On October 3 and 4, 2026, more than 50 college students gathered at Concordia University's District 3 campus for the third edition of Campus*48, an event dedicated to impact entrepreneurship, and where students turn ideas into projects. Vanier College was well represented with 20 students among this next generation of entrepreneurs. A total of 12 projects were presented, and six grants totaling $5,000 were awarded thanks to contributions from financial partners of PME MTL.
At the end of this weekend of creativity and collaboration, four Vanier students from the Business Administration and the Commerce programs were among the members of the winning teams:
- Parmeet Kaur Gahunia and Ali Msahli Team Alliance Sport, Desjardins Award - Campus*48
- Viktoria Mukha Team Relion, CERSÉ Award - Impact
- Fanta Nourah Diabaté Team Habitations Mouline, Desjardins Award - Leadership
Congratulations to all participants and to the winning teams! For Parmeet Kaur Gahunia, it was a second year participating in the competition and again this year she obtained the first-place prize! Her team developed an app called TeamUp designed to revive underutilized urban spaces while bringing people together in real life. By centralizing empty spaces across the city, the platform makes it effortless to discover and book public spaces wherever and whenever it is wanted, turning dormant spots into thriving community hubs.
"CAMPUS*48 allows us to engage with remarkable entrepreneurs driving the social economy", shared Parmeet, adding: "this year I returned with new ideas and a challenge close to my heart: How do we rebuild community in Montreal". For fellow team-member, first-year Commerce student Ali Msahli, Campus 48 was great discovery. "It was wonderful to meet with real entrepreneurs who started companies from nothing and transformed their ideas into thriving million-dollar businesses," he said.
Nourah Diabaté, a second-year Architectural Technology student, was inspired by the mentors who shared their personal stories and discovered more about the complexities of creating a business. "At the end of the weekend, I felt that having my own business is doable. It's something that I can accomplish some day!"
Commerce student Viktoria Mukha was thrilled with her experience. "Campus 48 highlighted the importance of cooperation and teamwork to realize a project, and meeting business coaches and other like-minded students was one of the best parts of the weekend."
Stimulated by their experience, the Vanier participants have created Vanier Venturers, a club where they can exchange ideas and discover new activities and opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. In fact, Viktoria urges teachers to tell their students about other competitions because "it's hard for students to discover them on our own." She is certainly interested in being part of similar activities in the future.
Congratulations to all the winners.
