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BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA 1#meetincanada

INFORMATION + Communications TechnologiesCANADIAN TALENT, INNOVATION AND GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

PROMOTING ECONOMIC STRENGTHS TO MEET WITH PURPOSE IN CANADA

#meetincanadabusinesseventscanada.ca2 BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA

36.7MILLIONTOTAL POPULATION

18.4MILLIONTOTAL WORKFORCE

1.3MILLIONBUSINESSES

$2.14TRILLIONTOTAL GDP SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA

CANADA RANKS 1ST IN THE G7 FOR

Democracy (The Economist Intelligence Unit)

Economic Freedom(The Heritage Foundation)

Social Progress(The Social Progress Imperative)

Overall Reputation(Reputation Institute)

Quality of Life(OECD)

Canada offers businesses the MOST EDUCATED talent pool among OECD countries

“DISCOVER CANADA FOR BUSINESS EVENTS

Canada is one of the safest, affordable and most welcoming destinations.

When you convene in Canada for meetings and conventions you’ll be connected with the innovators who are shaping the future, the thought leaders who are leading the way and the business and research architects who elevate Canada’s position on the world stage across a spectrum of industries. Research tells us meeting in Canada makes delegate engagement soar; connecting with Business Events Canada is the first step to your best conference ever.ˮ

— Chantal Sturk-Nadeau, Executive Director, Global Business Events Canada

Business Events Canada is a division of Destination Canada, our national tourism marketing agency charged with growing Canada’s share of international business events.

CANADA’S CLUSTER EXPERTISE

Canada’s commitment to facilitating cooperative strategies between academia and businesses is demonstrated by two newly established ICT superclusters:

Digital Technology Based in British Columbia, and with an expected GDP impact of more than $5 BILLION over 10 years, this supercluster will use bigger, better datasets and cutting-edge applications of augmented reality, cloud computing and machine learning to improve service delivery in the natural resources, precision health and manufacturing sectors.

Among the 270+ participants: • Telus• Microsoft• Research Universities’

Council of British Columbia

AI-Powered Supply Chains (SCALE.AI) Based in Quebec, and with a projected GDP impact of over $16.5 BILLION over 10 years, this supercluster will bring the retail, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure and ICT sectors together to build intelligent supply chains through artificial intelligence and robotics.

Among the 110+ participants: • Air Canada• CN• Optel • University of Waterloo

CANADAIN FOCUS

“Canada is an alluring destination for global meetings and business events.

By showcasing our industry expertise, we provide meeting planners and decision makers with important context to make their case for meeting in Canada, and fresh content to augment their agenda that is only available here. When you couple that with the unique conference locations and experiences Canada is known for, itʼs a win for everyone.ˮ

— Virginie De Visscher, Director of Business Development Economic Sectors, Business Events Canada

BUSINESS EVENTS DRIVE ECONOMIES AND INNOVATION

By converging diverse, creative and commercial interests across industries, global ICT-focused conferences have the power to transform communities with their subsequent legacy impacts, also known as “beyond tourism benefits.” More than a marketing tool to attract conferences, Business Events Canada̓s priority sector strategy is a long-range economic development strategy with far-reaching benefits that will last long after each conference has concluded.

Business Events Canada is focused on attracting conferences and business events from across the key economic sectors in which Canada excels. With some $181 billion in annual revenue, the information and communications technologies (ICT) sector is a key driver of Canada’s economy and one of the country’s top priority economic sectors.

By focusing on the whole ecosystem, aligning Canada’s key economic drivers, academia, vibrant destinations and conference infrastructure, Business Events Canada creates a recipe for innovative, authentic and engaging conferences and events.

BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA 3

BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA 5

NEWFOUNDLANDAND LABRADOR

THE MARITIMESPRINCE EDWARD ISLANDNOVA SCOTIA NEW BRUNSWICK

BRITISHCOLUMBIA

YUKON

NORTHWESTTERRITORIES

ALBERTA

SASKATCHEWAN

MANITOBA

ONTARIO

QUEBEC

NUNAVUT

HUDSON BAY

VANCOUVER

• Animation&VisualEffects• Cloud Computing• Cryptocurrency• Cybersecurity• Data Analytics• Data Science• Digital Media & Gaming• Industry 4.0• Machine Learning• Quantum Computing• SaaS• Virtual Reality

EDMONTON

• ArtificialIntelligence• Bioinformatics• Human-Machine Interaction• Information Extraction &

