A new partnership model between Toronto’s Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), including OCAD University, and the Governments of Canada and Ontario, and the City of Toronto has been established to support Toronto’s COVID-19 recovery.
The new model allows the City to put forward research priorities to Toronto's HEIs, who source multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional teams of faculty and student experts to help address important and urgent research needs. This partnership model will be made permanent, creating an ongoing pathway for the City and Toronto HEIs to collaborate on research priorities.
“Creatives play a critical role in the City of Toronto, especially in its recovery from COVID-19,” said Ana Serrano, President and Vice-Chancellor, OCAD University. “In partnership with the City, Toronto’s higher education institutions and the governments of Ontario and Canada, OCAD U will continue to be an essential city-builder through collaborative research, art, design and strategy.”
Participating HEIs include Centennial College, George Brown College, Humber College, OCAD University, Ryerson University, Seneca College, University of Toronto, and York University. In partnership with eCampusOntario, the City and the HEIs have designed a system to rapidly intake research priorities from the City and source academic experts and students to help the City address important and urgent research needs.
The topics of the first eight research projects as part of the partnership pilot are as follows:
- The association between socio-demographic characteristics and COVID-19 incidence and severity
- Economic and labour market trends facing the city over the next three to five years
- Supply disruption risk for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) procurement (this project is now completed)
- Low-cost decontamination process for respirators and disposable N95 masks
- Digital access and better understanding of who is underserved and why
- Ambient air quality impacts from COVID-19
- Telework – GHG Emission Impacts & Employee Performance
- Innovations in tax filing to assist vulnerable residents in accessing lucrative income tax benefits such as means-tested housing or child care fee subsidies
Research projects are being funded by the City and Mitacs, a national, not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation, and is funded by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments.
More information on these projects is available on the City of Toronto website.