❄️ COIE's Winter 2026: Exciting programs coming this semester!
Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (COIE)
Fostering a sustainable entrepreneurial mindset and actionable lifelong skills™️
Stay in the Loop with COIE! ✨ Sign up to receive the latest news on exciting entrepreneurial events, hands-on workshops, inspiring stories, and more—delivered straight to your inbox.Thanks for joining our community!
SHARE
An exciting Winter 2026 at COIE ❄️✨
Welcome to the Winter 2026 semester at the Centre of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (COIE)! Whether you've been a long-time COIE participant or just learned about us at Orientation this week, we're thrilled to have you join our community of changemakers 🤩
A quick refresher on who we are: COIE empowers Centennial College students, alumni, staff, faculty and community members with entrepreneurial mindsets, changemaking skills, and innovation capabilities that improve their problem-solving, creativity, resilience, and communication skills. We provide pre-incubator support that helps turn classroom projects, research outcomes and early-stage venture ideas into feasible, validated startups.
Join the 🌎 Global Goals Jam ($4500 in total prizes), pitch and win at 🎙️COIE Demo Day, explore our 🎮 VR Immersive Lab, and receive a 📘 FREE COIE Book Club copy, while turning course projects into real ventures through our 🙋♀️ mentorship program, 👨💻entrepreneurial workshops, and industry-connected startup experience. 🌱
COIE's flagship event returns in-person: Global Goals Jam Canada Winter 2026
📢 Calling changemakers, developers, designers, engineers, strategists, and all enthusiasts: design impactful solutions for global challenges during Engagement Week on March 3 in-person at Centennial College!
COIE Flagship Event
Global Goals Jam Canada: Winter 2026
📅 Tuesday, March 3, 8am - 6pm 📍 8th Floor, Event Center, Progress Campus, Centennial College 🍽️ Breakfast, lunch and refreshments provided
COIE's most anticipated event is back — and in-person for the first time!
🌎🌱 Do you have a passion for solving social challenges to improve lives? Do you want to be part of an engaging design jam, developing innovative solutions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals? Join us for COIE's 11th Global Goals Jam on Tuesday, March 3rd (during Engagement Week) for a full and exciting day of purposeful fun, changemaking, and a chance to win awards* totalling $4500! 🙌
COIE's Global Goals Jam Canada Winter 2025 virtual SDG challenge weekend
*Awards are generously supported by philanthropist Diane Blake. Prize money is shared amongst winning team members and sent via e-gift cards.
🌟 Successful candidates who outstand in any COIE programs will receive a Engagement Excellence Award ($150 e-gift card).
💼 Access startup jobs (This is an unpaid volunteer role, with priority access to jobs, application support, and early hiring updates.)
🎁 Plus: Centennial Innovates T-shirt and COIE 3D-printed keychain
🔗Application will close on Monday, January 12, at 11:59 PM
All Winter 2026 Student Ambassadors are encouraged to attendCOIE’s In-Person Information Sessionon January 20 at the Progress Campus Event Centre (8th Floor) as part of onboarding.
The Changemaker Mindset Series brings inspiring changemakers from our community to share how ways of thinking can shape impact — and how cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit can drive positive change. Each session highlights practical tools and powerful stories that help you reframe challenges, spark creativity, and take meaningful action in your studies, career, and community. 🧠✨
Coming up next: Innovation Starts with Mindset
Discover how an innovative mindset empowers changemakers across careers, startups, and everyday life!
🗓️ February 3, 11:30am-1pm 📍 8th Floor Event Centre, Progress Campus ☕️ Light refreshments provided
The Immersive Innovation Lab's VR Studios are designed to help students build confidence and real-world communication skills across multiple contexts such as pitching, interviewing, and public speaking. Combining web-based and immersive virtual reality (VR) simulations, participants practice in realistic scenarios with simulated audiences and receive real-time AI-powered feedback, Q&A interactions, and expert-led guidance.
VR Start-Up Ready Studio
Practice confident startup pitches in immersive VR environments with real-time feedback!
Next semester, COIE is bringing back a full lineup of weekly virtual entrepreneurial workshops to help you start, validate and grow your business! 🙌
We are also introducing a new workshop format - "Mindset Minutes" - where instead of lecture-style presentations, we will facilitate short, 30–45 minute talk-show style sessions with change-makers and thought leaders.
Demo Day is back! The competition begins with a booth-style showcase, where you can demo and sell your products. Top teams will be selected to advance to the 3-minute pitch competition.
📅 Tuesday, March 31 | 12:00–2:30 PM (Doors open at 11:45 AM) 📍 8th Floor Event Centre, Progress Campus, Centennial College 🍵 Light refreshments will be provided
🤝 COIE is now an official partner of this pitch competition.
The Arena Pitch Competition
Open to any Centennial College students currently studying at or recently graduated (within one year of graduation), who is the owner or part-owner of the business idea, to win part of a $17,000 prize fund.
Explore entrepreneurship as an alternative career path in this virtual 10-week program designed for university and college students. Gain insights into the commercial potential of your academic research and develop a new way of thinking—one that connects innovation to real-world problems.
OCI brings together industry, academic, and government partners to invest in collaborative R&D, technology development, and commercialization opportunities that deliver the highest return on innovation for Ontarians.
A unicorn startup is a privately held company, often in tech, that achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more, a term coined by VC Aileen Lee in 2013 to highlight their extreme rarity, though they've become more common, often driven by disruptive innovation, huge market potential, and significant venture capital funding. They're known for rapid growth and reshaping industries, but aren't public yet, meaning their high valuation is on paper.
Canada is home to 30 unicorn startups, with a strong presence in AI and blockchain technology. Companies like Dapper Labs, a blockchain product firm, have reached an $8B valuation, while AI company Cohere has secured $1.7B in funding. Top 10 Most Valuable Canadian Unicorns
We chose The Brand Gap to kick off January because it bridges strategy, creativity, and innovation—the exact mindset we want to set for the new term. The book helps founders and students think clearly about brand, value, and differentiation, making it a perfect starting point for shaping strong ideas and purposeful ventures in Winter 2026.
👆 Marty Neumeier - Minding the Brand Gap and Beyond
Book Club Session:
The Brand Gap
As graduation approaches, one question shapes what comes next: How can your communication work on your behalf—consistently and confidently? This one-hour Book Club session explores The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier, focusing on clarity, first impressions, and how you show up in early professional interactions.
📅 Tues, Jan 28 | 5-6PM 📍Virtual (Microsoft Teams)
Graduated recently? Don’t miss out on future updates, opportunities, and events from Centennial Innovates. Ensure you update your emailso we can keep in touch after you leave campus!
Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (COIE), Centennial College, 941 Progress Ave (B2-06), Scarborough, ON M1G 3T8 If you'd like to unsubscribe from COIE's newsletters, please email us with "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.
Fostering a sustainable entrepreneurial mindset and actionable lifelong skills™️
Stay in the Loop with COIE! ✨ Sign up to receive the latest news on exciting entrepreneurial events, hands-on workshops, inspiring stories, and more—delivered straight to your inbox.Thanks for joining our community!