Visualization• Medical Imaging

WINNIPEG

• Communications Technology• Cybersecurity• Data Centres• Digital Media• Fintech• Machine Learning &

ArtificialIntelligence• SaaS

WATERLOO

• ArtificialIntelligence• Autotech• Big Data• Cybersecurity• Industry 4.0• Machine Learning• Quantum Physics &

Computing• Robotics

4 BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA

QUÉBEC CITY

• ArtificialIntelligence• Digital Media• Geospatial• Interactive Entertainment• Optics• Photonics• SaaS

OTTAWA

• Autonomous Vehicles • Communications Technology• Digital Media• Fintech• Govtech• Next Generation Networks

& 5G• Photonics• SaaS

MONTRÉAL

• ArtificialIntelligence• Audio-Visual/Digital Sound• Communications Technology• Data Centres • Digital Media• Industry 4.0• SaaS

TORONTO

• ArtificialIntelligence&Machine Learning

• Communications Technology • Cybersecurity • Digital Media & Gaming• Fintech• Mobile Applications• SaaS

CANADA’SICT CENTRES

6 BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA businesseventscanada.ca #meetincanada

WHAT IS ICT?

Manufacturing and services industries that capture, transmit and display data and information electronically.

Segments/subsectors include:

• AnimationandVisualEffects• ArtificialIntelligence• Audio-Visual/Digital Sound• Autonomous Vehicles• Autotech• Big Data• Bioinformatics• Cloud Computing• Communications Technology• Cryptocurrency• Cybersecurity• Data Analytics• Data Centres• Data Science• Digital Media & Gaming• Fintech• Geospatial• Human-machine Interaction• Industry 4.0

• Information Extraction & Visualization

• Interactive Entertainment• Machine Learning• Medical Imaging• Mobile Applications• Next Generation Networks & 5G• Optics• Photonics• Quantum Computing• Robotics• SaaS• Virtual Reality

Did you know...

Canada exports 80% of its ICT manufactured products.

$181BILLIONANNUAL REVENUE

39,000COMPANIES

$73BILLIONSECTOR GDP

594,871JOBS

SUCCESS STORIES

IMAX technology was dreamed up by three Ontario students in the 1960s and today is renowned for its method of filming and exhibiting large-format, wide-angle motion pictures. IMAX won an Oscar in 1997 for Scientific and Technical Achievement.

The Shopify cloud-based e-commerce platform serves 377,500+ businesses across 150 countries and is among Canada’s top R&D spenders.

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES

TOP 10 MULTINATIONAL ICT COMPANIES OPERATING IN CANADA*

BCE

CA

ECELESTICA

TELUS CGI GROUP

CONSTELLATION SOFTWARE

OPENTEXT

ROGERS COMMUNICATIONSSHAW

COMMUNICATIONS

BLACKBERRY

*Source: Branham300 2017 Edition

TOP 10 CANADIAN ICT COMPANIES*

$5.5 BILLION in private sector R&D expenditures

Unprecedented federal funding and support for R&D, 12.9% LOWER COSTSand better R&D tax incentive packages than the US

A knowledge- intensive workforce

Collaboration across all sectors

SOURCE: INNOVATION, SCIENCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CANADA; STATISTICS CANADA

Canada has always been a hotbed of ingenuity and tech expertise. From Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone, to advancements in artificial intelligence and deep learning, Canada demonstrates its leadership on the global stage.

Convening in Canada opens your team up to a host of new connections. Diverse, collaborative and innovative, Canadian centres of excellence are a natural draw for conferences across the spectrum of tech subsectors. From next generation networking to the Internet of Things, fromfintechtosoftwareasaservice(SaaS),fromautonomous vehicles to cybersecurity, and from robotics to augmented reality, the breakthroughs happening in Canada are creating the future.

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

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Canada’s dramatic, vast landscape helped fuel a drive for closer connection. The resulting wireless and satellite breakthroughs drive mobile media, networking, AI and digital technology advancements worldwide.

A NATION OF INNOVATORSCANADA

8 BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA 9businesseventscanada.ca

CANADA IS AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF R&D

Montréal’s Element AI and Toronto’s Vector Institute are magnets for the world’s top talent.

TORONTO

MONTRÉAL

EDMONTON

CANADIAN PIONEERS

TORONTODeep learning led by Geoffrey Hinton

MONTRÉAL Machine learning led by Yoshua Bengio

EDMONTONReinforcement learning led by Richard Sutton

Fluent AI’s patented voice recognition solution enables natural language interactions with voice-operated systems and works with most languages and accents.

