Campus Locations
King
13990 Dufferin Street
King City, ON
L7B 1B3
416-491-5050
Markham
8 The Seneca Way
Markham, ON
L3R 5Y1
416-491-5050
Newnham
1750 Finch Avenue East
Toronto, ON
M2J 2X5
416-491-5050
Yorkgate
1 York Gate Boulevard
North York, ON
M3N 3A1
416-491-5050
Applied Research at Seneca
Seneca Innovation, the entrepreneurship, applied research and innovation arm at Seneca, has a mandate to foster a culture of innovation for Seneca’s students, faculty, staff and community. Seneca Innovation enables the innovation economy and community well-being by providing practical solutions to real-world, technical and business challenges through two departments: Seneca HELIX, our on-campus accelerator; and Seneca Applied Research, which helps industry and community partners access Seneca resources to conduct research and advance technologies, products, services and programs.
Seneca’s applied research expertise lies in six broad areas: software and data sciences, life sciences, design and animation, business and finance, engineering and health sciences.
Seneca has four research centres:
Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE)
Data Analytics Research Centre (DARC)
Open Source Technology for Emerging Platforms (OSTEP)
Seneca Centre for Innovation in Life Sciences
Learn more about Seneca Innovation
Breaking Boundaries in Urban Agriculture
The Seneca Centre for Health and Social Innovation, in partnership with Boreal Greens – a leader in vertical farming – is identifying best practices for vertical farming in Canada through an applied research project. This initiative has led Seneca to develop a free, 10-week community program that teaches Canadians how to run an urban agricultural business, covering topics from food production to creating a profitable business plan. This program has already earned an honourable mention for Excellence in Agri-Food Education from the Ontario government at the 2023 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
Advancing Accessibility in Reading and Writing
Seneca Polytechnic has partnered with Quillsoft to lead an applied research project focused on enhancing their WordQ software application, a tool designed to assist individuals with reading and writing impairments. Seneca worked alongside industry to improve the software’s predictive writing capabilities and text-to-speech functionality. Co-funded by Quillsoft and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the project offered Seneca students valuable hands-on experience in software development, while also contributing to the broader social impact of WordQ, which is widely used in schools across North America.
To learn more about the value derived from applied research collaborations, read our Economic Impact of Applied Research at Canada’s Polytechnics report.