Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from academic institutions. Mitacs builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada. One of these partnerships is with Own the Podium (OTP). Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec along with the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon.

OTP’s Focus on Innovation:
The purpose of the current partnership between OTP and Mitacs is to build on the momentum gained through OTP’s high-performance sport research initiative supporting Olympic and Paralympic podium performances. A contribution to Canada’s success in Vancouver, London, Sochi, Rio, and PyeongChang was including talented graduate and postgraduate researchers in order to solve sport performance questions about how we could ”Own the Podium.“ These interns will be the conduit between the Canadian national teams, sport institutes, and universities to bring together a winning equation for future Olympic and Paralympic Games. The results will impact podium performances and will also contribute to healthy and active lifestyles across the country.