Mitacs applauds Government of Canada for $14M budget investment to develop new industrial internships

VANCOUVER, March 29, 2012 /CNW/ - Mitacs Board Chair Brad Bennett commended the Government of Canada for today's announcement of $14M in new funding for Mitacs to significantly increase student access to industrial internships.

"The Federal Government has sent a clear message that they want to encourage organizations like ours to work more intensively with our business and academic partners to spur research and development," said Mr. Bennett.  "One of the outcomes will be the creation of higher paying and higher-quality jobs across the country into the future."

Mitacs is a national research network that develops the next generation of innovators with vital scientific and business skills through a suite of unique research and training programs, such as Mitacs-Accelerate, Elevate, Step, Enterprise and Globalink. In partnership with companies, government and universities, Mitacs is supporting a new economy using Canada's most valuable resource - its people.

"We work closely with over 750 industry partners, of which 63% are small and medium-sized enterprises," concluded Bennett. "Today's budget will go a long way to encourage our business partners to become even more competitive and see the commercial advantage of investing in innovation."

For more information on Mitacs, visit www.mitacs.ca.

Daniel Fontaine
Chief Public Affairs Officer
Mitacs Inc.
Cell: 604.356.4165