At Deloitte, we have a big-picture vision of innovation—it’s not only about what we produce but also about where it takes us and how it enables our people, clients, communities, and country to thrive.
To realize this vision, we work to inspire and empower our people to be innovative at all levels. A key driver of this is Catalyst North, our national funding and enablement program that identifies and accelerates Deloitte Canada’s homegrown software and technology assets. These assets are developed by our own people to solve real issues that our clients face. From idea to prototype to implementation, this asset development happens right here in Canada, though we also import and adapt technology assets from across the global Deloitte network.
Our Toronto-based Catalyst North team operates nationally to help identify and develop these solutions and bring them to market. In all we do, we keep our innovation vision in mind as we help companies and communities build their own bright futures.
DELOITTE TECHNOLOGY ASSETS: SOLVING REALWORLD PROBLEMS
Here are a few examples of how we’re making an impact with our homegrown tech assets.
Deloitte’s ConvergeHEALTHTM Connect for Public Sector solution is a unique cross-sector application, built on Salesforce Health Cloud, that revolutionizes the delivery of care and decreases costs for provincial health care systems. With this solution, healthcare organizations use data to provide personalized and predictive services while improving collaboration by connecting the patient’s circle of care on one platform.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we helped a large province optimize the allocation and redistribution of health care professionals. We also developed a solution that enables additional health care workers—whether newly retired or currently on leave—to raise their hands to indicate their willingness to re-enter the workforce to help during a crisis.
Learn more about our Healthcare assets at www.deloitte.ca/healthcare.
Helping companies set and reach climate goals
Climate change is a significant challenge for us all to do our part to better manage, and hence it presents a pressing concern for many organizations.
Our Decarbonization SolutionsTM help clients forecast their future emission-reduction projects through scenario modelling, emission pathway analysis, and abatement impact analysis. A successful climate action journey can only be achieved if organizations have robust tools and processes to evaluate, define, and act on their climate strategy. Recently, we helped a Toronto telecommunications company make significant progress toward its goal by using this solution to develop a net-zero carbon plan.
Furthermore, over the last decade, companies in Toronto and beyond have recognized that to achieve their sustainability and net-zero goals, they must fundamentally transform their business. To this end, Deloitte has collaborated with Geotab, an Oakville-based global telematics innovation leader, to enable an end-to-end fleet electrification journey for their clients in the transportation industry.
Our Electrified asset helps clients start framing their sustainability ambition around electrification, then helps them confidently procure and implement the necessary electrification infrastructure to unlock value for the business and reduce its carbon emissions. When everything is up and running, Electrified helps with the ongoing monitoring and management of clients’ electrified fleets.
Learn more about our climate commitments at www.deloitte.ca/climate.
DELOITTE VENTURES: OUR OWN DRAGONS’ DEN
Through Deloitte Ventures, our new corporate venture capital initiative, we have committed C$150 million to make minority equity investments in emerging and disruptive Canadian technology companies and venture funds. Created with a vision of accelerating the country’s innovative technology sector, our investment represents the largest capital commitment to date among Canadian professional services firms.
Our investments will focus on key verticals for Canada, including fintech, health and life sciences technology, cybersecurity technology, and cleantech, among others, with the goal of further catalyzing growth in these areas.
We anticipate opportunities to invest in companies that reflect our purpose—to make an impact that matters—in aspects such as diversity, equity, and inclusion; climate; and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Through Deloitte Ventures, the firm will play an active role in helping accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies as well as benefit Canadian business and the economy as a whole.
A core tenet of the Deloitte Ventures strategy is to engage with and strengthen the robust innovation ecosystem in Toronto—we’re looking forward to more interaction in the months and years ahead. Learn more about this initiative at www.deloitte.ca/ventures.
DELOITTE AI INSTITUTE: AN INNOVATION THINK TANK
Our AI Institute is on a mission to expand Canadians’ understanding of artificial intelligence (AI). We know the demand is there—when we launched in March 2021 from Deloitte’s Toronto-based headquarters, our
virtual event was attended by more than 1,800 business leaders in Canada and globally.
The Deloitte AI Institute functions as an innovation think tank to educate our clients, people, and the broader community about AI’s most pressing issues. While we primarily produce thought leadership and relevant AI insights, the institute’s signature event is a monthly webcast series, during which industry and research leaders demystify AI and share stories from their own work.
These webcasts have attracted data and analytics leaders from Toronto-based organizations (BMO AI Labs, TD, Scotiabank, OMERS, and Roche), who have joined as panelists on topics including trustworthy AI, AI for social good, and more. The series has contributed to building a vibrant community of AI enthusiasts in Toronto, across Canada, and around the world, with more 2,500 attendees and 28 panelists having participated since the series launch.
In the years ahead, the AI Institute will narrow its focus on the much-needed promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in machine learning. Learn more at www.deloitte.ca/aiinstitute.
