Experience Ventures at Zone Learning

Become Future Ready

Zone Learning is pleased to be a partner in Experience Ventures, powered by the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking at the University of Calgary (external link, opens in new window) . Experience Ventures enables students to make an impact alongside real-world innovators through entrepreneurial thinking placements.

We believe entrepreneurial thinking isn’t limited to a personality type or a discipline or to entrepreneurs alone. It is an accessible set of skills that everyone can leverage to make an impact, big or small, in any career. The hallmarks of entrepreneurial thinking – creativity, resiliency and future vision – will be critical factors to ensuring Canada’s success today, and tomorrow.

How does Experience Ventures work?

Student's can participate in:

Hackathon: A one- to two-day event in which companies present students with real world challenges and ask them to provide innovative solutions.
Challenges: Taking place over several weeks, these require students to build out more complete solutions to social, business, design or community challenges.
Projects: Companies work one-on-one with a student on specific project over the course of a term.
Student-in-Residence: Students receive unique opportunities to work with several companies over the course of a term.
Interdisciplinary Team Projects: Teams of students from more than one discipline work together on a project for a venture or group of ventures over the course of a term.

After submitting an application, the Experience Ventures team reviews to ensure you meet the eligbility criteria.

Any student from any discipline and faculty registered in a Canadian university who is:

A Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person on whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
Legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations
Enrolled in any full- or part-time program of post-secondary study

Approved students complete the mandatory onboarding training. Training covers:

Entrepreneurial thinking and other relevant transferable skills learned through experiential learning placements
The value of experiential learning
Canada’s innovation ecosystem and the importance of new companies in job and wealth creation
The benefits of participating in Experience Ventures, as well as program parameters and expectations
How to get the most out of your participation in Experience Ventures

Students participate in their entrepreneurial thinking opportunity with a venture partner

Hackathon
Challenges
Projects
Student-in-Residence
Interdisciplinary Team Projects

Student complete a post-experience survey to relfect on the skills they developed through the program. Entreprenruial thinking involves

Opportunity Recognition: Seeing problems as opportunities
Risk Management: Coping with ambiguity and uncertainty
Resiliency: Persevering through challenges, growth mindset
Action Orientation: Taking initiative and learning through experience
Systems and/or Transdiciplinary Thinking: Designing solutions across traditional boundaries

Once a student has:

Registered and completed onboarding
Completed the experience
Submitted the post-experience survey

Recieve your honorarium!

Amount varies depending on the type of placement.

Become a change-maker!

For Students

Experience Ventures creates entrepreneurial thinking placements for college and university students with innovative companies in Canada. Our goal is to inspire your creativity, resiliency and future vision – so you can seize your future with the right skill set.

Experience Ventures is structured and short-term to complement a student’s field of academic study and fit into busy course loads.

Experience Ventures offers an entrepreneurial thinking placement with a company that has partnered with Toronto Metropolitan University
After acceptance, the student completes an onboarding process before participating in the entrepreneurial thinking opportunity.
After completing the opportunity, the student completes an evaluation.

A group of students with laptops ideating

Identify early talent

For Companies

For Canada’s startups and social ventures, identifying the right talent – and the right mindset—is a priority. Experience Ventures works with you to create entrepreneurial thinking placements for students.

Participating companies are asked to make an in-kind contribution unique to each school in lieu of payment to students. These can include any of the following: Time/salary; Space offered for an entrepreneurial thinking placement; Equipment or materials provided for the experience; Job and skills training; Student expenses (their participation in paid industry events, etc.)

Students receive an honorarium through Experience Ventures for their participation. The amount varies by type of placement.

Experience Ventures prepares both students and companies for the future:

Become future ready

Students can hone the entrepreneurial and digital skills they’ll need in their careers. Participating companies benefit from fresh perspectives and insights, at no cost.

Make an impact

We are energizing new companies with the next generation of talent, and innovating across disciplines to amplify impact.

Build innovation networks

Companies can tap into more multi-dimensional innovation networks, and a diverse talent pool.

Have a question?

_{Experience Ventures is funded in part by the Government of Canada's Innovative Work-Integrated Learning Initiative.}