Campus-Linked Accelerators (CLAs) are an important step in the evolution of Ontario’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. This program provides funding to post-secondary institutions to create, improve and sustain a culture of entrepreneurship among students and youth in their regions, and to integrate these entrepreneurial activities with investors, industry, and other stakeholders in their region.

CLA investments will help Ontario accelerate the commercialization of ideas and inventions out of its world-class research institutions, develop the business leaders of tomorrow, and harness the power of its support networks to help build competitive regional innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

CLA funding is intended to scale (grow) campus-linked entrepreneurship capacity by funding those institutions with:

• Proven experience and existing commitments to entrepreneurship capacity and campus-linked entrepreneurship activities; and/or
• Capacity and success in supporting youth-led entrepreneurship
  

Objectives:

• Align best practices and reduce barriers for student and youth entrepreneurs
• Promote integration with regional business and investment networks and resources
• Embed new prototype capacity (e.g. 3D printers) across the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE)
• Help student entrepreneurs transfer knowledge and intellectual property from Ontario’s post-secondary institutions into the economy
• Create more student and youth entrepreneur-led start-ups in sectors such as ICT, digital media, life sciences, and clean technologies
• Provide training, peer network learning and mentorship to promising youth entrepreneurs