Ryerson University’s Magnet Part of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster – Government of Canada Reveals Winners of Innovation Generating Superclusters

Toronto, ON, Feb. 16, 2018: After a competitive process which started in May 2017, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, announced Canada’s five superclusters and that it will invest up to $950 million under the Innovation Superclusters Initiative.  The superclusters are: Ocean Supercluster, SALE.AI. Supercluster, Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, Protein Supercluster, and Digital Technology Supercluster

Magnet, co-founded by Ryerson University in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, is part of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster and will provide its technology-based service and social innovation to advance careers, businesses, and communities nation-wide and address unemployment and under-employment of Canadians with a focus on youth, newcomers to Canada, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and other individuals facing barriers to employment.

Upon announcing the initiative, Minister Navdeep Bains said: “Today we are investing in five superclusters so that tomorrow we will be more than 50,000 jobs richer and benefit from an even stronger economy—an innovation economy. With the Superclusters Initiative, we bet on Canadians. We looked at what we did well across our great nation, and we asked industry, academia, and NGOs how we could do it better. The response was impressive and the ideas were remarkable.”

Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster will position Canada as a global leader using big data to advance economic opportunities, and address the biggest productivity, health, and sustainability challenges facing Canadians and the world today.

Over a ten-year period, the BC-born consortium anticipates that it will invest more than $1.4 billion to fund over 100 collaborative projects involving more than 1,000 organizations across Canada. Over this time period, the projects will generate a projected $15 billion in GDP and 50,000 new jobs that provide skilled and long-term employment opportunities for Canadians.

“It is an exciting and historic time for innovation in Canada. The Digital Technology Supercluster is a generational opportunity – one that holds significant promise for companies in BC and across Canada,” says Bill Tam, Co-Chair of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster consortium.

Magnet is most widely recognized for its job-matching technology, but it also uses its technology and network of stakeholders to meet two goals: connect people and organizations to opportunity and; help regions and communities to collaborate and work more productively.

“Magnet is proud to be recognized by the Government of Canada and the consortium of Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster and is looking forward to using its emerging technology, networks and services to create opportunities to advance employment and innovation,” said Mark Patterson, Executive Director, Magnet.

About the superclusters:

• The Ocean Supercluster (based in Atlantic Canada) will use innovation to improve competitiveness in Canada’s ocean-based industries, including fisheries, oil and gas, and clean energy; 
• The SCALE.AI Supercluster (based in Quebec) will make Canada a world leading exporter by building intelligent supply chains through artificial intelligence and robotics; 
• The Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster (based in Ontario) will connect Canada’s technology strengths to our manufacturing industry to make us a world manufacturing leader in the economy of tomorrow; 
• The Protein Industries Supercluster (based in the Prairies) will make Canada a leading source for plant proteins and help feed the world; 
• The Digital Technology Supercluster (based in British Columbia) will use big data and digital technologies to unlock new potential in important sectors like healthcare, forestry, and manufacturing.

The supercluster concept is designed to bring together small, medium-sized and large companies, academic institutions and not-for-profit organizations to generate forward-looking, job-creating ideas and innovation.