The Ontario water industry is evolving. And so is the Ontario Water Consortium, with expanded offerings for post-secondary institutions and technology companies available through paid partnerships.

Since 2011, OWC has been advancing Ontario’s water technology sector.

We’ve established water and wastewater technology development and demonstration capacity at many post-secondary institutions across the province.

We’ve funded industry-driven collaborations between companies and academic researchers to bring promising solutions to market, creating hundreds of jobs and generating tens of millions of dollars in sales.

Most importantly, we’ve brought people together, forging connections between end users, researchers and technology providers at the forefront of water innovation.

Now, we’re building on those successes and helping Ontario’s water sector make an even bigger impact in the decade ahead. Read on to discover just a few of our most exciting developments.

More partnership opportunities

We’re expanding our ecosystem. OWC’s original consortium of seven universities now includes more universities, colleges, and technology innovators, and we’ve introduced a suite of programs and opportunities for industry and institution partners.

We’ve also expanded our geographic reach. While we continue to focus on the water challenges facing Ontario, we know the problems facing end users here aren’t unique to the province. Climate change, aging infrastructure, scarce resources, increasing demands on water and sanitation, and generational shifts in the workforce are exacting pressure across the entire urban water cycle. Today, municipal and industrial end-users in Canada and around the world are forced to contend with the resulting economic, environmental, and social challenges.

That’s why we’re opening up our partnerships to institutions and companies from coast to coast, creating opportunities to apply novel solutions from across the country and beyond. Enabling innovative water solutions that ease these pressures ensures the continued delivery of essential services to our communities and industry.

Leading funding opportunities — for industry, colleges and universities

Our support makes it much simpler for companies to get crucial research dollars. We help our partners shape their proposals to maximize their odds of success. In the first half of 2022 alone, we were the lead applicant on a $4.5 million grant proposal benefiting the Ontario water industry and supported another $2.5 million in proposals from companies.

Another aspect of this is our partnership with Mitacs. Through this $1.8 million agreement, Ontario water technology companies and municipal utilities can tap into research internships with highly trained college, undergraduate, and graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

“It’s very curated, very focused and almost a guaranteed success if the project has a good fit,” says Ted Mao, OWC’s Principal Consultant of Strategy & Partnerships.

Meanwhile, through our extensive network, we can help companies find the best project partners — whether it’s a sensors specialist who can advance R&D plans or a municipality eager to pilot a new anaerobic digester.

For post-secondary institutions, we facilitate participation in programs they wouldn’t qualify for on their own. Many funding programs — such as ISED’s Strategic Innovation Fund — are limited to industry applicants. By facilitating collaborations with technology companies, we open up new funding possibilities for researchers. “When we talk about this type of funding [to] institutions, eyes light up,” says Mao.

Providing expert advice for expanding companies

We’re continuing to offer the expert panels we introduced in 2020. The program provides water technology companies with invaluable feedback on expansion plans, product designs, business models and more from seasoned industry pros.

“We were really looking for some direction and some insights into the marketplace,” says David Ohayon, Canadian Market Development Manager for IPEX, who participated in one of our first panels. “It really enlightened us.”

And for companies eyeing an expansion into U.S. markets, we offer advisory services in partnership with Management inSites.

Launching new action groups to address challenges

We’re also excited about the introduction of action groups. These short-term, outcome-focused collaborations bring together stakeholders to tackle specific challenges identified by OWC partners.

In May, we held a very successful workshop on wastewater process intensification that has sparked ongoing conversations between tech developers and end users. It also sparked interest in the possibility of other action groups. For example, a mix of OWC partners are looking to begin a new action group on challenges in Northern Ontario.

A strategic partner for accelerating innovation

The results of our recent stakeholder survey and post-workshop evaluations make it clear: OWC offers significant value to its partners. Respondents consistently praised the depth of knowledge we bring, the events we organize and the connections we catalyze. According to one survey respondent, “OWC fills an essential and unique role between academia, industry and end-users.”

Now, thanks to the latest evolution of our consortium, that value proposition is more compelling than ever. According to Rahim Kanji, OWC’s Executive Director, the message is simple. “OWC is open for business,” he says.

These are just a few of OWC’s current programs and services. For all the details on our new partnership benefits, visit https://ontariowater.ca/partner-benefits/.