Canada's Social Innovation Labs

Social innovation labs are sprouting up across Canada that efficiently combine multi-sectorial resources to solve wicked societal problems. Often supported by and housed in postsecondary institutions, labs foster collaboration between private/for profit, public/government, academic and nonprofit actors. But where are these labs located? How are they structured, housed, managed and financed? What are their successes and lessons learned? Our “Social Innovation Labs in Canada” project is an attempt to answer these questions using a sample of existing labs.

This map was developed from an internet scan by Dr. Gary Martin using various keywords (e.g. social innovation lab, urban lab, living lab, incubator, design lab, community engagement lab, etc). We zoomed in on labs that were attached to academic institutions as they are focussed on our dependent variable, societal benefits. As a first incarnation, this map is an illustrative resource that will grow over time.

To learn more about each lab, click on the blue nodes.