Additional Funding Supports Thousands More High-Skilled Internships

The Province is partnering with Mitacs to train the next generation of skilled workers that will help find solutions for healthcare, clean-tech and other sectors that require highly qualified researchers.

With $13 million in additional funding, the government is creating up to 3,200 more paid internship opportunities for post-secondary students and others studying in Nova Scotia over the next four years. Nova Scotia’s investment will leverage contributions from the federal government and participating organizations.

“Mitacs internships have been a catalyst for stimulating economic development in our province, and we are excited to see the impact of this significant added investment,” said Brian Wong, Minister of Advanced Education. “This program has increased productivity while creating new jobs and opportunities. Added research funding strengthens our commitment to invest in post-secondary students to make Nova Scotia an affordable and desirable place to build a life and career.”

Participants, including college and university students, post-doctoral researchers and recent graduates, will contribute their specialized skills and expertise to help local companies find innovative solutions to some of the province’s most important challenges. Providing more work-integrated learning opportunities will also help Nova Scotia develop the skilled workforce of the future, attract and retain highly qualified post-secondary talent, support population growth goals and drive economic prosperity.

Mitacs, a national, not-for-profit research and innovation organization, helps Nova Scotia businesses, healthcare facilities, municipalities and not-for-profits tap into the talent at the province’s world-class post-secondary institutions and grow their capacity to innovate. For example, through Mitacs internships, local post-secondary students have helped Shannex Inc. harness the power of data to enhance seniors’ care.

Quotes:

“The path to our continued well-being, quality of life and prosperity relies on our ability to innovate – to do things differently. Mitacs brings innovation within reach by connecting bright minds to business opportunities, helping Nova Scotia organizations harness the power of R&D to drive economic growth, boost productivity and build new solutions for everything from healthcare to housing. With this investment from the provincial government, our team will continue, in collaboration with our industry and post-secondary partners, to make real impact across the province.”

– Tash Ismail, Chief Business Development Officer, Mitacs

“Our Shannex Insights Lab is an internal research and analysis hub dedicated to the development of solutions that improve resident care and outcomes. Our partnership with Mitacs has allowed us to take this work to the next level through the contributions of passionate and committed students who possess specialized skills. With their help, we see great potential for enhancements that are informed by the experiences of our residents and team members.”

– Jason Shannon, President, Shannex Inc.

“Axem, like all startups, takes talent seriously. Developing a first-of-its-kind medical device involves solving several problems and demands innovation. Our relationship with Mitacs has been a linchpin for finding the highly qualified persons necessary to move our product forward. Our first Mitacs Accelerate Entrepreneur project supported the development of our device to the clinical trial phase, and our current Mitacs Accelerate Cluster project is supporting our ability to quickly act on our real-world data to refine our product for launch. We hope to continue working with Mitacs to access exceptional people and help them transition from academia to industry.”

– Tony Ingram, Co-Founder and CEO, Axem Neurotechnology Inc., and former Mitacs intern

“At Hollo, it is our goal to reduce the burden of treatment of chronic respiratory illnesses so that patients can get back to what they love in life. Mitacs has provided essential support to us from the beginning, enabling our team to focus on what we do best – patient-centric innovation.”

– David Hodgson, Co-Founder and CEO, Hollo Medical

Quick Facts:

• Mitacs works with more than 150 universities and colleges across Canada; thousands of companies; federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments; hospitals; and leading international research institutes to match highly skilled post-secondary talent to organizations that need to expand their capacity to innovate
• the Province currently provides $1 million per year to fund up to 250 internships and the federal government provides $1.5 million in funding annually
• the Province’s additional funding this year is part of the additional appropriations included in the December budget update
• the increased provincial investment brings the number of internship opportunities to a total of up to 4,200 over four years

Additional Resources:

Mitacs website: https://www.mitacs.ca/en