April 17, 2019

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kitchener Tuesday to announce a federal investment of $52.4 million for a joint program that will promote the growth of technology companies in Waterloo Region, Toronto and Ottawa.

Laurier President Deborah MacLatchy and other representatives from the university attended the event, which was held at the Communitech Hub in Kitchener.

Communitech, a local organization that promotes Waterloo Region’s technology industry, will receive $18 million over five years. As part of this investment, Laurier’s LaunchPad program will receive $470,000 over five years to help Laurier students, alumni and community members create companies and social ventures.

“This funding is an acknowledgement of how successful the Laurier LaunchPad program is in giving our students and others hands-on, real-world experience in creating an enterprise,” said Laura Allan, executive director of the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, which operates the LaunchPad program.

At Tuesday’s event, Prime Minister Trudeau announced the launch of a collaborative “scale-up” project in Waterloo Region, Toronto and Ottawa designed to help innovative companies grow more quickly and contribute to the creation of skilled jobs in the technology sector. In addition to the $18 million going to Communitech, Invest Ottawa will receive $16.9 million and MaRS Discovery District will receive $17.5 million, for a total federal investment of $52.4 million over five years.

For more details, please see the government news release.