Startup companies at the University of Waterloo's flagship entrepreneurship programs have generated more than $2 billion in revenue and around 7,500 jobs over about a decade, according to a major new report by Deloitte Canada.
The first third-party study to measure the dollar value of contributions made by the University’s entrepreneurship and co-operative education programs also shows companies that hired Waterloo co-op students realized an additional $525-million in returns in 2018 alone. This total employer gain is based on outputs from co-op students during their work terms and subsidies for hiring co-op students, after subtracting the salaries paid and training costs.
Those conclusions are among the key findings of Deloitte’s 94-page report, which examined the University’s economic contributions using internal and Statistics Canada data, as well as consultations with business, research, entrepreneurship and government stakeholders.