Waterloo Region and Toronto continue to climb the international ‘tech ladder’, as our corridor has now been named one of the top clusters in the world.

The technological honour came as this year’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report was released earlier this week, and the Toronto-Waterloo Region corridor was listed in the Top 20.

Chris Plunkett is VP of External Relations with Communitech, and says our sheer volume of start-up activity is to thank.

“That level of activity is really important because it attracts investors, talent, and other larger companies. So it’s a lot harder to do this in isolation – so what we’ve been focused on for years is our ‘brand’ of the Region, as it can help attract that investment and talent necessary for further growth.”

The 2018 Report also has Waterloo Region ranked as third for technology in all of Canada.

Plunkett says we could inch closer to the top of the global list soon, as our Region is set to be further connected with Toronto through high speed transit and rail.

“I don’t think anybody can quite compare to Silicon Valley yet – but certainly in terms of economic activity, it’s something to shoot for. We’re really happy being in the Top 20, but one of our goals is getting into the Top 10, and Top 5. What we see is the economic benefits tend to accrue to the top ecosystem – so the higher up you get, the more you can attract that investment and capital to grow even larger companies.”

Communitech is trying to help those efforts, by hosting a True North conference at the end of May.

Plunkett says it will include a demo-day with Toronto and Waterloo start-ups pitching together.

“That allows us to bring in more investors to look at those companies together, as we’ll have a much bigger pool and can leverage the size of both communities. For us in Waterloo Region, that allows companies to have a chance to be funded and grow faster – which means more jobs in the tech sector, and other areas in the community. So it’s really important for the growth and economic vibrancy of our Region that we work together with Toronto partners to grow the overall cluster.”

The three-day conference is happening May 29-31, and you can learn more about it by clicking here.