The lab, dubbed eXplore, is a design and development space, operating as part of the Exchange's newly-created Global Enterprise Services, where a selection of TMX Group employees will focus on developments in both technology and big data analytics. 

Lou Eccleston, TMX Group CEO, comments: "With this new initiative, TMX Group will be better positioned to leverage our existing technology and human capital to incubate and develop new solutions for our clients." 

Team members will be encouraged to connect with external innovation networks to learn from and build on new tech trends in financial services research, says Eccleston.

As an example, he cites a collaboration framework recently formalised with the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences at the University of Toronto. The Institute brings together mathematicians from Canada and abroad to conduct research in pure and applied mathematics, statistics and computer science. The collaboration with TMX will entail mobilisation of the Institute's resources to hone in on areas related to quantitative finance and big data.

In a similar fashion, the Exchange has also contributed educational funding to the Data Science Lab in the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science at Ryerson University, again with a focus squarely on the use of big data analytics to build better algorithms and predictive models and techniques.

Says Ecclestone: "Our company is fully committed to continually evolving our services and products that offer value to our clients, and eXplore will be an important piece of our approach to client-first innovation."

Says the Exchange: "TMX Group's commitment helps the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering develop a tailored data science and analytics research program focused on building novel algorithms, predictive models and techniques using big data to enhance decision making."