Ottawa is considered a leading destination for international business events and conferences, particularly in the tech and business sectors, thanks to its dynamic, diverse and rapidly expanding tech ecosystem, along with its rich cultural and educational landscape.
To that point, in 2023, Ottawa hosted a range of engineering and tech conferences including: the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers and the 28th IAVSD Symposium on Dynamics of Vehicles on Roads and on Tracks. A further dozen conferences were also hosted across various tech sectors, five of which were international. In 2024, there have been four confirmed tech events coming to the city, with a further six likely to be announced.
Ottawa is home to a diverse technology scene, with over 1,800 knowledge-based businesses in the National Capital Region. Ottawa’s sector strengths span software, AI, smart mobility, cybersecurity, digital health and more. Global giants like Nokia, Ford, Ericsson, Ciena and IBM share the Ottawa ecosystem with "homegrown heroes" such as Kinaxis, Shopify, Ross Video, Fullscript and Mitel, as well as startups and scaleups like Rewind, Fellow, Noibu, Assent, Solink and Mindbridge.
Working closely and collaboratively with the Ottawa community, Invest Ottawa delivers venture development, global expansion and talent programs and services that catalyze the growth and success of entrepreneurs and firms. Since 2013, Invest Ottawa has supported almost 14,000 companies, contributed to the creation of more than 14,700 jobs, helped domestic companies raise $1.86 billion in capital and attracted $1.47 billion in domestic and foreign direct investment to Ottawa. The CBRE 2023 North American Top Tech Talent Report noted that Ottawa has the highest concentration of tech talent across 50 North American markets at 13.3 percent of all jobs, more than double the 50-market average.
Ottawa's commercial offering is also supported by its top educational post-secondary institutions, who are home to more than 168,000 students, with a significant portion specializing in STEM fields. This has contributed to Ottawa being recognized as Canada's most educated city, with 61 percent of the workforce holding post-secondary degrees.
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