Engineering a future in Canada: U of T student launches two initiatives to retain homegrown talent

Rafiq Omair is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Toronto, who spent the last year studying sustainable building design at the Harvard School for Engineering and Applied Sciences. Despite this prestigious stint south of the border, Omair wishes more students like him stayed in Canada.  

“This may sound hypocritical coming from me, but I think it’s a shame that a lot of our best scientists, engineers, and students in general, leave Canada and end up going mostly to the United States to pursue opportunities,” he said. “They believe there’s a better chance at success and, in some cases, this is true. But I believe in many cases, it’s not.”

A 2023 study from U of T and Brock University revealed two thirds of software engineering students leave Canada for work after graduation, with more than 80 per cent migrating to the U.S. The study also observed high exit rates among graduates in several other STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) disciplines, including computer science (30%), engineering science (27%), and systems design engineering (24%).

“Canada produces some of the world’s top engineers and scientists, and I think we should be putting more effort into keeping them and showing them why they should stay,” he said. “That’s why I’ve come back home with the intention to build in Canada.”  

With support from the Acceleration Consortium’s Initiate Grants, Omair has established two initiatives, the Maple Draft and PathwayR, that aim to mitigate Canada’s talent exodus and strengthen its technology sector.  

Launched in October 2025, the Maple Draft is an online resource and blog designed to demystify the academic and professional engineering journey for marginalized, first-generation and underrepresented students.  

“Our content highlights Canadian startups, professors and labs, and showcases the exciting work that’s happening in Canada,” said Omair. “We want to champion this community and what we’re telling them is: you can stay here, you can build here, and you belong.”  

Omair’s other initiative, PathwayR, was co-founded alongside Arshia Feizmohammady, an industrial engineering student. Soft launched earlier this year, the digital product helps undergraduate students find and apply to research positions and scholarships in Canada.  

“PathwayR’s database tracks opportunities across the country, connecting users with over 500 scholarships and with 3,500 professors across 55 universities,” said Omair. “A big motivation behind creating this platform was to help students who lack professional networks or pre-existing mentorships find more pathways to success. By helping young talent build up stronger support systems and connections in Canada, we hope they can realize their ambitions and continue to build their futures here at home.”  

Both the Maple Draft and PathwayR were funded in part by AC’s Initiate Grants, a program that helps U of T community members launch projects, programming or events that lead to positive culture change in the research ecosystem. The grant is a component of the AC’s EDI action plan, which aims to address systemic inequities in research participation and representation. The AC receives funding from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CREF).  

Omair received $8,500 for both initiatives as one three recipients of the 2025-26 Initiate Grants. Learn more about the other recipients below.

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