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.

The Microsoft Research Montréal lab—founded in 2015 as Maluuba and acquired by Microsoft in 2017—teaches machines to read, think and communicate like humans.

The Montréal Institute for Learning Algorithms is working on two major projects: an AI research hub in conjunction with Thales Group’s Paris-based lab, and IBM’s planned AI development lab slated for Montréal.

OpenText’s flexible new AI platform combines open source machine learning with advanced analysis to acquire, merge, manage and analyze big data.

SUCCESS STORIES

INTERNATIONAL AI COMPANIES IN CANADA

INTERNATIONAL JOINT CONFERENCE

ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

July 25–30, 2021

Montréal

Est. 2,500 attendees ®

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HOTSPOTS

SUBSECTOR SPOTLIGHT

DEEPMIND TECHNOLOGIES, Google’s prestigious London, England-based artificial intelligence research division, in 2017 established its first international artificial intelligence research lab in Edmonton in collaboration with the University of Alberta.

WATERLOO

OTTAWA

TORONTO

VANCOUVER

MONTRÉAL

QUÉBEC CITY

TORONTO

Developed in Canada Dragon Age (Electronic Arts/BioWare), FIFA Soccer (EA Sports), Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry (Ubisoft)

LA SEMAINE NUMÉRIQUE DE QUÉBEC

April 5–15, 2018

Québec City

25,000 attendees

WATERLOO

WINNIPEG

TORONTO

VANCOUVER IS THE 3RD LARGEST FILM AND TV PRODUCTION CITY in North America and is home to:• Sony Pictures Imageworks• Industrial Light & Magic • The Vancouver Film School• The Centre for Digital Media• The Vancouver Institute

of Media Arts• Lost Boy Studios School

ofVisualEffects

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES HOTSPOTS

CANADA IS A GLOBAL LEADER IN HEALTH CARE ROBOTICS

Toronto’s Humber River Hospital is North America’s FIRST FULLY DIGITAL HOSPITAL and uses humanoid robots, outfitted with a touchscreen display, to greet, guide, engage and entertain patients and visitors at the main doors and to support children and their families as part of the hospital’s Child Life Program.

ROBOTICS HOTSPOTS

DIGITAL MEDIA & GAMING HOTSPOTS

THE WORLD’S

3RD LARGEST DIGITAL GAMES INDUSTRY

21,700SKILLED WORKERS

590+STUDIOS

R&D COMMITMENT

TORONTO Uber’s R&D operation in Toronto—its first outside of the US—develops artificial intelligence for driverless vehicles; General Motors’ new R&D facility is devoted to autonomous vehicle and connected-car technologies.

OTTAWABlackBerry QNX is investing in autonomous vehicle R&D; Ford Canada has committed up to $337.9 MILLION towards a new research centre.

WATERLOOThe Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research (WatCAR) oversees leading-edge studies to improve automotive competition and innovation. The Waterloo Autonomous Vehicles Laboratory (WAVELab) focuses on robotics, drones and self-driving cars. Research projects include motion planning for autonomous driving, lane marking detection and friction analysis.

MONTRÉAL’S MAJOR PLAYERS

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION OF CANADA

#meetincanada

10 BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA 11businesseventscanada.ca #meetincanada

“Organizations like TED, SIGGRAPH and

OpenStack choose Vancouver because of our unparalleled convention infrastructure set against a backdrop of ocean, mountains and forest. Our clients tell us the city itself, and our spectacular natural setting, inspire creative thinking and dynamic ideas.ˮ— Dave Gazley, VP Meeting and

Convention Sales, Tourism Vancouver

RESEARCH LEADERSHIP

The University of Alberta is home to the Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Machine Learning, the Centre for Intelligent Mining Systems, the Multimedia Advanced Computational Infrastructure, and is one of the top five wireless research groups within North America.

Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (AMII) is known for its health innovations in cancer care. In its Adaptive Prosthetics Program, AMII collaborates with the Bionic Limbs for Improved Natural Control (BLINC Lab) to develop artificially intelligent limbs and biomedical devices, including an improved robotic arm called the Bento Arm.

