The Advancing Water Technologies (AWT) program is a brand-new catalyst for business-led collaborations in the water sector. It was created by the Southern Ontario Water Consortium to help Ontario small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leverage world-class research facilities and academic expertise to develop and demonstrate water technologies for successful introduction to the market. AWT provides financial contributions to industry-led research and development projects in the water sector that will result in the successful commercialization of globally-competitive and market-ready products and services. AWT will support existing industry-academic partnerships and actively encourage and develop new ones.