CENGN Announces Living Lab Partnership with Morguard and Nokia
CENGN partners with Morguard & Nokia to launch 3 Smart Building Living Labs, letting startups test sensors, robotics & AI in real buildings.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA, October 6, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Pour la traduction en français, veuillez consulter: https://www.cengn.ca/fr/information-centre/nouvelles/cengn-annonce-un-partenariat-de-laboratoire-vivant-avec-morguard-et-nokia/CENGN Announces Living Lab Partnership with Morguard and Nokia
Today, CENGN announced a Living Lab partnership with Morguard and Nokia to advance Canadian innovation. Through the partnership, the CENGN Living Lab Initiative will now include co-funded access to three Smart Building Living Labs, powered by Morguard and Nokia. The Living Labs will enable Canadian startups and scaleups to test and validate their cutting-edge sensor, robotic, and applied artificial intelligence products in residential, commercial, and retail environments, accelerating their path to market readiness.
Supported by a $45 million investment from the Federal Government’s Strategic Response Fund (SRF), CENGN’s national Living Lab Initiative aims to help over 100 Canadian startups and scaleups looking to prepare their innovative products and solutions for commercialization and industry adoption.
By offering access to advanced infrastructure, expert support, and real-world testing environments, the CENGN Living Lab Initiative drives technology adoption across key economic sectors. It plays a critical role in boosting Canadian industry competitiveness, fostering new Intellectual Property, and fueling the growth of the country’s most promising technology ventures.
CENGN Launches Smart Building Living Labs, Powered by Morguard and Nokia
As Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks, CENGN drives the innovation and adoption of advanced networking technologies in Canada through connected infrastructure, technical expertise and services, talent development, and the nurturing of a thriving innovation ecosystem.
The organization has expanded its services to include access to three Smart building Living Labs, including Morguard’s Place Innovation in Montreal, The Bay Club in Toronto, and St. Laurent Shopping Centre in Ottawa. The Living Labs provide real testing environments for smart building solutions in commercial, residential, and retail settings. Leveraging support from Nokia, each Smart Building will be outfitted with the latest 5G private wireless connectivity provided by Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC), fibre Passive Optical Network (PON) and Optical LAN, enabling validation of solutions targeting key use cases, like smart energy management, improved maintenance management systems, safety and security applications, and enhanced tenant experience.
"With CENGN, Morguard is proud to bring smart buildings into Canada’s innovation ecosystem. These labs reflect our commitment to advancing smart, sustainable properties while accelerating technologies that improve the everyday lives of the people who live, work and shop in our communities." Angela Sahi, President and COO, Morguard.
“Nokia is proud to be one of the main 5G and fibre technology partners for CENGN Living Labs. Continuing our long-standing relationship with CENGN, we are committed to encouraging technology innovation and digital transformation across Canada by providing advanced networking resources and our leadership to pave the way for Industry 4.0.” Jeff Maddox, President, Nokia Canada.
Federal Government’s ISED Invests $45 Million
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED)’s $45 million investment in CENGN aims to expedite the technology transformation of Canadian industry while directly supporting Canadian innovators through Innovation and Adoption Projects. Each Innovation Project includes up to $250K in co-investment funding to the startup or scaleup, a number which increases up to $500K for Adoption Projects.
“Smart building innovation is key to creating safer, more efficient and more sustainable spaces for Canadians to live, work and shop. Through partnerships like the CENGN Living Lab with Morguard and Nokia, we are empowering startups to develop and validate advanced technologies that will transform building management, enhance tenant experiences and support our ambitious climate goals. This initiative accelerates the commercialization of made-in-Canada solutions and strengthens our country’s position as a global leader in connected infrastructure.” The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions.
This funding is expected to provide a major return on investment, including
- A significant boost in GDP growth
- The creation and safeguarding of critical tech jobs in Canada
- The launch of innovative Canadian products in the global market
- The generation of disruptive and impactful Canadian IP patents
- Sales growth and substantial follow-on investment for participating Canadian startups and scaleups
- Acceleration of Technology Readiness Levels for participating Canadian companies
- The entry of skilled professionals into critical digital technology roles nationwide
“The Smart Building Living Lab empowers startups to transform Canadian infrastructure by developing and validating AI-driven solutions for smarter, greener buildings. Through CENGN’s support, this initiative is advancing innovation in how we design and manage spaces for our communities. It highlights Canada’s commitment to leadership in intelligent and sustainable building technology.” The Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.
