Fourteen innovation support and advocacy organizations from across Canada have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a more coordinated approach to intellectual property education for Canadian businesses, researchers, and entrepreneurs.
The Stakeholders in IP Education MOU brings together federal and provincial agencies, technology accelerators, and innovation support organizations from B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Atlantic Canada. Signatories include Innovate Calgary, Innovate BC, New Ventures BC, the Innovation Asset Collective, Intellectual Property Ontario, Axelys, Communitech, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, and several others.
Through the agreement, participating organizations will work toward a shared national IP competency framework, common education tools, and a national IP education pathway — with a focus on helping startups, scaleups, and entrepreneurial researchers understand how to protect and leverage their intellectual property.
"IP education is most impactful when it moves beyond simply teaching innovators how to protect IP and helps them understand how to use it to build stronger, more competitive companies," said Kevin Dahl, senior director of ElevateIP Alberta at Innovate Calgary. "This collaboration gives us an exciting opportunity to build on that work alongside partners across Canada, sharing tools and expertise so that innovators, regardless of where they are located, have access to a more consistent pathway."
The agreement reflects a shared view across the Canadian innovation ecosystem that IP education has been fragmented across jurisdictions, leaving many entrepreneurs without consistent access to guidance.