Image: UFV / Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Director, Dr. Jon Thomas. The University of the Fraser Valley announced Monday (Jan. 20) it will share $23 million in federal funding with other institutions to expand a program that provides innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship training.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

University of the Fraser Valley

UFV-partnered program receives $23 million in funding for innovation training program

Jan 21, 2025 | 10:21 AM

CHILLIWACK — The University of the Fraser Valley announced Monday (Jan. 20) it will share $23 million in federal funding with other institutions to expand a program that provides innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship training.

According to a statement from the university, the federal sponsorship will help expand the National Invention to Innovation Network, a program that enables Canadian STEM and healthcare researchers in their mission to solve global challenges. The funding will enlarge and expand the program that was founded at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in 2015, facilitating innovation and business training for students, researchers, and personnel in the STEM and healthcare fields.

UFV is named as a collaborating institution on the project. There are 13 Canadian research universities and health research institutes involved, along with 57 partner organizations.

At UFV, the funding will primarily nurture and provide targeted innovation training to undergrad students and Indigenous entrepreneurs working on innovative ideas that impact society. Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (EFCIE) Director and BC Regional Innovation Chair Dr. Jon Thomas will support students, researchers, and potential entrepreneurs as they bring impactful ideas to market through incubator activities.

“Students, researchers, and entrepreneurs need specialized innovation training to transform early-stage ideas into breakthrough innovations with societal impact,” Thomas says. “EFCIE is delighted to design and offer such innovation training in partnership with the National Invention to Innovation Network.”

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Thomas has partnered with the National Network and the research underlying its curriculum for over a decade. He is one of four members of the National Network’s national leadership team and its EDI chair.

“Through this partnership with the National i2I network, the UFV and Fraser Valley communities will be able to access a pan-Canadian network of innovation support organizations with experienced industry mentors from a wide range of sectors, while benefitting from specialized innovation training which has been developed and delivered for over a decade,” he says.