McGill University is looking to join forces with Quebec businesses to lay out a plan to attract investment into the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s according to the school\u2019s president, Deep Saini, who addressed Montreal\u2019s Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of the plan includes funding for a new sustainability research centre.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your company wishes to open an office, a factory, or establish contacts abroad, McGill gives you access to a pool of talent trained here. A guarantee of quality for your partners,\u201d said Saini. \u201cWe must act together, because if we are not at the table, we are on the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n
Economic uncertainty loomed over the Montreal Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, and McGill is equipping itself for what Saini calls an unstable period.\u00a0He\u2019s inviting businesses to get on board as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of us: governments, businesses, institutions of higher learning, research, and innovation must shoulder this responsibility together,\u201d said Saini.<\/p>\n
It was a twenty-minute speech to woo Quebec\u2019s business class to see the university as a strategic partner.<\/p>\n
Among the projects he spotlighted: the transformation of the former Royal Victoria Hospital site into what McGill calls its Sustainability Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the cutting edge of technology, the park will become one of the world\u2019s largest hubs for learning, research, and teaching,\u201d said Saini.<\/p>\n
The project represents $870 million in combined investment from McGill and the Quebec government. The centre will focus on research in areas like climate change.<\/p>\n
By early 2029, it will be transformed into the McGill Sustainability Park and will be one of the university\u2019s most significant contributions to Qu\u00e9bec.<\/p>\n
Saini\u2019s speech comes as McGill reported a $45 million shortfall in its most recent financial report.<\/p>\n
The university is touting itself as a launchpad into the professional world \u2013 supporting over 547 startups, three-quarters of which are based in Quebec.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business community in Montreal sees McGill as the most prestigious institution that we have,\u201d said Isabelle Dessureault, CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.<\/p>\n
The Chamber says McGill plays a central role in Montreal\u2019s reputation abroad and in attracting international investment. Part of that includes international missions to attract companies in sectors like AI to the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to get together universities and business communities to work as one team,\u201d Dessureault explained.<\/p>\n
Saini added, \u201cThe partnerships that are needed must start here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McGill University is looking to join forces with Quebec businesses to lay out a plan to attract investment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-499572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}