Technology
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.
CANADA’S KEY TECHNOLOGY CENTRES
LEARN MORE ABOUT CANADA’S TECHNOLOGY SECTOR
Canadian Success Stories
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.
Montréal is the world’s 5th largest video game hub, 1st in Canada, and is a world leader in VFX and animation.
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.
St. John’s, Verafin, is the world’s largest financial crime management software company.
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.
Waterloo’s eSentire® is the largest pure-play Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service provider, keeping organizations safe from constantly evolving cyber-attacks
A global leader in social media management, Hootsuite was founded and is headquartered in Vancouver.
Whoosh!, on Canadian Business' 2018 list of fastest-growing companies, makes products to keep the goo off all your touchscreens.
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.
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.
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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, Technology
Email | Phone: +1-514-229-3493
REWARD YOUR TOP TECH PRODUCERS IN CANADA
Collision landed in Toronto in 2019 and exceeded expectations, even in its first year, and expect it's only going to grow in size and quality in the years to come. People came and saw that this is a great city — not only to work in but also to explore and enjoy.
Sunil Sharma, co-host of the Collision Conference (Web Summit) and managing director of TechStars Toronto Accelerator, the first node of the worldwide network outside the US
SAAS NORTH NOW, Canada’s largest technology conference for SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies scaling up, was founded in 2016 in Ottawa by Cube Business Media Inc. and L-Spark Corporation. The conference brings together the entire Canadian SaaS ecosystem under one roof. Despite pressures to launch SAAS NORTH in other cities, as founders, we knew the potential of Ottawa as a lifetime host city of the conference, and we’ve never looked back!
Patrick White, Managing Director | L-SPARK
The Waterloo Region has inspiring spaces and venues for all kinds of events. The area is known for being at the cutting edge for thinking and doing and is populated by thought leaders — from startups to globally recognized tech 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
