This review was a collaborative effort between the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, the Council of Innovation of Québec (CI), led by Luc Sirois, Chief Innovator of Québec, and the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE) of Québec, led by Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister.
Giorgia Ponti, Policy Analyst and Raffaele Trapasso, Senior Economist and Head of Unit, of the Entrepreneurship Education and Skills Unit in CFE, prepared the report under the supervision of Céline Kauffmann, Head of the Entrepreneurship, SMEs, and Tourism Division, CFE and Lucia Cusmano, Deputy Head of Division. Anne Rimmer, former CFE, provided assistance at the beginning of the report. Michelle Marshalian, CFE, also provided comments. Pilar Philip prepared the manuscript for publication.
In the MEIE, Marco Blouin, Director General, science and partnerships, and Antoine Rayroux, Innovation Analyst, as well as Loick- Alexandre Gautier, Senior Director, Innovation Institute, from the CI, provided guidance, detailed comments and inputs to the report. Albert Meige of Arthur D. Little, and Professor Dominique Foray of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne also actively contributed to this report. John Goddard, Emeritus Professor, Civic University Network (CUN), United Kingdom, acted as a peer reviewer and provided suggestions to the report.
The OECD, MEIE and CI also wish to thank the members of the report’s Steering Group (Comité de Pilotage) for their support. In particular, the team thanks: Marjolaine Adam; Véronique Aimée Dion; Angélica Biard; Bernard Denault; Élisabeth Garin; Jesus Jimenez Orte; Zohra Mezzar; Marie-Noëlle Perron; Sylvain Poirier; Louise Simard; Luc Sirois; Isabelle Vézina; Christina Vigna. Particular gratitude is extended to Denis Gauvreau, formerly Polytechnique de Montréal, who initiated the relationship between the OECD and the Government of Québec.
The review team extends its gratitude to the co-ordinators and staff of the selected higher education institutions (HEIs) who provided fundamental input during the study visits and support for the review. In particular, the team thanks: Benoit Boulet from McGill University; Sylvain Cloutier from the University of Québec in Chicoutimi; Richard Dumont from the University of Montréal; Charles Flageole from the CÉGEP of Gaspésie; Louis Gendron from the CÉGEP of Trois-Rivières; Jonathan Genest from the University of Sherbrooke; Nadine Le Gal from the CÉGEP of Saint-Jérôme; Karine Lemarchand from the University of Québec in Rimouski; Even Lemieux from the CÉGEP of Victoriaville; and Jean-François Simard from Laval University.
The authors are grateful also to participating CCTTs, including : Centre de recherche en innovation sociale spécialisé en développement durable (CIRADD); the Renewable Energy Research and Innovation Center (Nergica); the Center for Applied Research in Fisheries and Aquaculture (Merinov); Centre Collegiate Transfer Technology In Telecommunications (C2T3); Centre d’innovation sociale en agriculture (CISA); Centre d’expertise et de transfert en agriculture biologique (CETAB+); Institut du véhicule innovant (IVI Solutions).
The review team also extends its gratitude to Alessandro Alasia, Julio Rosa, and Mahamat Hamit-Haggar from Statistics Canada, as well as Massimo Loi, University of Oslo, for providing quantitative evidence on Québec that informed this report. Authors are also grateful to representatives from the unit of “Grands défis de société” of the “Fonds de Recherche du Québec” (FRQ), the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), and District 3 (D3) at Concordia University for the additional information provided.