Road to Innovation
Your road to innovation starts at your school
Every Canadian medical school has incubators, accelerators and entrepreneurship services that students can use for free. Find yours, then explore Canada-wide programs and free learning resources.
Road to Innovation was put together by the Physician Innovator team to give medical students the resources they need to get started in healthcare entrepreneurship. It was first published in 2022, so some programs may have changed. If a link is out of date or a resource is missing, let us know.
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Innovation Leaders and Partners (opens in a new tab)
List of resources from incubators to community partners.
Social Ventures Incubator (opens in a new tab)
An incubator that supports ventures whose objective is making a positive social impact.
Dalhousie University
DalInnovates (opens in a new tab)
Provides opportunities for students and faculty at Dalhousie University to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to translate new ideas into innovations.
Office of Commercialization and Industry Engagement (opens in a new tab)
Helps build productive partnerships between the university’s research community and industry.
Université Laval
Entrepreneuriat Laval (opens in a new tab)
Programs aimed to give entrepreneurs new skills and tools required to succeed, financing knowledge, and mentorship opportunities.
Innovative Ideas Incubator (opens in a new tab)
A hub that aims to support students in the development of viable initiatives intended to maximize the positive outcomes of AI.
McGill University
Dobson Centre For Entrepreneurship (opens in a new tab)
Offers entrepreneurship programs, mentorship opportunities and access to a wide network of resources for start-ups at every juncture of their growth.
CHASM Incubator (opens in a new tab)
Empowers students to develop community health solutions at the intersection of social innovation and social justice.
Biotech City (opens in a new tab)
A biotechnology and life sciences hub with a mission to ensure the attraction, development and growth of corporations born out of health science research.
Université de Montréal
PME MTL (opens in a new tab)
Offers a full range of professional services for private-sector and social economy entrepreneurs on Montreal Island.
Millenium Quebecor (opens in a new tab)
A program that embraces all forms of entrepreneurship, related to professional practice or not, including non- profit organizations and social entrepreneurship.
MT Lab (opens in a new tab)
Incubator targeting entrepreneurs with a solution in the commercialization phase.
Université de Sherbrooke
TransferTech (opens in a new tab)
Works to develop links between high-tech companies and Université de Sherbrooke affiliated research centres.
Entrepreneurial Opportunities at UdeS (opens in a new tab)
List of entrepreneurial opportunities at UdeS.
Library Resource (opens in a new tab)
Resources for University de Sherbrooke students interested in entrepreneurship.
NOSM University
Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research (opens in a new tab)
Supports undergraduate and graduate research on entrepreneurship.
Jim Fielding Innovation and Commercialization Space (opens in a new tab)
Enables university innovators to ideate, create, and develop ideas that can go on to become start-up companies or social enterprises.
McMaster University
McMaster Startup Guide (opens in a new tab)
Provides relevant resources available throughout the process of starting a company.
The Forge Business Incubator (opens in a new tab)
Incubator for entrepreneurs past the business idea stage that have started gaining traction by launching their start-up to the market or have developed a prototype.
Health Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship (opens in a new tab)
Aims to build entrepreneurial capacity for identifying health innovation opportunities and accelerating the development of new medical technologies.
McMaster Innovation Park (opens in a new tab)
Supports researchers with commercial aspirations and enables students to develop their ideas in their incubator and accelerator programs.
Queen's University
Dunin-Deshpande Queen's Innovation Centre (opens in a new tab)
Supports student entrepreneurial initiatives through start-up incubators, workshops, programs, courses, and pitch competitions.
Partnership and Innovation at Queen's (opens in a new tab)
List of resources for researchers and entrepreneurs at Queen's.
University of Ottawa
The Entrepreneurship Hub (opens in a new tab)
Helps shape an entrepreneurial mindset through building the right supports for the campus community through connecting with the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Entrepreneurship @ Telfer (opens in a new tab)
List of start-up support resources.
IO Venture Path (opens in a new tab)
Programs for entrepreneurs at different stages of innovation.
Innovation Support Services (opens in a new tab)
Programs that aim to support students working on their industrial problems/research opportunities.
University of Toronto
UofT Accelerators (opens in a new tab)
List of all programs included in the UofT Entrepreneurship Community.
MaRS Health (opens in a new tab)
Supports companies and institutions that create health solutions with broad social impact.
Medicine by Design (opens in a new tab)
Design studio where scientists, engineers and clinicians converge to conceive, create and test strategies to address critical problems in regenerative medicine.
ICUBE UTM (opens in a new tab)
Offers resources, programs, workshops and mentorship to social entrepreneurship companies or early stage start-ups.
Ideation Clinic (opens in a new tab)
Disseminate and transfer knowledge and expertise via our community events, workshops, and our annual Health Innovation Summit.
Centre for Research and Innovation Support (opens in a new tab)
Tools and training for UofT students and staff.
Western University (Schulich)
Morrissette Accelerator (opens in a new tab)
The program includes immersive education in entrepreneurship for high-potential ventures.
BURST (opens in a new tab)
An innovative incubation program for high-potential medical technology start-ups and scale-ups.
Western's Medical innovation Fellowship (opens in a new tab)
Program designed to provide the most in-depth training experience in medical device and health technology innovation within Canada.
Accel Labs (opens in a new tab)
Incubator approach to help students envision, create and scale their community health initiative.
University of Calgary
Hunter Hub (opens in a new tab)
List of resources for start-ups at the University of Calgary.
