It’s hardly Canada’s millennial magnet, either. Hello, Vancouver, for that.<\/p>\n
Big name tech offices? Over to you, Toronto and Montreal.<\/p>\n
And yet, Canada’s capital is tearing it up on the tech track.<\/p>\n
Shopify, the hometown hero of ecommerce, is worth more than $20 billion, making it one of Canada’s most valuable companies. And it wants to add thousands more jobs in Ottawa, where it’s competing with the likes of Amazon and Apple \u2013 and 1,750 local tech companies \u2013 for talent and space.<\/p>\n
Tech in the National Capital Region has expanded so quickly that it now accounts for about eight per cent of the local workforce \u2013 a higher concentration than in any other Canadian city.<\/p>\n
The only thing Ottawa’s missing may be a bit more attitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say Toronto and Montreal have much more swagger than Ottawa,” says Shopify’s head of international recruitment, Janeffer Gangji. \u201cWhat we really need to be doing is to start building our story and talking about ourselves.”<\/p>\n
I moderated a session with the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce to better understand what the city needs to thrive in the age of innovation, and was joined on stage by Gangji, Invest Ottawa’s Sonya Shorey and Jacques Beauvais, the University of Ottawa’s dean of engineering.<\/p>\n
Their top answer? Swagger.<\/p>\n
Here are five reasons Ottawa should have more of it:<\/p>\n
Shorey said the city’s early-stage companies are dominated by millennials drawn to its cheaper rent and high standard of living. And as the tech industry across North America matures, there’s more and more reason for young people to strike out on their own, especially in cities where they can afford to be an entrepreneur. As Shorey said, \u201cWhy go to California and be employee 10,001 at Google when you can be a vice president at KlipFolio, or at Mindbridge?”<\/p>\n
Ottawa has two universities and two colleges, each with celebrated work-integrated learning programs. Beauvais said his school is aiming to take co-ops to a new frontier, by mixing arts and engineering students and working more closely with companies that want creative and technical teams speaking the same language. At Carleton University, the school has developed a new kind of work-integrated learning program with Shopify to allow students to complete a four-year Bachelor of Computer Science while working half-time at the company, which covers their tuition on top of a salary.<\/p>\n
While not as famous as Communitech in Waterloo or MaRS in Toronto, Invest Ottawa has converted a 70-year-old industrial building along the Ottawa River into a destination for entrepreneurs. Bayview Yards is home to 35 startups, and according to Shorey is catching the eye of multinationals looking to scout the next generation of talent and ideas. \u201cThey’re looking for not only disruptive technology expertise but the ability to combine and integrate different types of technology approaches, create different business models, and bring truly new concepts to their products,” she said.<\/p>\n
Okay, it’s not Seattle. Yet. But Ottawa is dotted with third spaces serving up java and free wifi for budding entrepreneurs, including a local brand, Bridgehead Coffee, which has built itself up as a successful alternative to Starbucks. Bridgehead has even become part of Shopify’s origin story, as it’s where Harley Finkelstein, the company’s chief operating officer, first met its founder Tobias Lutke. Finkelstein points to the community feel \u2013 rare among G7 capitals \u2013 as central to an innovation culture that thrives on \u201ccollegiality and connectedness.”<\/p>\n
Yes, weather. An Ottawa winter is perfect for two things: skating on the Rideau Canal and testing autonomous vehicles. Thanks to extreme conditions, the city is home to a new testing ground for self-driving cars \u2013 a joint project between the universities, Algonquin College, the local and provincial governments, and corporate partners including Nokia and Blackberry subsidiary QNX. It’s meant to be the most advanced AV project in the world, integrating into live infrastructure on public streets in all four seasons. You can’t get that in Silicon Valley. \u201cCalifornia doesn’t have our ice, snow, sleet,” Shorey said. \u201cThat’s an advantage here.”<\/p>\n