their extended networks to help deliver a solution. As such, these industry-focused collaborations provide practical solutions for firms in a cost effective, collaborative and timely manner. 

Click to read the Business + Higher Education Roundtable and Polytechnics Canada’s Guide to Research Partnerships.