COMPANIES

• Absolute Software• Amazon• Apple• Avigilon• Cisco Systems• Hootsuite• Microsoft• Samsung• SAP• Sierra Wireless• Slack• Telus

COMPANIES

• Ambyint• BioWare• Computronix (Canada)• Darkhorse Analytics• Granify• Intuit

ICT IN VANCOUVER

$23BILLIONANNUAL REVENUE


75,000 EMPLOYED

7,000 COMPANIES ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA

SOURCE: VANCOUVER ECONOMIC COMMISSION

ICT IN EDMONTON

$235MILLION ANNUAL REVENUE

19,000 EMPLOYED

1,300 COMPANIES

VANCOUVER EDMONTON

Vancouver is emerging as a digital technology supercluster with a tech scene characterized by next generation social networking, SaaS, business intelligence and a robust educational and training infrastructure.

Edmonton is a major innovation hub for artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning, with the facilities and skilled professionals to support growth in a wide range of high-tech industries.

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE: Graphics, Animation and New Media (GRAND)

RESEARCH: University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University are leaders in software development.

SUCCESS STORIES

Electronic Arts’ Vancouver office is home to Frostbite, a research division focused on machine learning and neural networks as well as developing highly believable human characters for VR devices.

Mojio, a local startup, has created a connected-car app and device allowing motorists to track their driving behaviour, improve gas mileage and automate trip expensing.

SUCCESS STORIES

Hendrix, developed by Edmonton’s Testfire Labs, is a natural language AI assistant that works with most online conferencing platforms to listen to meetings, identify key points and important discussions, and pull it all together into actionable outcomes.

Granify Inc. makes a SaaS solution that helps online retailers maximize sales via cutting-edge big data and machine learning technologies.

We have very skilled people coming through our schools… These talented young people want to try

somethingdifferent.Thereisastrongworkethic,aloyaltyand high productivity among the people who work here.ˮ

—Daniel Haight, Co-founder, Darkhorse Analytics

“SOURCE: EDMONTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

COMPANIES

• Amazon Web Services• Canadian Tire

Cloud Nine Digital Innovation Centre

• Complex Games• Invenia Technical

Computing• Librestream• Microsoft• Ubisoft

ICT IN WINNIPEG

$183MILLION SECTOR EXPORTS

17,000EMPLOYED

1,100COMPANIES

161+ACADEMIC RESEARCHERS IN COMPUTER SCIENCE SOURCE: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WINNIPEG

WINNIPEG WATERLOO REGION

In Canada’s heartland, Winnipeg boasts a thriving community of small- and medium-sized ICT companies making contributions in data collection platforms, machine learning and robotics and interactive digital media/video game development.

Waterloo is an ICT powerhouse of talent and innovation, boosted by a world-class academic community. Here you’ll find the world’s highest concentration of mathematical and computer science talent.

SUCCESS STORIES

Sightline Innovation is one of Canada’s largest machine learning companies delivering disruptive artificial intelligence-based solutions, and offering Industry 4.0-level capabilities to insurance, health care, manufacturing, agriculture and more.

Winnipeg startup SkipTheDishes uses technology to connect hungry residents to local restaurants. Since 2013, the company has grown to include 1,400 employees, 18,000 couriers and 100 locations in Canada and the US.

SUCCESS STORIES

Clearpath Robotics, founded by University of Waterloo alumni, is an industry trailblazer that automates the world’s dullest, dirtiest and deadliest jobs—from load-haul-dump jobs in mining to searching out algae blooms on water.

“The strength of Winnipeg’s

ICT community, from entrepreneurs to global companies, creates a local ecosystem that welcomes businesses from around the world. We’ve seen highly successful meetings and conventions in the ICT space take place in Winnipeg, where delegates notice the strength of our local industry, the learning opportunities and success stories available here.ˮ

— Dayna Spiring, President & CEO Economic Development Winnipeg

“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 establishedgloballyrecognizedtechfirmsandresearchleaders. Best of all, there is a collaborative mindset that permeateseveryaspectofourinnovationecosystem.ˮ

— Kelly McManus, Senior Director, Community Relations & Events University of Waterloo

ICT IN WATERLOO

12,690 EMPLOYED

1,660COMPANIES

150RESEARCH CENTRES SOURCE: WATERLOO REGION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

WATERLOO IS HOME TO…

SOFTWARE LEADERS BlackBerry, D2L, Google and OpenText

70+ automotive and autotech innovation sector leaders

CANADA’S LEADING Internet of Things cluster

CANADA’S FIRST Google for Entrepreneurs technology hub

WORLD’S LARGEST…

• The Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo

• The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

• Catalyst137 for Internet of Things manufacturing with 475,000 sq. ft. of space

TRUE NORTH TECH FOR GOOD

May 29-31, 2018

Waterloo Region

2,000 attendees


COMPANIES

• Amazon• BlackBerry QNX• Ciena• Cisco• Ericsson• Halogen

• Huawei• IBM• Kinaxis• Martello

Technologies• Mitel

• Nokia• Page Cloud• ProntoForms• Shopify• You.i TV

COMPANIES

The top 5 international ICT firms all have Canadian headquarters in Toronto: • Alphabet (Google)• Cisco Systems Canada• HP Canada• IBM Canada• Microsoft Canada

RESEARCH: The Vector Institute, an independent non-profit dedicated to artificial intelligence, has big-name partners including Google, Shopify, Uber, Air Canada and all five major Canadian banks.

