For what it's worth, when I mentioned Ottawa it wasn't because it's a startup hub, though there is an increasing startup scene there of which Shopify is a part.

For what it's worth, when I mentioned Ottawa it wasn't because it's a startup hub, though there is an increasing startup scene there of which Shopify is a part. OP asked about tech cities, not startup cities, and Ottawa definitely makes the cut in that respect. Much of tech in Ottawa is mid- to large-size IT/gov't contracting and telecoms. As for smaller firms, not many are setting out to build the Next Big Turnkey Ruby App. But there are tons of companies aiming to fill niche enterprise/government needs, e.g. [1], [2], many many more. [1] - http://www.trademerit.com/ http://www.trademerit.com/ [2] - http://www.truenorthavionics.com/ http://www.truenorthavionics.com/