Our impact

Throughout the 2023-24 fiscal year, the University of Waterloo has invested significant resources in improving intellectual property capacity and increasing support for intellectual property development and commercialization opportunities. Through ongoing awareness generation campaigns and collaborations with our six faculties, we have demonstrated increasing levels of interest in entrepreneurship, social impact and commercialization activities.

For example, the total applicant pool for early-stage entrepreneurship training programs (e.g., Up Start, Cornerstone) has doubled over the past year. At the same time, demand has also encouraged us to increase the number of sessions available (without application requirements) to the University community for a range of entry-level entrepreneurship topics, including the basics of intellectual property. These sessions are provided by experts, current founders, and technology transfer professionals specialized in this area. Cumulatively, across the university’s efforts, this has resulted in the support of over 3000 new individuals engaged in entrepreneurship efforts and 250 new projects/ventures over the past year.