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The city of Stratford, Ont., is best known for being Justin Bieber’s hometown and the popular Stratford Festival. But if the city has its way, it will soon be at the forefront of the next big technology revolution.

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Job losses in a host of industries, not just driving and the resulting social unrest are the downsides of a revolution expected to boost Canada’s economy by $65 billion a year.

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Installed on hydro poles throughout the city are wireless routers that have turned it into one of the few Wi-Fi-enabled cities around, allowing residents and visitors alike to check their email and surf the Internet. But in January, Ontario became the first Canadian province to allow road tests of self-driving cars and Stratford has put in a bid to make the entire town a test centre.

If successful, Stratford could be part of the race to perfect the driverless car, and no doubt give locals a fright the first time they see the car next to them doesn’t have a steering wheel, let alone a driver. But it also puts the sleepy town at the edge of the high-stakes battle to own the technology that will steer those cars safely as well as the data on where they go.