Wilfrid Laurier University
Building globally competitive firms is at the heart of Canada’s economic and educational challenge in the 21st century.
The Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University is helping to
meet that challenge and propel Canada into the future.
As it celebrates its 50th anniversary, the Lazaridis School has positioned itself to become a leading global centre for research and teaching, producing graduates who will steer the growth and success of tomorrow’s business economy.
Faculty and students recently moved into Lazaridis Hall, a stateof- the-art education facility located on University Avenue in Waterloo, Ontario.
This landmark building houses Laurier’s internationally recognized business school and the new Lazaridis Institute for the Management of Technology Enterprises.
“We’re in one of the best postsecondary buildings you’ll find in the country, which is fitting for one of the premier business schools in Canada,” says Micheál Kelly, dean of the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics.
Throughout the building’s vibrant open spaces, students can be seen collaborating — in the airy atrium, the light-filled café, and the sophisticated glass-walled meeting rooms.
The architecturally stunning Lazaridis Hall, designed for Silver LEED certification with a focus on environmentally sustainable features, is a critical component in Laurier’s strategy to develop confident and experienced business graduates who thrive in the global marketplace.
The new building brings Laurier students unique opportunities to learn with each other and with global partners. Lazaridis Hall’s virtual outreach capabilities make it an important venue for engagement between students and the local, national and global business communities. The vision behind Lazaridis Hall was to create an active learning building. Classrooms, lecture halls, study rooms and auditoriums are all designed for maximum collaboration and include state-of-theart technology.
Housed within Lazaridis Hall is the Lazaridis Institute, a new initiative that empowers current and emerging growth-oriented Canadian technology companies to scale rapidly into global enterprises.
For Mike Lazaridis, the gifted engineer, visionary entrepreneur and notable philanthropist, establishing the Lazaridis Institute is part of his vision to ensure that Canada is ready for the next “industrial supercycle” — an era that he and other leading thinkers believe will be defined by quantum-based technology. Waterloo’s established high-tech ecosystem is the perfect foundation for developing a world-leading hub for quantum research and commercialization — a focus gaining global awareness under the name “Quantum Valley.”
The institute is an acknowledgment of and response to one of Canada’s biggest 21st century challenges.
“We realized that experienced high-tech management and business leadership was hard to find,” Lazaridis said in an article in Laurier’s alumni magazine, recalling his days leading BlackBerry Ltd. “We frequently had to look beyond Canada.”
Lazaridis Institute is part of a vision to ensure that Canada is ready for the next industrial supercycle
The Lazaridis Institute strengthens Laurier’s prominence by providing a one-of-a-kind national program for founders and CEOs of Canadian tech companies. The Lazaridis Institute Canadian Scale- Up Program provides mentorship and expertise from top business practitioners who have navigated first-hand the challenges of scaling a high-tech company, from the use of venture capital to more practical issues of organization design and how to manage talent as a company grows.
“Canada has extremely promising tech companies, but many don’t have the management experience needed to grow quickly,” says Kelly. “The Lazaridis Institute is working with company founders and CEOs to take their firms to the next level and help them become globally competitive. There’s nothing like our scale-up program in approach or scope anywhere else in Canada.”
Kelly calls Lazaridis’ vision and generous contribution a vote of confidence in Laurier. For more than 100 years, the university’s academic excellence, strong student focus and deep sense of community has produced graduates with the skill and confidence to make intelligent, timely contributions to the business world. The Lazaridis School of Business & Economics, whose alumni include at least 500 CEOs and presidents and 2,000 company founders, builds upon Laurier’s commitment to innovation through immersive and hands-on learning.
Visit www.lazaridisschool.ca to see how Laurier is preparing Canada’s business leaders for tomorrow.
