At the kick-off reception for GameON: Finance Wednesday night, Interactive Ontario president and CEO Ian Kelso announced a new partnership with Ryerson University to launch a part-time academic business program for game entrepreneurs.

EDGE: Education for Digital and Games Entrepreneurs is aimed at honing business skills in this growing space, providing knowledge and training in leadership and administration. Courses will include business strategy and tactics, HR/labor relations, project management, and finance and marketing, folding in nationwide and worldwide experts as well as folding in opps for networking.

The program is slated to pilot this spring, followed by a full launch in the fall. Funding for the project was underwritten by Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. Minister Sandra Pupatello was also on hand at the reception, noting that the Greater Toronto Area is the third largest home in North America for film and digital clusters.

EDGE comes at a time when the industry is poised for more growth: the worldwide gaming industry is expected to see a 9.1% annual uptick, with Canada estimated to see more than $346 million of the profits in 2012.