The Ontario Technology Corridor – gateway to North America’s innovation economy
Situated in the heart of Canada’s most urban, highly educated and dynamic province, the Ontario Technology Corridor offers excellent growth opportunities, a low-risk business environment, and globally competitive Research and Development (R&D) tax credits to companies in the software, wireless, photonics, cleantech, digital media, life sciences, and microelectronics sectors.
IBM, Microsoft, RIM and You?
Through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Ontario-based technology companies have long-term access to North America’s $16.9 trillion (GDP) economy.
Firms including Google, IBM, RIM, Adobe, Cisco, Microsoft, Merrill Lynch, Toyota, GlaxoSmithKline, Ubisoft and Xerox take advantage of a motivated, loyal and ethnically diverse workforce. 59% of Ontario residents have advanced education certificates, diplomas or degrees – compared to 51% for Canada as a whole and 39% for the U.S.
Top R&D tax credits among G-8 countries cut R&D up to 70%
Ontario is the financial centre of Canada, and Ontario technology companies operate in a highly transparent, low-risk trading and regulatory environment with a global outlook.
The Geneva-based World Economic Forum has declared that Canada’s banking system ranks as the soundest in the world. Ontario’s inflation rate has averaged 2.3% lower than the United States since 1995. In addition, Federal and Ontario provincial research and development tax credits combine to offer Canada the most favourable tax treatment among G-8 countries – giving innovation companies the ability to cut R&D expenditures by up to 70%.
A $3.2 billion innovation agenda
The government of Ontario is also an active player in the province’s innovation economy. The Ministry of Research and Innovation is investing $3.2 billion to bolster Ontario’s world-class education system, highly skilled workforce, creative environment and diverse culture.
The province's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade also offers interactive digital media tax credits, including a 35-40% refundable tax credit to companies.
The R&D power of 11 universities and 11 colleges
The Ontario’s Technology Corridor’s talent engine is fueled by 11 universities and 11 colleges – many offering extensive internship and co-op education programs highly responsive to technology industry needs. For example, the University of Waterloo offers the world’s largest math, computer science and co-operative education program, Seneca College’s Animation Arts Centre produces international award-winning gaming and entertainment industry talent, and the University of Toronto ranks as Canada’s top research university with six Nobel Prize-winning graduates.
The Ontario Technology Corridor’s academic and corporate R&D campus synergies produce a potent mix of small and mid-size innovation companies such as Fuel Industries (digital gaming/advertainment), Algorithmics (financial security software), COM DEV International (satellite hardware), and Menova Energy (solar power).
Commercialization expertise at Federal labs and Ontario Centres of Excellence
Ontario’s academic research labs are further bolstered by access to the world-class R&D commercialization facilities across the province. The National Research Council (NRC) and other labs, including the Communications Research Centre (CRC), National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC), house thousands of scientists in Ottawa, the nation’s capital.
In well-equipped facilities spread across the province, The Ontario Centres of Excellence for Communications and Information Technology, Earth and Environmental Technologies, Materials and Manufacturing, Photonic, and Commercialization of Research also encourage industry partnership and the acceleration of innovation.
The cluster of academic, government and corporate R&D labs in the Ontario Technology Corridor has produced one of the highest concentrations of technologists, technology companies and per capita patent productivity in the world.
Smart immigration policy and some of the world’s most livable cities
The Ontario Technology Corridor leads the way on Canadian immigration, and surpasses U.S. cities such as Miami, Los Angeles and New York. More than 100,000 immigrants come to the region every year and 75% of those over age 15 have a post-secondary certificate or degree. Canadian immigration policy is more worker-friendly than in the U.S. It’s far easier to staff your company with imported talent, and spouses of imported workers can receive automatic work visas.
For bandwidth-intensive technology companies, the province’s telecom infrastructure – much of it invented in Ontario – is 100% digital and features the largest “free calling” area in North America. For business travel, there are non-stop flights to 110 cities in 44 countries by 65 international airlines.
Whether they are new to Canada or long-time residents, your employees will benefit from Ontario’s affordable, safe, accessible cities, and access to the province’s natural beauty, clean lakes and rivers, and stable urban infrastructure. You and your technology team will love the Ontario Technology Corridor!