The University of Toronto and local commercialization community offer multiple programs, competitions, resources, and services to help researchers and trainees at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy translate their discoveries into commercial ventures. Please contact a member of the Research Office for more information (Mike Folinas, Sam D’Alfonso, or Lia Cardarelli).
Commercialization Resources
- University of Toronto Innovations and Partnerships Office (IPO)
- IPO’s "Guide to Technology Transfer"
- IPO's "Researcher’s Guide to Industry Partnerships"
- University of Toronto Libraries Entrepreneurship Support
- PRiME Entrepreneur Resources
- University of Toronto Startup Guidebook
Commercialization Opportunities
- Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
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The OBIO® Entrepreneurship Bootcamp is designed for trainees leading life sciences ventures at the pre-seed stage, with at least an invention disclosure filed with their institution. Trainee-entrepreneurs will receive individualized support to identify skills and knowledge gaps, while accessing tailored resources and mentorship to advance their venture towards its next milestone.
Attend a 3 1/2 day intensive July 20–23, 2026 in person in Toronto, to learn:
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Market & Industry Insights
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Product Development, Commercialization & IP
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Regulatory & Legal
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Business Planning, Finance & Growth
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- Entrepreneurship for Commercialization of Health Opportunities (ECHO) – Call for Applications
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The ECHO Program at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine is pleased to announce its annual call for applications for the recruitment of its 2026-2027 cohort.
ECHO is a specialized national training program that provides entrepreneurship training, mentorship, partnership and funding opportunities for early-stage ventures in the health sector.
What we offer?
A 12-month virtual training program featuring five complementary modules delivered by veteran entrepreneurs and consultants across a variety of sectors:
Module 1 - Principles of Entrepreneurship: Workshops on fundamental entrepreneurship business principles. (Oct – Dec 2026)
Module 2 - Health Venture Rounds: Workshops offering specialized knowledge required to navigate the complexities of health innovation and commercialization. (Jan – Jun 2027)
Module 3 - Lessons from Leaders: A webinar series featuring successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who share their experiences in commercializing technologies within the health sector. (Jan – Jun 2027)
Module 4 - Community of Mentors: All selected ventures become clients of the Health Innovation Hub (H2i), Temerty Medicine's health accelerator, with access to its full suite of resources.
Module 5 - Ignite Startup Funding: The program concludes with pitch training, mentorship and ECHO PITCH 2027, a public pitch competition, where ventures can win up to $100,000 per stream. (Jul – Oct 2027)
Who is eligible?
Applicants must apply through one of two distinct streams:
- Cardiovascular Stream: Open to Canada-based researchers, scientists, clinicians, trainees or entrepreneurs developing cardiovascular technologies.
- General Health Stream: Open to researchers, scientists and trainees developing health technologies outside the cardiovascular field. The technology must be developed, at least in part, through a Temerty Faculty of Medicine, campus-based research lab at the University of Toronto. Please refer to the ECHO program page for the full eligibility criteria.
How to apply?
Application: Complete the following two forms and submit by 11:59 pm ET on Monday, August 3, 2026.
- ECHO Application Form: submit to Andrea Hung
- H2i Venture Application Form: submit online
- Interviews: Interviews will commence September 2026 for select applicants. The program begins October 2026.
For full program information and enrolment instructions, please visit the ECHO program page or contact Andrea Hung.
Led by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, the ECHO Program is funded and organized in partnership with the Translational Biology and Engineering Program (TBEP) at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research.
- Intellectual Property Education Program
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UofT’s IP Education Program introduces the different types of IP, how to protect it, and how to get the most value from it.
The online program was built by UofT Entrepreneurship (UTE) and the Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) with input from legal professionals and entrepreneurs.
Divided into two complimentary levels, IP Foundations and IP Strategy and Application, the program is integrated with Quercus (U of T’s online learning portal), allowing for inclusion into assignments, workshops, or classroom settings. In addition, U of T students who complete a module can have it recognized on their Co-curricular Record (CCR).
Program overview:
- Intro to patents, trademarks, copyright, industrial design, and trade secrets.
- Requires no prior knowledge and can be completed in ~2 hours.
- Endorsed by the Province of Ontario’s IP Action Plan.
Level 2: IP Strategy and Application
- IP strategy and commercialization, including best practices for inventors and entrepreneurs.
- Learners must complete Level 1 before advancing to Level 2.
