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Pretty interesting. Is there an equivalent to 500 or YC in Canada? What are the best tech cities in Canada? I know Vancouver and Quebec have universities with g

by icco 13y ago

Pretty interesting. Is there an equivalent to 500 or YC in Canada? What are the best tech cities in Canada? I know Vancouver and Quebec have universities with good CS programs, but that's about it.

elchief 13y ago
Ottawa is a tech hub, as that's where the federal gov't is. Waterloo is also important, as that's where our "MIT" is, and Google etc have offices there. All the easy money's in Calgary due to oil.
- orbitur 13y ago
  Google also has offices in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. I think there's even another one between Toronto and Vancouver.
- analyst74 13y ago
  Unfortunately all that easy money in Calgary is not going into startups, its sister city Edmonton has a much better and rapidly growing startup scene.
brunoc 13y ago
Toronto, Waterloo, Vancouver, Montreal In Montreal: Founder Fuel http://founderfuel.com/en/ http://founderfuel.com/en/
- codydjango 13y ago
  Founder fuel was exceptional this year.
  - todsul 13y ago
    I thought so too. Certainly not the technical breadth of YC, but on par in terms of uniqueness of ideas, founder quality and traction. I thought our YC batch was a force to be reckoned with, but wow, this year's FonderFuel batch was killer.
obstacle1 13y ago
Tech cities: Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo (poised for decline), Ottawa (poised to bounce back). School-wise, the best talent in the country tends to come from UToronto, Waterloo, UBC or McGill. That said, there are tons of great programs all across the country. We have some accelerator-like programs and initiatives aimed at fostering an entrepreneurial spirit generally[1][2][3]. Nothing comparable to YC as far as guidance and connections go, though. But I don't think anything has been particularly successful. [1] - http://www.extremestartups.com http://www.extremestartups.com [2] - http://www.thenext36.ca http://www.thenext36.ca [3] - http://marscommons.marsdd.com/ http://marscommons.marsdd.com/
- guiomie 13y ago
  Out of curiosity, why is Ottawa poised to bounce back, and KW poised to decline ?
  - purephase 13y ago
    KW has been/is largely fuelled by RIM/BlackBerry and the University of Waterloo. If the situation gets any worse for BlackBerry, you'll see an enormous brain drain and capital leave the area. Ottawa is the country's capital and some tech companies there are doing quite well (Shopify in particular).
    - guiomie 13y ago
      I agree with Shopify, but what else ? I thought Toronto and KW were the only cities with a good startup ecosystem. As far as I am concern, Washington DC isnt the startup capital of the US, so why would Ottawa be? In my opinion government shouldn't be a driver of capital in startups, nor is it ... ?
      - tlb 13y ago
        Ottawa's tech scene isn't mainly because of the government. Nortel was based there, and its diaspora and suppliers seeded a decent tech ecosystem.

by icco 13y ago

Pretty interesting. Is there an equivalent to 500 or YC in Canada? What are the best tech cities in Canada? I know Vancouver and Quebec have universities with good CS programs, but that's about it.

elchief 13y ago

Ottawa is a tech hub, as that's where the federal gov't is. Waterloo is also important, as that's where our "MIT" is, and Google etc have offices there. All the easy money's in Calgary due to oil.

orbitur 13y ago
Google also has offices in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. I think there's even another one between Toronto and Vancouver.
analyst74 13y ago
Unfortunately all that easy money in Calgary is not going into startups, its sister city Edmonton has a much better and rapidly growing startup scene.

brunoc 13y ago

Toronto, Waterloo, Vancouver, Montreal In Montreal: Founder Fuel http://founderfuel.com/en/ http://founderfuel.com/en/

codydjango 13y ago
Founder fuel was exceptional this year.
- todsul 13y ago
  I thought so too. Certainly not the technical breadth of YC, but on par in terms of uniqueness of ideas, founder quality and traction. I thought our YC batch was a force to be reckoned with, but wow, this year's FonderFuel batch was killer.

obstacle1 13y ago

Tech cities: Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo (poised for decline), Ottawa (poised to bounce back). School-wise, the best talent in the country tends to come from UToronto, Waterloo, UBC or McGill. That said, there are tons of great programs all across the country. We have some accelerator-like programs and initiatives aimed at fostering an entrepreneurial spirit generally[1][2][3]. Nothing comparable to YC as far as guidance and connections go, though. But I don't think anything has been particularly successful. [1] - http://www.extremestartups.com http://www.extremestartups.com [2] - http://www.thenext36.ca http://www.thenext36.ca [3] - http://marscommons.marsdd.com/ http://marscommons.marsdd.com/

guiomie 13y ago
Out of curiosity, why is Ottawa poised to bounce back, and KW poised to decline ?
- purephase 13y ago
  KW has been/is largely fuelled by RIM/BlackBerry and the University of Waterloo. If the situation gets any worse for BlackBerry, you'll see an enormous brain drain and capital leave the area. Ottawa is the country's capital and some tech companies there are doing quite well (Shopify in particular).
  - guiomie 13y ago
    I agree with Shopify, but what else ? I thought Toronto and KW were the only cities with a good startup ecosystem. As far as I am concern, Washington DC isnt the startup capital of the US, so why would Ottawa be? In my opinion government shouldn't be a driver of capital in startups, nor is it ... ?
    - tlb 13y ago
      Ottawa's tech scene isn't mainly because of the government. Nortel was based there, and its diaspora and suppliers seeded a decent tech ecosystem.