Mitacs and Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education address labour market needs

TORONTO, ON — Mitacs and the Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education (CoE) are partnering to help financial service institutions firms bridge the gap between the supply and demand of talent for the sector. The partnership aims to increase the access to talent in Canada by linking top researchers enrolled in graduate and postdoctoral programs across Canada through Mitacs’ Accelerate and Elevate programs to Toronto’s financial services sector.  

The collaboration will initially focus on supporting the development of human capital in these areas:

• insurance,
• pension, and
• information technology.

The partnership was launched following discussions that took place during the Government of Ontario’s Summit on Talent and Skills in the New Economy on March 18, 2014.

Quotes:

Catherine Chandler-Crichlow, Executive Director, Centre of Excellence in Financial Services Education (CoE)

“There is a wealth of specialized knowledge and innovation in our post-graduate programs across Canada. We are delighted to partner with Mitacs to blend technical and business expertise for building workforce capacity in the sector.”

Rob Annan, interim CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs

“This partnership will enable Toronto-based financial services firms to connect with research talent at Canadian universities. Mitacs is excited to work with CoE to help these companies experience growth while creating skill development and jobs opportunities for graduate-level researchers.”

Quick facts:

• The CoE was established by the Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA) and offers a range of information and services to strengthen Toronto’s talent pipeline, which is key to the growth and sustained competitiveness of the city’s financial services sector.
• The CoE works closely with a range of partners across sectors, performing important research and outreach.
• Mitacs Accelerate connects graduate students with industry partners for applied research internships supervised by faculty. In 2013–2014, Mitacs supported 2,240 Accelerate internships.
• Mitacs Elevate provides recent PhD graduates with customized R&D management and professional development training while they’re working on applied research projects.

Learn more:

Information about Toronto’s financial services talent pipeline is on the CoE website at https://www.explorefinancialservices.com/.    

Information about Mitacs is available at www.mitacs.ca/newsroom.