- Intellectual Property: Protect, License and Fund with IPO
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The Innovations & Partnerships Office (IPO) is your first stop for research commercialization at U of T. IPO helps turn innovations into patents, licenses, and startups, building successful relationships between researchers, industry, and investors.
What you need to know:
- It starts with a disclosure: If a new technology, method, or product was created using U of T facilities or funding administered by U of T, a Confidential Invention Disclosure is your first step toward commercializing your research.
- Ownership: U of T has a modern, flexible invention policy that is ‘Inventor’s Choice’ – in absence of pre-existing IP rights, inventors may choose to take personal ownership, or have U of T lead commercialization.
- Intellectual property (IP) and patents: While there are many types of IP, patents may be affected by presenting and publishing. It is best to involve IPO early to help review, file, and protect your invention.
- Funding: IPO can help maximize budgets by licensing technologies and leveraging internal, public, and private funding opportunities for research and startups.
- Network: Access U of T’s growing international network of industry, mentors, and VCs to support technology validation, product development, and go-to-market.
In 2021, U of T inventors made over 180 invention disclosures, with IPO managing 74 priority patent applications, more than 39 licensing and option agreements, and 290 ongoing commercialization projects. In the last 5 years, companies based on U of T Research have secured more than $1.5 billion in investment and capital.
- Inventor Portal
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The Inventor Portal is the university’s new platform for submitting and managing invention disclosures.
Moving forward, all new invention disclosures must be submitted through the Inventor Portal. As part of this launch, paper-based disclosure forms will no longer be accepted after April 24th, 2026.
Why this benefits you:
- Faster processing and review of disclosures
- Real-time tracking of submission status
- Secure, organized record-keeping of innovation activity
Access the Inventor Portal here:
https://inventor.research.utoronto.ca/InteumWeb/inventorportal/login.aspx
More information on the Invention Disclsoure Process is here:
https://research.utoronto.ca/inventions-commercialization-entrepreneurship/disclose-invention
For questions or support with the portal, please contact Lilia Smale at lilia.smale@utoronto.ca or 416-978-4521.
- Lab2Market Discover
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Are you interested in exploring the market viability of your research? As a researcher in emerging technologies, you may be considering an alternative career path beyond academia. With Lab2Market Discover, you’ll learn a new way of thinking and determine if you have a passion for business.
Lab2Market Discover’s online exploratory program helps you explore entrepreneurship and the potential of transforming your academic research into a world-changing tech-focused business.
Lab2Market Discover is offered free of cost and is open to current students and recent graduates in Canada pursuing research (Masters, Ph.D., and Postdoc). The program is tailored for individuals interested in understanding the necessary steps to commercialize research and determining whether entrepreneurship is a path they can or should pursue. Designed specifically for researchers completing their studies full-time, the program includes online readings, practical assignments, and interactive webinars, with a maximum time commitment of three hours per week.
Lab2Market Discover is run nationally and runs various cohorts throughout the year, check out the website to find the program for you.
- OCI Life Sciences Innovation Fund
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Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) Life Sciences Innovation Fund is an early-stage co-investment fund that supports companies in Life Sciences and Healthcare Technologies sectors related to human health. The fund is aimed at addressing the unique challenges faced by life sciences entrepreneurs moving innovative and capital-intensive investments from a conceptual stage through to commercialization. Through the fund, OCI co-invests with angel and other investors to help de-risk the opportunity, assisting start-ups in becoming investor and customer ready and allowing them to attract follow-on investment.
ABOUT THE FUND
Eligible companies will receive up to $500,000 in early stage risk capital to scale their made-in-Ontario health solution both at home and in global markets. This will further grow the sector and strengthen its competitiveness in key areas such as cancer treatment, regenerative medicine, neuroscience and medical technologies.
BEST SUITED FOR LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES COMPANIES RELATED TO HUMAN HEALTH THAT:
- Are Ontario or Canadian incorporated for-profit companies headquartered in Ontario
- Currently raising a pre-seed or seed investments (total round sizes ranging from $1 million to $5 million)
- Have raised less than $3 million in third-party capital
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OICR Clinical Translation Clinical Acceleration Team Awards Request for Applications
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OICR Clinical Translation (CT) advances cancer research toward meaningful clinical impact. It supports preclinical and early clinical studies that develop and validate new approaches to detect, treat and monitor cancer at its earliest and most actionable stages. Through close partnership with patients, clinicians and researchers, CT helps ensure that clinically relevant, high-potential innovations are positioned for patient and health care impact.
