Britain's Prince Edward is on his 37th visit to Canada.

Prince Edward

Prince Edward

The youngest son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip is on an official trip to the country where he will focus on youth entrepreneurship and fostering a culture of innovation.

Edward, the Earl of Wessex, stopped by Think2Thing, a 3D printing lab before heading to the Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University, where three DMZ-based start-ups presented their business plans him.

He told CTV Toronto: "It's great to see that young people are coming up with these fantastic ideas. It's important for young people to have the resources to turn an idea "into something that becomes commercially viable."

Michal Prywata, chief operating officer at Bionik Labs said: "It's always nice to have someone who's known internationally to come in and recognise that what you're doing is meaningful.

"DMZ, over the last five years or so, has been growing on an international scale. They have offices in different cities now. People are really recognising it as an international hub for tech development start-ups. Things like this just boost that image."

Next week, he will travel to Nova Scotia for several events before visiting his namesake, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.