A few weeks ago, I attended my first Toronto Tech Week (TTW) and was pleasantly surprised by the grassroots-like, community-led approach. Organizations across the Canadian Tech sector hosted over 600 independent events across the city, attracting tech professionals, founders, builders, creators, and investors. Events were hosted not only by enterprises and tech companies but also by community groups like TechTO, incubators like DMZ, and non-profits like Samara Center for Democracy. Events started at sunrise and went into the late hours of the night and included a wide range of, dare I say, creative activities, from paddleboarding, puppy yoga, pasta-making, pickleball, and saunas to more traditional professional networking experiences like fireside talks, pitches, panels, keynotes, and hackathons. Topics were even more diverse, with many catering to niche interests, industries or roles, like the Canadian AI for Construction panel or the Persian Founders Night meet-up. The events left me feeling energized and excited, not just as a researcher but also as a tech professional. By the end of the week, I had a renewed sense of Canadian pride and optimism, as well as a deeper appreciation for all the individuals who consciously devote their time, energy, and money to building a more competitive digital economy here in Canada.

Since Trump entered his second term as president of the United States, the relationship between Canada and the U.S. has become strained. The tariffs revealed Canada’s dependence on U.S. goods and services and the fragility of international relationships and trade agreements. At the same time, the conflict has highlighted Canada’s vulnerabilities and the importance of sovereignty. The broader political conversation around Canadian independence has influenced discussions around Canadian tech infrastructure and development. Questions and concerns about Canada’s tech and digital sovereignty were at the forefront of TTW, with many speakers addressing the critical work needed to protect and further develop the tech ecosystem. Canadian businesses are incredibly reliant on American software and tools; a small fraction, around 17%, of software tools being used by Canadian businesses are headquartered in Canada. Not only are the profits going to American companies, but so is the data. At the TTW homecoming, Betakit released its 2026 “Most Ambitious” Editorial, which highlights stories on Canadian Ambition to inspire digital governance and tech sovereignty. The editorial includes stories such as Dominion Dynamics, an Ottawa-based defence start-up developing Arctic surveillance systems, including sensors and drones, to help the Canadian Armed Forces protect Canada’s northern geography. Putting these tech organizations on a pedestal helps reframe the narrative that building in Canada is possible.

In the last 10 years, the Canadian tech market has made big strides, with larger companies like Shopify, 1Password, and Vena paving the way, dominating global markets and proving that relocating to the US is not necessary for growth and success. Navigating these different stages of growth in the Canadian ecosystem was one of the most frequently addressed concerns across TTW events. Despite a strong, well-resourced startup ecosystem, Canada’s limited growth funding makes scaling especially challenging for small- and mid-market businesses. As a result, many Canadian entrepreneurs choose to relocate to the US or sell their businesses to US-based buyers; in both cases, Canada loses Canadian-founded innovation, intellectual property, and data. Canada’s challenge with tackling digital sovereignty is that “we are exporting our most precious assets to the benefit of other countries.”

Over the last three decades, the Canadian tech community has suffered from severe brain drain, characterized by the mass exodus of elite software engineers and go-to-market talent moving to the US for more specialized and higher-paying roles. Ahead of attending TTW, I was mourning the loss of yet another incredibly talented, smart, and driven friend emigrating to the US for opportunities offered by Silicon Valley networks and venture capital funding. This story is all too familiar to highly qualified and well-educated Canadian tech workers; the loss of talent over the years has significantly affected the cultural knowledge and expertise within senior leadership and the tech industry’s development. In a fireside chat with Jonathan Watson, the CTO of Clio, he spoke about the challenges of hiring engineers in his first few years building Clio. Candidates were “constantly turning us down for more money,” he said. Competing with American companies offering higher salaries and benefits was challenging, but Watson positively adds that today’s Canadian talent pool is far more competitive: “There is world-class talent wanting to stay in Canada.” Watson’s remarks give me hope for what the Canadian tech community can create and achieve if our talent feels capable and inspired to build in Canada.