OICR is inviting applications for CT’s Clinical Acceleration Team Award (CATA) funding stream to support prospective clinical trials in which Molecular (Minimal) Residual Disease (MRD) assessment is a prespecified and integral component of the study design, and in which MRD results are explicitly linked to defined clinical decision points, management strategies or treatment adaptations. The intent of this funding opportunity is to support well-designed, decision-relevant studies that meaningfully advance MRD as a clinically actionable biomarker and contribute to the cumulative evidence required for future definitive evaluation and broader clinical adoption.
OICR invites applications from investigators at Ontario academic centres, hospital research institutes or other government research institutions. Submissions must include investigators/team members from multiple centres as well as a patient partner. OICR funding is only tenable in Ontario.
Funding
The total funding envelope is approximately $6 million, which is anticipated to support up to four clinical trials. While no minimum or maximum amount is defined per trial, all budgets must be sufficiently justified.
Timeline
- Information session (optional): June 3, 2026, 2-3 p.m. ET (Register here)
- Concept submission deadline: July 30, 2026, by 5 p.m. ET
- Concept feedback to teams: Week of September 14, 2026
- Prioritized concept meetings: September 30, 2026
- Full application deadline: October 29, 2026, by 5 p.m. ET
- Notification of results: December 2026
- Funding start date: January 1, 2027
Applications
Questions?
Visit the FAQ page before contacting the OICR Scientific Secretariat office at ScientificSecretariat@oicr.on.ca.
About the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
OICR is funded by the Government of Ontario. As the province’s cancer research institute, we take on the biggest challenges in cancer research and deliver real-world solutions to find cancer earlier and treat it more effectively. We are committed to helping people living with cancer, as well as future generations, live longer and healthier lives. For more information visit http://www.oicr.on.ca.
- OICR - Window-of-Opportunity (WOO) Network
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The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) Window-of-Opportunity (WOO) Network is inviting concept submissions for WOO trials. In presurgical WOO trials, patients with resectable disease are treated for a brief “window” period between diagnosis and surgical resection with an experimental drug/treatment.
Funding support is provided to prioritized trial concepts that meet funding criteria. Investigators will present their concepts during the WOO Network Meeting (WNM) on Tuesday, September 14, 2026. Once prioritized, further trial development is engaged, facilitated, and iterative.
WOO Trial Criteria
- Design: presurgical, randomized trial
- Disease: early-stage and resectable disease (newly diagnosed, treatment naive or early recurrent cancer)
- Drug: demonstrated drug safety profile
- Feasibility: patient accrual completion within two years
- Focus: immune modulation trials
Eligibility
The WOO Network invites trial concepts for its 2026 cohort from investigators at Ontario academic centers and hospital research institutes. With a focus on building WOO study capacity in Ontario, the Network strongly encourages inclusion of early-career investigators/clinicians as part of the trial team
Funding available
Successful WOO trials will be funded to a maximum of $500,000 CAD over 2.5 years. Note that OICR does not provide overhead for clinical trials.
Key Dates:
- Information session: May 7, 2026, 1 p.m. ET - Register now
Concept
- Submission deadline: July 8, 2026, 5 p.m. ET
- Eligibility feedback communicated: July 27, 2026
- Updated, resubmission deadline: August 10, 2026, 5 p.m. ET
- Presentation, WOO Network Meeting: September 14, 2026, 9 a.m. -12 p.m. ET
- Prioritization feedback communicated: September 30, 2026
Protocol
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Development period: October 1, 2026 - December 15, 2026
- Submission deadline: December 15, 2026, 5 p.m. ET
- Funding start date: January 1, 2027
How to apply:
Download the WOO 2026 Cohort Call for Concepts Guidelines [PDF]
- UofT Research Security Self-Assessment Tool
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The Division of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation is pleased to announce the launch of the Research Security Self-Assessment tool.
Before applying for federal or provincial research funding, researchers are strongly encouraged to use this tool to help them identify research security policies that may be applicable to their project.
Researchers applying for research funding or requesting non-funded agreements may access this tool directly from the Research Security web page or via a new page in My Research Applications & Agreements (MRA). The new page in MRA provides helpful resources and does not collect new information for your application/agreement.
If you have questions, U of T’s Research Security Team is here to help you navigate research security requirements for funding applications and non-funded agreements. For assistance, please contact them early in your application process at researchsecurity@utoronto.ca.
