Canada's research parks join forces to create a canadian association

Meeting in Montreal for the 3rd annual conference of the Association of University Research Parks - Canada (AURP), about thirty representatives from Canada's research parks reached an agreement to create a formal association that will group together 17 Canadian research parks.

The Mayor of Saint-Laurent, Mr. Alan DeSousa, who is also in charge of economic development, sustainable development and the Montreal 2025 game plan on the City of Montreal's executive committee, enthusiastically applauded this initiative and offered his support to the participants during a speech delivered to them. He congratulated the instigators of the project, Mr. Claude Normandeau, President-Executive Director of the Technoparc Saint-Laurent, Mr.Austin Beggs, Director, Corporate Relations, at Saskatoon-based Innovation Place, and Mr. Dale Gann, Vice-President of the Vancouver Island Technology Park at the University of Victoria. "In our opinion, university research parks provide the ideal environment for synergy and interconnectivity which are at the very heart of the technological clusters we have adopted to chart the future of the Montreal economy", said Mr. DeSousa.

It's worth mentioning that technology parks are important economic development tools in their respective regions. In Canada alone, they play host to more than 90,000 Canadian employees!

This coalition will notably help Canada's technology parks to more effectively defend their submissions to Government and raise their profile vis-à-vis Canada's innovation sectors. Technology transfers and partnerships between the parks will also be encouraged.

 

CONTACT:Claude Normandeau, President-Executive Director, Technoparc Saint-Laurent, (514) 956-2520, norma@technoparc.com; Carolle Anne Dessureault, Vice-President, Marketing & Administration, Technoparc Saint-Laurent, (514) 926-2521, dessu@technoparc.com, www.technoparc.com