ICT IN TORONTO


400,000 EMPLOYED

14,000 COMPANIES

12,000 FINANCIAL FIRMS

SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO; TECHTORONTO

TORONTO

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and North Americaʼs third-largest ICT hub, behind only San Francisco and New York City. It is home to one of the largest clusters of mobile application companies and has the world’s highest concentration of AI startups.

OTTAWA IS HOME TO…

• L-SPARK,Canada’sfirstenterprise SaaS accelerator

• The Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre—North America’s only pure play fabrication centre

INCUBATORS/ RESEARCH

• Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks

• National Research Council of Canada

• Communications Research Centre Canada

• Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network

“Toronto has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing tech markets and groups choosing the city for their meetings can

benefit from the conversations happening here. ‘Canada’s Downtown’ is not only an appealing international destination, it has a large proportion of the world’s technology companies—putting attendees within arm’s reach of some of the biggest names in the sector.ˮ

—Tara Gordon, VP, Sales & Service, Business Events Toronto

VMUG USERCON

March 21, 2018

Toronto

3,500 attendees

MICROSOFT WORLDWIDE PARTNER

CONFERENCE

June 2016

Toronto

16,000 attendees

ICT IN OTTAWA

77,000EMPLOYED

980 COMPANIES

OTTAWA

Ottawa, the nation’s capital, is the most technology-intensive region in Canada. Here, Canadian expertise in network technologies informs next-gen development, and cutting-edge work abounds in the areas of defence, smart city initiatives and more.

SUCCESS STORIES

SimWave Consulting has partnered with the Canadian War Museum to create a virtual reality experience in which participants are immersed in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The 4D platform adds gunfire effects, exploding shells, tremors, wind and heat.

IBM Watson, the company’s artificial intelligence platform for professionals, is revolutionizing health care, the Internet of Things and even game shows. IBM and academic partners, including the University of Ottawa, have teamed up to train Watson in the language and nuances of cybersecurity.

“The Kanata North Business Association represents over 500 ICT companies that generate $8 billion of GDP in

Canada’s largest technology park. Our recent Autonomous Vehicle Summit, hosted in partnership with Invest Ottawa and CAVCOE, is a prime example of the power of business events. They have contributed to collaborations, potential foreign investment and discussion of corporate migration to Ottawa.ˮ

—Jeff McNamee, Executive Director (interim), Kanata North Business Association

Did You Know...

• Toronto is home to the IBM Innovation Space as well as the IBM Blockchain Global Data Centre, which uses IBM Z—a new system designed to encrypt large volumes of data.

• Toronto was the only Canadian entry among the list of 20 finalistsconsideredforAmazonʼssecondheadquarters.

SOURCE: OTTAWA TOURISM

ICT IN QUÉBEC CITY

$1.7BILLIONREVENUE

19,500 JOBS

540COMPANIES

65RESEARCH CENTRES, CHAIRS, CLUSTERS AND INSTITUTES

SOURCE: QUÉBEC INTERNATIONAL

COMPANIES

• Autodesk• Automat• Bell• CAE• CGI• DeepMind

Technologies• Electronic

Arts• Element AI• Ericsson• Facebook• Fluent.ai

• Fujitsu• Fuzzy.ai• Google• IBM• Imagia• Microsoft• Moment

Factory• Nuance• Rodeo FX• Samsung• Telus• Thales

COMPANIES

• ABB–Bomem• Aéro Photo• Ametek–

Creaform• Bentley• CGI Group• Coyote• Esri Canada• Exfo• Gearbox• Korem

• Larian Studios

• Microsoft• Oracle• Syntell• Tecsult• TeraXion• Thales• Ubisoft• Xeos Imaging

ICT IN MONTRÉAL

$5 BILLION SECTOR EXPORTS

120,000 JOBS

5,000COMPANIES

SOURCE: CITY OF MONTRÉAL

MONTRÉAL QUÉBEC CITYMontréal has earned its reputation as a major global hub for artificial intelligence research and deep learning, as well as multimedia and video game production. The city boasts 250 researchers at Université de Montréal and McGill University—the largest number of university researchers in Canada.