Empowering Canada’s Leadership in Smart Building Solutions through CENGN Living Labs
Chris Joyce, Vice President, Business Development and Marketing of CENGN, explains the concept behind the CENGN Living Lab Initiative:
“By leveraging our comprehensive program services and funding alongside our partner’s real-world smart building environments, we enable Canadian innovators to bring their cutting edge technologies to market faster and with greater confidence. This initiative strengthens Canada’s position as a global leader in building automation, IoT, advanced communications, and applied AI technology. These technologies are key to transforming building infrastructure maintenance and operations, and supporting the country’s economic resilience and long-term growth.”
Startups and scaleups can access these services through an Innovation Project, where they utilize CENGN Living Lab environments and expertise to test, validate, and certify their solutions for market entry or expansion. Alternatively, a startup can participate in an Adoption Project, where they work directly with a potential customer to test and validate their solution against the customer’s needs and requirements.
Uniting a Pan-Canadian Innovation Ecosystem
Through CENGN, the Living Labs are connected to a greater pan-Canadian ecosystem of tech-leading organizations, innovation hubs, and sector-focused organizations. This ecosystem enables the accessibility and promotion of CENGN Living Lab services to startups and scaleups nationwide, ensuring all innovative Canadian companies can apply for a project.
"Andorix is proud to be part of Canada’s first private 5G Smart Building implementation with CENGN, Nokia and Morguard. Spanning a mix of commercial, residential, and retail properties, this initiative marks the country’s first in-building private 5G network deployment and provides a unique opportunity to learn how 5G can be applied in real-world environments. By integrating private 5G across diverse property types, we can expand the ecosystem of supported devices and help advance the most promising projects that bridge emerging technologies with practical implementation." Wayne Kim, CEO of Andorix.
Resources:
CENGN Living Lab Initiative – https://www.cengn.ca/strategic-innovation-fund/
ISED SRF Program – https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/programs-and-initiatives/strategic-response-fund
Place Innovation – https://morguardleasing.com/building/1209984474559661651/
The Bay Club – https://www.thebayclub.ca/
St. Laurent Shopping Centre – https://shopstlaurent.com/
Andorix – https://www.andorix.com/
Smart Building Living Labs, Powered by Morguard and Nokia - https://www.cengn.ca/living-lab-initiative/smart-building-living-labs
Media Contact:
Rick Penwarden
Senior Communications Manager
CENGN -Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks
613-963-1203
Rick.Penwarden@cengn.ca
CENGN – Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks
CENGN, Canada's Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks, drives innovation and adoption of applied AI, IoT, and advanced networking technologies through its Living Lab Initiative, technical expertise, and partner ecosystem. Through our services, we enable the digital transformation and competitiveness of the Canadian industry and the commercial growth of Canadian digital technology solutions. CENGN provides access to real end-user environments and the end-to-end testing services and expertise that accelerate validation, demonstration, commercialization, and adoption of digital innovation solutions across Canada and the globe.
Our unique expertise and positioning as a neutral third party in an ecosystem of technology, innovation, government, and academic partners, paired with a long track record of overperforming on program mandates, have made CENGN a trusted leader in delivering Government initiatives that support network technology innovation.
For more information on the CENGN Living Labs or for general inquiries on CENGN, please contact services@cengn.ca.
Morguard
Morguard Corporation is a major North American real estate and property management company with extensive retail, office, industrial, hotel and residential holdings owned directly and through its investments in Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust and Morguard North American Residential REIT. Morguard also provides real estate management services to institutional and other investors. Morguard's owned and managed portfolio of assets is valued at $19.1 billion. This year, Morguard proudly celebrates 50 years of leadership, innovation and growth in the real estate industry.
For more information, visit www.morguard.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.
As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.
With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
Rick Penwarden
CENGN
+1 613-963-1200 ext. 329
email us here
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