The Université de Montréal received an “unprecedented” donation of $40 million from Quebecor and the Chopin-Péladeau Foundation, which will be used to implement a large-scale entrepreneurship program open to students from all faculties. Half will be used to finance the construction of a new pavilion valued at 150 million dollars and the university hopes that Quebec will extend part of the amount.
“It’s to honor the memory of our father,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau during the announcement on Wednesday with the rector of UdeM, Daniel Jutras. I can assure you that he is an exceptional man, a man who has always believed in the virtues of education”.
The new pavilion, which we hope will be “state of the art,” will be named in honor of the founder of Quebecor, Pierre Péladeau. This is the single largest donation ever granted to a French-speaking university in Canada, specified the rector. “With this unprecedented donation, we are laying a stone on which the Université de Montréal will build a committed and responsible entrepreneurial culture,” said Daniel Jutras. We will think outside the box, we will innovate, we will think differently and we will do it in French. »
$20 million from the Péladeau family donation will finance the construction of the pavilion, which we hope will be completed within five years on the MIL campus. The university will also contribute financially, but government assistance may be necessary. “It is not yet estimated, these projects must be approved by Quebec and we hope to obtain their support”, underlined the rector.
In the meantime, UdeM plans to rent premises and the program called “Millennium Quebecor” will gradually come into being starting this spring. “There will be awareness-raising activities,” mentioned the rector.
The program will be offered in its more complete version once approved by the university authorities, possibly in 2023 and in the form of a minor, and should allow the hiring of additional professors. Ultimately, we want to offer training, mentoring, internships, premises and funding to students from all disciplines who wish to start a start-up or a social economy enterprise. They will be supported throughout their university career and the program will be credited.
“There is no major university in the world that does not have a robust program to support the entrepreneurship of its students. We have one here right now, but it’s on a small scale,” said Daniel Jutras.