Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi recognized for entrepreneur support programs

Moridi receives award for establishing funding and championing CLA and OCEA programs at Ontario colleges and universities

Yorkregion.com
March 19, 2018
By Teresa Latchford

Richmond Hill MPP Reza Moridi has been recognized by the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

The local MPP who also is Ontario's minister of research, innovation and science has been awarded the inaugural UBI Global Innovation Ecosystem Impact Award, presented by UBI Global, a leader in business incubation performance and analysis. The award is given to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the progress of regional, national or global innovation ecosystems.

Moridi received his award at this year's World Incubation Summit held in Toronto where Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) president and CEO Tom Corr applauded him for being a catalyst to the development and improvement of innovation space in the province.

Moridi played an important role in establishing funding for entrepreneurship programs at colleges and universities across the province. He also championed programs such as the Campus-Linked Accelerator (CLA) and On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA). Both were launched in 2014 and are administered by OCE on behalf of the province.

CLA aims to reduce barriers for student and youth entrepreneurs, promote integration with regional business, investment networks and resources, embed new prototype capacity (such as 3D printers) across the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, help students transfer knowledge from studies to the economy, create more entrepreneur-led startups in information and communications technology, digital media, life sciences and clean technologies as well as provide training, peer network learning and mentorship to promising youth entrepreneurs.

The OCEA program supports the initiation and expansion of entrepreneurship activities in Ontario universities and colleges. Funding encourages the growth of student entrepreneurs and student-led enterprises by fostering the adoption of global best practices in student entrepreneurship, which reduces barriers for student and recent graduate entrepreneurs, increases integration with regional business support resources and provides experiential learning opportunities for the next generation of innovators. The program is a part of the Ontario Youth Jobs Strategy, helping more young people find work or launch their own businesses as well as ensuring employers have access to the skill sets they require to build their businesses.

The impact of CLA and OCEA have been significant with startups supported by the programs contributing an estimated $85.4 million to Ontario's GDP and creating 8,293 jobs from 2014 to 2016 alone.