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Digital Industries

Digital Industries

Canada, a nation of innovators

With world-class expertise across a spectrum of innovation industries, Canadian tech hubs are a natural draw for conferences across a wide range of sub-sectors. When combined with Canada’s vast landscapes, diverse cities and culture, dynamic culinary and nightlife experiences, and unique opportunities to explore groundbreaking ideas, it’s easy to understand why organizations the world over are choosing Canadian locations to host their global tech events.

Canadian trailblazers in a host of emerging technologies are shaping the future of work, health care, culture and society. When conference-goers meet in our tech hubs, they can tap into Canada’s brain trust, connect with some of our brightest minds and thought leaders, preview made-in-Canada solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, and explore Canadian technologies powering the future during tech festivals, B2B exchanges, technical tours and more. And, when top performers are recognized and rewarded with Canada’s unparalleled destinations and distinctive experiences, they’ll return home refreshed and inspired, ready to perform.

As conferences evolve and become more interactive and engaging it makes sense to incorporate the best and the brightest into a meeting’s agenda. For the technology sector, those thought-leaders and innovators are in Canada.

Information & Communications Technology in Canada

$89.4B

Sector’s contribution to Canada’s GDP

Source: Quarterly Monitor, Information and Communications Technology Council, 2019 Q2

1.49M

Jobs in Canada’s digital economy

Source: Monthly Snapshot, Information and Communications Technology Council, February 2020

41,500+

Companies in Canada

Source: 2018 Canadian ICT Sector Profile, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

#1

In the world in quantum computing science

Source: Economic impact of quantum technologies 2019, National Research Council Canada

Centres of excellence

Canada's key Digital Industry centres

The exterior of a Canadian building with modern architecture

"The Waterloo Region has inspiring spaces and venues for all kinds of events. The area is known for being at the curring edge for thinking and doing and is populated by thought leaders - from startups to globally recognized tech terms firms and research leaders. Best of all, there is a collaborative mindset that permeates every aspect of our innovation ecosystem."

Kelly McManus, Senior Director, Community Relations and Events, University of Waterloo

Home-grown tech companies

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With more than 230 immersive technology companies in 2019, Vancouver is home to the world’s 2nd largest VR/AR sector and the largest cluster of the world’s top VFX and animation studios.

gamepad icon

Montréal is the world’s 5th largest video game hub, 1st in Canada, and is a world leader in VFX and animation. 

Herjavec

Toronto’s Herjavec Group has been ranked as the most innovative cybersecurity company three years running, by responding to a changing threat landscape that goes beyond hackers to include state actors and organized crime.

Verafin

St. John’s, Verafin, is the world’s largest financial crime management software company.

Google AI

Google Montréal’s Google Brain AI research lab, led by Hugo Larochelle, is advancing machine intelligence through research, systems engineering and collaboration with other Alphabet teams.

Esentire

Waterloo’s eSentire® is the largest pure-play Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service provider, keeping organizations safe from constantly evolving cyber-attacks. 

Hootsuite

A global leader in social media management, Hootsuite was founded and is headquartered in Vancouver.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!, on Canadian Business' 2018 list of fastest-growing companies, makes products to keep the goo off all your touchscreens.

Shopify

Headquartered in Ottawa, Shopify’s R&D centre of excellence is driving innovation in AI/ML and robotics toward the $1B development of its North American network of fulfillment centres.

Encqor 5G

Montréal’s ENCQOR 5G, Canada's first 5G corridor, empowers companies to develop and export a new wave of creative products and services in e-health, smart cities, connected and autonomous vehicles, Fintech, cybersecurity and more.

ScaleAI

Montréal is home to SCALE AI, Canada’s AI supply chain supercluster and the  International Centre of Expertise in Montréal for the Advancement of AI.

Mila

The Montréal Institute for Learning Algorithms (Mila)  is the world’s largest research institute in artificial intelligence which rallies 500 researchers specializing in the field of deep learning.

amii

Edmonton is a core member of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy thanks to expertise from the University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii).

Waterloo EC

The Waterloo Region is ranked #2 in Canada for AI research and is home to Canada’s largest robotics and automation cluster and 150 research centres, including the largest concentration of math and computer science talent in the world.

Blockchain

The Blockchain @UBC multidisciplinary research cluster at the University of British Columbia focuses on blockchain research and education to advance the design, development and adoption of blockchain technologies.

UoC

The Institute for Quantum Science and Technology at the University of Calgary conducts leading research in key theoretical and experimental topics of quantum science and technology.

Vector Institute

The Vector Institute in Toronto is an independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), excelling in machine and deep learning. It is where some of the world’s top minds in machine learning and deep learning come together to collaborate on research, data and real-world problems

Here's how we can help you get planning

The team at Destination Canada Business Events helps global organizations meet with purpose in Canada. Contact our team for:

  • Specific information regarding Canada's sector expertise
  • Recommendations on destinations based on their sector strengths
  • Introductions to industry leaders, academia, and economic development agencies
  • Recommendations of technical tours, lab visits, or expert speakers to augment events
  • Assistance in sourcing RFPs for conference placement
Bryan Blue
Business Development Manager
+1-514-229-3493

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