Capture opportunities in Canada’s tech industry through strong government support and funding, and tap the skills and expertise of the country’s large talent pool.

• Montréal is a noted centre for tech startups, often hosting companies in Artificial Intelligence (AI), video games development, virtual reality, and wearable technology.
• Toronto is a hub for AI innovation and research – Sidewalk Labs, a company under Google’s parent company, has a S$50 million contract to develop the world’s first neighbourhood “built from the internet up”.
• Vancouver’s tech scene has seen growth in the infocomm technology, interactive digital media, life sciences and renewable energy sectors.

Notable tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Uber continue to launch and grow sizeable operations in the country.

Strong government backing
The Canadian government is supporting the tech boom through an extensive Innovation and Skills Plan, and a Strategic Innovation Fund to establish the country as a world-class innovation and tech hub with cutting-edge products and services.

Sizeable tech sector workforce
Tap the innovative strength of Canada’s tech sector workforce – fuelled partly by its Startup Visa Program, which specifically targets immigrant entrepreneurs who have business ideas that are innovative, can create jobs for locals, and can scale internationally.

Explore opportunities to make large investments in infrastructure projects and collaborate with Canadian firms to offer engineering and infrastructure solutions that enable the government to develop smart cities.

Investments in global and local infrastructure projects
Canada actively invests in infrastructure projects, with a growing focus on green infrastructure.

The Québec Deposit and Investment Fund, for example, recently invested around S$1.3 billion into building a 67-kilometre light rail network for Montréal. These projects are part of Canada’s ongoing support for Smart City programmes.

Collaborations in infrastructure and smart cities
Singapore and Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2018 to enhance collaboration in infrastructure and smart city development. With this, Singapore infrastructure and engineering companies can explore partnerships with Canadian counterparts in infrastructure projects within ASEAN nations as well as in Canada.

The government’s ‘Investing in Canada’ plan, which will inject more than S$184.1 billion into the country’s infrastructure over 12 years, aims to fund infrastructure projects in the fields of green energy, public transit, social development, trade and transportation, and rural and northern communities.

The thriving service sector is the largest in Canada and employs four out of five Canadians.

Retail is the largest component of the service sector, with major companies such as Walmart, Best Buy, and Future Shop all well established in the country. The second largest component, comprising financial services, real estate and communications, is also growing rapidly.

You will find a diverse and affluent market in Canada for various services ranging from retail to financial. In addition, a highly skilled workforce provides a deep talent pool.

To find out how your company can collaborate with Canadian firms in areas related to Smart Cities and the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), check out IoT Asia.