OCAD U students support Ontario’s economy

Congratulations to the recent graduates from the Centre for Local Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC). Photo credit: @ichangimath on Instagram.

OCAD University students are no strangers to supporting local business in a multitude of ways. 

On July 12, OCAD U joined with Centennial College and eCampus Ontario, in partnership with the City of Richmond Hill, to celebrate the newest group of graduates from the Centre for Local Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC). 

“This partnership is a great example of how OCAD U students are using their creativity, skills and knowledge to support local businesses in Richmond Hill to drive impact and innovation,” said President Ana Serrano. “Through this real-world experience, our students are contributing to bolstering the Ontario economy.”

The CLIC is a co-creative partnership for applied design research and development that launched in January 2022. It works with local businesses to support research and development initiatives by providing connections to a network of research organizations, post-secondary expertise and potential funding opportunities.

This innovation accelerator also facilitates and prepares businesses to access the Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform (OCIP), which helps Ontario companies address business challenges with a comprehensive, coordinated process to support research and development. 

Through the CLIC, OCAD U students in the graduate Strategic Foresight and Innovation (SFI) program worked with 11 Richmond Hill businesses through a three-month program that saw each business matched with a dedicated OCAD U student researcher to help work on research and scoping to define their Innovation Challenge. The OCAD U student researchers later helped onboard each of the businesses to the OCIP platform.

“Congratulations to all the businesses that took part in our second CLIC cohort! It was great to see such a range of local businesses partnering with OCAD University’s expertise to build out products and services and create new opportunities for funding and developing. Your dedication and innovation is really setting up the next generation of business offerings for our community and beyond! Well done on successfully completing this program,” said City of Richmond Hill Mayor David West.

Businesses can now apply for the next CLIC cohort that starts in September.