March 24, 2022
The Toronto tech scene has slowly emerged as one of the foremost powerhouses in the North American industry. In recent years, the Toronto tech industry has grown to see robust investment into new ventures, strong government support, and a talented workforce ready to build out the next big venture. In 2021 alone, data from the Silicon Valley Bank showed that Canada’s tech sector saw a record of more than CDN$16 billion in funding raised – more than doubling the previous record of CDN$8 billion raised in 2019. About one third of the $16 billion raised in Canada in 2021 was raised in the city of Toronto.
As more and more money is invested in the Toronto tech sector, workers will follow suit. Thanks to the financial investment from various groups along with government and educational support, Toronto is now home to more tech workers than anywhere in North America other than New York and Silicon Valley. However, Toronto’s tech workforce is also growing at a faster rate than any other city in North America. Massive industry players such as Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon have established solid footholds in the city while other companies such as Pinterest, Stripe, and Klarna have recently made the move to Toronto to take advantage of the booming tech space. More locally, the native e-commerce giant Shopify has established itself as a strong anchor in the Toronto tech industry with its large workforce of tech researchers and engineers.
The growth in Toronto has also largely been supported by various government and educational initiatives. Local universities have invested considerable resources to further themselves as premier establishments for tech research and growth. In the downtown core, the DMZ at Ryerson University is where early stage tech ventures are incubated and given access to a number of resources to help them grow. Goodmans LLP is proud to be “legal counsel in residence” at the DMZ offering pro-bono legal services to companies at the DMZ. Similarly, the University of Toronto is currently in the final stages of building a new complex that will be the home of cutting edge A.I and biotech companies.
A.I. in particular has been a strong part of the Toronto tech space through places like the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. A number of companies such as Uber and Google have recognised the strength of Toronto’s A.I. research and development and set up significant operations in the city to further their A.I. projects.
Overall, it seems clear that the future for Toronto tech is quite bright. Where talent and resources once flocked south of the border for innovation and growth, Toronto has now emerged as the foremost tech city north of the border.
By: Aryan Pour-Bahreini
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