The University of Winnipeg surpassed $1 million in Mitacs internships during the 2021-22 academic year and in several categories outpaced the national average among partner institutions.
Over the course of the 2021-22 reporting period, UWinnipeg students participated in Mitacs internships across their program offerings, including 40 internship units in the Accelerate program, 10 internship units in the Globalink Research Internship program, five internship units in the Business Strategy Internship program, and an additional 42 internship units in various training and professional development programs.
The total cash disbursed as a result of this participation was $1,141,667, which doubled 2020-21’s $520,000 figure and is a threefold increase on 2019-20’s $380,000 figure.
Mitacs’ Accelerate program, which connects “students and postdoctoral fellows…with the organizations that need their expertise to solve a research and development challenge,” was the area of greatest growth for UWinnipeg students, whose collective approval of 40 internship units vastly exceeded the previous single-period high of 24 and totalled more than the previous two periods combined.
Overall, UWinnipeg’s 42 percent increase in activity surpassed the national average of 25 percent, where UWinnipeg students were among the top submitters. Despite fewer full-time graduate students than the average full partner or associate partner institutions, UWinnipeg’s 28 internship units submitted per 100 full-time graduate students was significantly higher than the national average of 11. UWinnipeg’s 44 submissions ranked in the top two-thirds of all partner universities, with disbursements totalling $631,667.
Approvals included of 14 standard submissions (one student), 19 cluster submissions (two or more students), and seven industrial postdoc submissions. Notably, students identifying as female represented a larger portion of UWinnipeg’s Accelerate program approvals (64 percent) than the Canada-wide average (41 percent). In addition, UWinnipeg interns exceeded the Canada-wide average of those working in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries at an astounding 53 percent. UWinnipeg was also above average in representatives from the disciplines of computer science, earth sciences, and physical sciences.
After its unfortunate pandemic-related cancellation in 2020-21, the return of the Mitacs Globalink program allowed for 10 applicants to be hosted through a virtual format throughout 2021-22, with disbursements totalling $40,000. Also, $60,000 was disbursed through the Business Strategy Internship program, which provides a four-month internship with a partner organization in Canada.
History of Mitacs
Founded in 1999, Mitacs encourages Canadian innovation, economic growth, productivity, and meaningful growth by fostering connections between Canadian students and industry leaders. Through these partnerships, students develop skills and connections while collaborating with experts in the field. UWinnipeg is an associate academic partner of Mitacs, whose programs are delivered to UWinnipeg students in partnership with the provincial and federal governments.