The Innovation Ecosystem Directory (opens in a new tab)
List of service providers, funding bodies, events, spaces, and competitions to help advance innovative ideas and solutions.
University of Alberta
Innovation and Entrepreneurship @Ualberta (opens in a new tab)
List of university's programs, services and resources to foster and support innovation.
Health Innovation Hub (opens in a new tab)
A community incubator for innovators and entrepreneurs working towards better human health outcomes.
The Innovator's Handbook (opens in a new tab)
Developed to help students understand innovation across all programs and highlights key campus and community supports for innovation.
University of British Columbia
Entrepreneurship @ UBC (opens in a new tab)
A ventures framework to help launch ideas to impact regardless of venture stage.
Innovation UBC (opens in a new tab)
Support for your entrepreneurial journey through helping start-ups develop research partnerships, understand commercialization research, and gain access to an entrepreneurial community.
Human Health Venture Studio (opens in a new tab)
Supports the development of human health innovations through mentorship, industry and academic leaders.
University of Manitoba
Partnership and Innovation (opens in a new tab)
Provides a broad overview of the start-up process and provides background information on all resources available at the UM and in our province to become an entrepreneur.
Stu Clark Centre (opens in a new tab)
Offers a variety of services and supports to students from all across the University of Manitoba wanting to explore entrepreneurship.
University of Saskatchewan
Co.Labs (opens in a new tab)
Provides start-up founders with different programs, mentorship opportunities and an entrepreneurial community.
Cultivator (opens in a new tab)
Canada’s first credit union-led business incubator, located in Regina, Saskatchewan, designed to launch, grow, and scale innovative Saskatchewan tech companies.
Innovator's Guide (opens in a new tab)
Prepared as a tool to help innovators within our University of Saskatchewan community learn more about the process of protecting and commercializing the results of the innovative work you are doing.
Canada-wide programs
Mitacs (opens in a new tab)
Provides funding for projects and connects highly-trained researchers with the organizations that need them.
Medical Innovation Xchange (opens in a new tab)
First industry-led hub dedicated to helping medical technology start-ups scale successfully in Canada.
University of Guelph Incubators and Accelerators (opens in a new tab)
List of incubators and accelerators at the University of Guelph.
Velocity (opens in a new tab)
Accelerator founded by the University of Waterloo for early- stage founders.
DMZ (opens in a new tab)
An incubator for start-ups around the world.
Biomedical Zone (opens in a new tab)
Physician-led, hospital-based health technology incubator in downtown Toronto.
The Accelerator Centre (opens in a new tab)
Incubator start-ups at any stage.
Antler (opens in a new tab)
Early-stage VC that provides mentorship from experts and early access to capital.
Futurpreneur (opens in a new tab)
Non-profit organization that provides financing, mentoring and support tools to aspiring business owners aged 18-39.
Next36 (opens in a new tab)
8-month program for Canadian students and recent grads at the pre-idea or early stage of their entrepreneurship journey.
Innovation Factory (opens in a new tab)
Business accelerator, dedicated to helping Ontario- based businesses launch, scale, and succeed.
Startup Toronto (opens in a new tab)
Helps entrepreneurs connect to funding, mentors, advisers, and a place to build your product.
HaloHealth (opens in a new tab)
Provides health-tech ventures with advisory, connections and capital while also giving physicians the opportunity to become angel investors.
InnovatorMD (opens in a new tab)
Helps pre-seed founders get traction and funding through a devoted support network and structured growth process.
WORLDiscoveries (opens in a new tab)
Helps researchers and local inventors commercialize their discoveries through licensing and new company start-ups.
Innovate Calgary (opens in a new tab)
Various resources and workshops for startups at any stage.
Free learning resources
Stanford Start Up School (opens in a new tab)
Courses and programs to give you the tools you need for your entrepreneurial journey.
Medventions (opens in a new tab)
A streamlined entrepreneurial training approach focused on nurturing medtech expertise.
Medventions Lectures (opens in a new tab)
Series of lectures from medtech professionals giving real-world advice on innovation and commercialization.
Y combinator Start Up School (opens in a new tab)
7-week live course for founders.
Start Up Basics from This Week in Start-Ups (opens in a new tab)
Videos answering the most common start-up questions.
SaaStr University (opens in a new tab)
Series of courses and resources to learn how to scale your cloud and SaaS businesses faster a16z Bio + Health - blogs about bio and health start-ups from a16z.
Ryerson Startup School (opens in a new tab)
Provides fundamental entrepreneurial education through live sessions and their content library.
MaRS Startup Toolkit Courses (opens in a new tab)
Online courses put together by MaRS to fit the needs of your start up.
Techstars Entrepreneur's Toolkit (opens in a new tab)
An online educational resource relevant to starting and growing your start-up.
UofT Entrepreneurship Open Learning Series (opens in a new tab)
Training modules to help perfect your business plans and pitches.
NFX Founder Toolkit (opens in a new tab)
Tools built for founders ranging from lists of potential investors to learning materials.
Entrepreneurship in Healthcare Seminar Series (opens in a new tab)
Program run by medical students with each session hosted by a renowned expert in the field of medical entrepreneurship.
The Reading List for Startups (opens in a new tab)
Crowdsourced list of the best resources on the internet.
The Venture Playbook (opens in a new tab)
Tools, templates and decision-making frameworks for building and investing in early-stage ventures.
Building something already?
Join Physician Innovator to meet physician founders who've been where you are.