Québec City nurtures a thriving optics-photonics industry, features Canada’s largest national defence research centre—Defence Research and Development Canada’s Valcartier Research Centre—and is a world-class hub for geospatial companies, software/database integrators and designers.

SUCCESS STORIES

STADIUM, a software application developed by SIMCO Technologies, is used to predict the long-term behaviour of reinforced concrete and improve its durability. The application has been used on more than 150 major projects, including new locks in the Panama Canal.

A global leader, the National Optics Institute has generated more than 30 spinoff companies. Creative work includes portable 3D cameras for the International Space Station, innovative custom orthotics, ophthalmic devices and dental diagnostic probes.

“For anyone who wants to do serious AI, it will be of strategic importance to keep your eye on Montréal.

We see it now in terms of reputation, but that means Montréal is able to attract top talent from elsewhere—top entrepreneurs and large organizations.ˮ

— Jean-François Gagné, Co-founder and CEO, Element AI

“By far, Québec City won out: it met all of our requirements, and then some. I fell in love

with Québec City immediately. I had no idea we had thisEuropeangemonlyhoursawayfromNewYork!ˮ— Erin Dolan, Program Manager, Technical Units

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

SUCCESS STORIES

Two local startups—Hexoskin and Hykso—have made a name for themselves in biometric clothing and wearable technology. Many Olympic boxers and professional MMA fighters are getting real-time data via Hykso punch trackers. During the Rio 2016 Olympics, various athletes sported Hexoskin Smart Shirt tech wearables.


WHYCANADAFOR ICT CONFERENCES

Canada is among the world’s fastest-growing tech markets and has the 3rd largest tech sector in North America.

Innovators and experts: The architects of next generation networks, AI, reinforcement learning and cutting-edge cybersecurity span Canada, providing a deep pool of local expertise and speakers to augment any conference agenda.

Canada’s internationally recognized universities specialize in digital media, gaming, deep learning, robotics, artificial and augmented intelligence, and software development. They can offer excellent local resources to enhance agendas, provide sponsorship, grow memberships and more.

Multinational tech leaders such as Microsoft, Google, OpenText, Shopify, Uber, Pinterest, Research in Motion, Electronic Arts, Alphabet and more have established their operations or research hubs across Canada, providing unique opportunities for industry engagement at conferences held here.

Canada excels in ICT and leads the world in research and innovation in AI, fintech, SaaS, robotics, digital networking, blockchain and more.

Academia thrives here. The Waterloo Region is home to the world’s highest concentration of mathematical and computer science talent and is home to the world-leading Institute for Quantum Computing and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Some of Canada’s most innovative urban centres are also favourites of world travellers—from the European flair of Montréal and Québec City, to Toronto’s dynamic downtown waterfront and Vancouver’s coastal mountain vibe. Announcing Canada as a host destination always fuels attendance.

The world’s highest concentration of AI startups is fuelled by the research being done at the Montréal Institute for Learning Algorithms, Google Brain AI and others. Such depth of knowledge drew the World Summit AI Americas conference to Montréal and the Collision conference, North America’s fastest growing tech event, to Toronto.

Harnessing the power of technology, Canadian convention centres deliver high-tech, high-touch conferences that leave an indelible impression on attendees.

A digital media and gaming hotspot, Canada is home to the world’s 3rd largest digital gaming industry, attracting events such as DOTA 2, the world’s largest e-sports tournament, and La Semaine Numérique de Québec which welcomed 25,000 attendees in 2018.

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Waterloo, Ontario

Montréal, Quebec

16 BUSINESS EVENTS CANADA businesseventscanada.ca

NO ONE KNOWS CANADA LIKE WE DO!The Business Events Canada team offers in-depth knowledge of all Canadian destinations from industry content to conference facilities. Contact us for solutions and support on the fundamentals of meeting in Canada, including introductions to our extensive cross-country network of meeting and event partners. Business Events Canada is your first point of contact when considering Canada for your group!

Virginie De VisscherDirector of Business Development, Economic [email protected]+1 204-802-0920

This document is a collaborative effort between Destination Canada, Business Events Canada, Canadian tourism and economic development agencies and partners, and MNP. For more information on data and sources, contact Destination Canada Research at: [email protected].

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