Part of The Investment Attraction Series presented by

Spotlight on Waterloo: Mid-Sized City and Booming Tech Town

Published on January 21, 2021

Steve Woods / Senior Director of Engineering & Engineering Lead - Google Canada

Avvey Peters / Chief Strategy Officer - Communitech

Martin Basiri / CEO and Co-Founder - ApplyBoard

Matt Rendall / CEO and Co-Founder - Clearpath Robotics

What does it take to transform a community into one of the top, globally recognized innovation centres of the world?

A flood of top quality talent streaming out of universities and colleges, combined with accelerators, incubators and community partners that uplift innovators to launch multinational, multi-billion dollar companies has forged a thriving tech ecosystem in one of Canada’s most prized mid-sized cities: Waterloo.

In this Spotlight, learn how Waterloo’s rich history as a manufacturing hub and tech town has made it one of the top draws for foreign investors to Canada.

Takeaways

Waterloo is home to approximately 1,400 technology firms and its density as a mid-sized city allows for collisions and convergences that accelerate innovation.
Waterloo has a dynamic, diverse and supportive business ecosystem with companies of all sizes in manufacturing, agriculture, finance, insurance and tech, among other industries.
Waterloo’s academic institutions rank among the highest in the world, with particularly strong talent in business, artificial intelligence, mathematics, engineering and quantum computing.
The federal and provincial governments provide programs, incentives and grants to foreign investors in the Waterloo region.