October 14, 2026 – The Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC) ) was featured today in BC Business Magazine, alongside our fellow regional trusts, Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT) and Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET).
Growing the Southern Interior through Research Partnerships
The Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ETSI-BC) is partnering with Mitacs to help the region`s businesses, non-profits, First Nations and municipalities by funding Mitacs research internships in partnership with any of the public post-secondary institutes in the Southern Interior of BC. This new partnership intends to address challenges or opportunities that will lead to economic development in the region.
“ETSI-BC is a regional economic trust focused on helping grow and diversify the economy of the Southern Interior of BC. We are committed to helping develop the region’s human capital through encouraging collaborative research that connects the region’s businesses and post-secondary institutions,” said Laurel Douglas, CEO of ETSI-BC. “By supporting internships through Mitacs, we hope to help fuel research projects that connect post-secondary institutions with industry, non-profits, First Nations and municipalities in the region. We believe these projects will create pathways for students and graduates to find and create meaningful employment in the region and help strengthen our region`s economy.”
Established in 1999, Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from the best academic institutions at home and around the world.
“For more than 20 years, Mitacs has worked with over 100 universities and academic institutions, thousands of companies, not-for-profits, and federal, provincial, and territorial governments to build partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada,” said Dr. John Hepburn, CEO of Mitacs. “This partnership with the Economic Trust of Southern Interior (ETSI-BC) will help us further provide that support for innovation in the Southern Interior of British Columbia utilizing the Trust`s extensive connections and expertise.”
The collaboration will provide extra funding for projects under Mitacs’ funding programs including the Business Strategy Internship program and the Accelerate program.
“These programs support researchers at the undergraduate, graduate and/or post doctoral level to help solve problems and/or develop new products or processes for the recipient organizations,” said Hepburn. “These interns will share their time between the academic institution and the industry/non-profit/community partner.”
ETSI-BC and Mitacs are now accepting eligible applications in a two-stage process for the programs and the application deadline is March 1, 2022 with projects starting by June 30, 2022. Click here to view the Call for Proposals.
“We look forward to this funding in collaboration with Mitacs to advance ETSI-BC`s target sectors, help new and emerging industry clusters grow and innovate, and build economic development opportunities in rural and Indigenous communities,” said Douglas.
Application Process
A copy of the full Call for Proposals can be found here. The application process has two parts:
Stage 1: Eligible applicants can submit a Mitacs Accelerate application or a Mitacs Business Strategy Internship application napplication preferably no later than March 1, 2022. Successful projects would ideally start by June 30, 2022.
Stage 2: Mitacs will share the Public Project Overview with ETSI-BC. Following review by ETSI-BC, Mitacs will inform the applicants which projects will be receiving the additional funding.
For More Information, please contact: Laurel Douglas, CEO, ETSI-BC | 236.420.3680 ext 1 | laurel@etsi-bc.ca
We’d love to hear from you!
201 – 460 Doyle Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 0C2
Phone: 236-420-3680 ext. 0
info@etsi-bc.ca
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