Ericsson Canada is building a Canadian ecosystem of researchers and graduate students in its ongoing push to build a more resilient and powerful telecom network across the country.

In February, Ericsson announced a strategic partnership with the University of Toronto that looks to advance the technological capabilities that underlie cell phone networks. The collaboration is intended to pay off in a faster, more efficient and more cost-effective service in Canada in the coming years. 

John Luszczek, business opportunities and ecosystem leader at Ericsson Canada said in an interview with TechNX the partnership the University of Toronto started 12 years ago, shortly after Ericsson acquired Nortel’s mobile development facilities in Ottawa.

Nortel (formerly Northern Telecom) was once an important Canadian multinational telecommunications equipment manufacturer. Following a period of excessive acquisitions and accounting scandals and the U.S. SEC filing civil fraud charges in 2007, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

An expanding relationship

He said Ericsson’s work with the university since then has helped maintain the company’s leadership in telecommunications technologies and research in Canada. This was critical as wireless technologies began to evolve from 3G to 4G, and now to today’s 5G network. And work is well underway for rolling out in the future 6G to Canadians.

The University of Toronto’s work with Ericsson led in 2020 to establishment of a dedicated research chair and has expanded to focus on developing graduate student talent and research on such challenges as integrating AI into network design and operations to enhance network reliability and service quality. Advanced AI‑driven systems will soon monitor telecommunications networks continuously to catch problems before they escalate into major network outages.

“One is identifying early fault detection,” Luszczek explained. “[AI systems] can come back with preliminary information on potential issues so that service personnel can actually go out there and replace it before you get a major failure.”

These AI-enhanced tools can also be used in other enterprise applications. These can include manufacturing, environmental monitoring, agriculture, and other sectors where large‑scale sensor networks can be analyzed to predict future conditions and improve operational efficiency, Luszczek added.

Working with other universities

Ericsson’s collaboration with the university is part of ongoing effort by the company to develop a Canadian eco-system of graduate students and professors to drive AI and telecommunications forward and to keep that talent here.

Graduate students working on Ericsson‑supported research projects gain hands‑on experience working with real-world challenges companies like Ericsson face. Luszczek called this a “two‑pillared approach” that benefits both industry and academia.

“A lot of the students that work on these research projects are graduate students,” Luszczek said. “They have the knowledge of Ericsson, they have the knowledge of the technology, and they have the knowledge of some of the ways of working. So, they’re a perfect fit back to Ericsson.”

While the University of Toronto is a flagship partner, Ericsson collaborates with 20 other Canadian universities, working with both strategic institutional partners and individual “best‑in‑class” researchers at those campuses on specific projects.

Strategic partnerships are currently in place with Carleton University and Concordia University.

Ericsson Canada and Carleton University in 2025 announced the extension of a partnership to drive innovation, train skilled workers and build more reliable, secure technology for 5G wireless communications. The partnership created more than 700 co-op work terms for Carleton students and supported eight Ericsson-funded graduate fellows.

In 2024, Ericsson designated Concordia University as a Tier 1 university partner and is working with the university on advanced research in cybersecurity, applied AI, cloud computing and 5G. Since it began collaborating with the university in 2011, both have published more than 60 scientific research articles and demonstrated almost 40 proof-of-concept projects.

Jeanette Irekvist, president of Ericsson Canada, said in a press release on Concordia University becoming a Tier 1 partner: “Expanding our partnership with Concordia will drive innovation in Canada’s ICT space and grow opportunities for both professionals and learners in the field. Our longstanding relationship has resulted in numerous successes, provided Ericsson with incredible talent, and has paved the way for an incredible foundation of innovation in the latest technologies.”

Looking ahead, Luszczek sees these collaborations as important to Canada’s future economic growth. As networks evolve toward 6G and beyond and start using AI, supporting ongoing technology research and the work of graduate students and researchers will be key to driving that growth.

“These are things that will actually positively affect the economy here,” Luszczek said.