Expansion plans for MaRS unveiled with $16M funding announcement

Chicago, IL – The Ontario government is providing $16 million to help expand Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District.

“Research and innovation are critical to building a high-wage, high- quality-of-life economy,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty, in making the announcement at Bio2006. “By supporting groundbreaking research that can lead to the next big breakthrough, we’re attracting the jobs and investment that will help build a better quality of life for Ontarians.”

MaRS houses science and technology research labs alongside technology companies and investment capital firms. To date, the government has invested $66.7 million in MaRS.

Work on the next phase of the centre is expected to begin this year. Phase II of the MaRS Centre will add another one million square feet of research and office space to the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District – a four- square-mile neighbourhood that is home to the University of Toronto, nine research and teaching hospitals and over 30 affiliated medical research institutions. Discovery District organizations receive more than US$700 million a year in funding for science and technology research.

“MaRS has made enormous progress in the last five years,” says Dr Ilse Treurnicht, MaRS CEO. “And with Phase II scheduled to commence later this year, we are confident that the next five years of MaRS’ history will see the organization become a truly global gateway to Ontario’s critical mass of incredible science and innovative companies.”