Toronto Global

Talking About Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Employee Spotlight on Salman

Salman Khan — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 23:44:00 +0000

Introducing Salman Khan, Co-Chair of Toronto Global’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force

Salman Khan is a Senior Advisor on Toronto Global’s Investment Attraction team, focusing on the European market. Salman works to attract investment primarily from the U.K., Ireland, and Nordic countries, and supports senior executives from companies as they evaluate the Toronto Region as an investment destination. In the last five years at Toronto Global, Salman has helped over 30 companies expand to the Toronto Region, creating over 1,000 jobs and contributing at least $150 million to the local economy. A few of Salman’s major clients include DNEG, Patsnap, HSBC (AI Lab) and Babylon Health.

“I like the fact that we are working in an international operating environment. I like learning about and supporting innovative companies that are on the cutting edge of technology. By engaging with the C-suite, I have the opportunity to experience how real-time business decisions are made and the thought process behind international expansion. Deciding where to build the next software development hub for a company is not a simple decision, it involves satisfying multiple stakeholders, and gathering and analyzing data on salaries, cost of living, and the local talent pool, while mitigating for unexpected risks. The fact that I get to learn something new every day when I work with these international companies is what I love most about my job,” said Salman.

Salman is passionate about technology and the environment. He melds these two passions together in his involvement with the E-Mobility Working Group at Toronto Global where he collaborates with colleagues interested in growing their knowledge and network in the e-mobility sector. Relevant sub-sectors in e-mobility include electric vehicle manufacturing, electric battery production, energy management and charging infrastructure. “I’m passionate about this because it is critical to support companies in this sector if we are to get anywhere close to achieving the Canadian and global climate objectives,” said Salman.

Salman chose to lead this working group as an opportunity to better understand how subsectors within the e-mobility industry positively impact the environment and what their business models looks like. “We’re seeing an increased interest in e-mobility in the Toronto Region and expect to see this interest grow as major players land in the region,” said Salman. “Some of my clients are building electric buses or batteries for electric vehicles, others are building autonomous driving or energy management software.”

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Culture

Salman is co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force at Toronto Global, which meets regularly to discuss how to best address topics of diversity and inclusion both internally and externally.

Equity was a very important motivator for Salman to take on the role as co-chair. “For me, it’s about everyone having the same chance to be successful,” he said. He also saw the position as an opportunity for him to better educate himself on diversity issues within organizations. “I am from a visible minority group, but that doesn’t mean I have the answer to everything,” he said.

Salman enjoys bridging different cultures and is always eager to learn more about cultures different from his own. His interest in multiculturalism makes him well suited in his position at Toronto Global, as he communicates with companies internationally every day; and at the heart of his work is developing a human connection: working with people and helping them put their best foot forward to succeed in a new market.

“There’s a natural openness in me wanting to learn about different people, cultures and traditions,” he said. Salman can speak three languages, Urdu, English and Bahasa Melayu, the local language spoken in Brunei Darussalam, where he grew up.

Background

Salman came to Toronto as an international student in 2003. While he was born in Pakistan, Salman grew up in Brunei – a country in Southeast Asia – and lived there for 17 years before coming to Toronto.

“Because I was an international student, I saw a lot of students struggle with assimilating and finding decent jobs to afford living in Toronto,” said Salman. The immigration process was not easy for Salman either, he lived in Canada for 12 years before receiving his Canadian citizenship in 2015.

Fast forward to the present, Salman now has two young kids at home with whom he shares his cultural traditions. Salman looks forward to celebrating Ramadan and Eid with his family and community annually.

“That is a time our family looks forward to every year. Ramadan is a time for self-reflection, and culminates with Eid celebrations with friends and family,” said Salman. “For the last two years, during the pandemic, the mosques were closed. Usually, you would go to pray every night, but they were closed. It became really hard for the community to connect with each other.”

Outside of Toronto Global

Salman is a part-time instructor at York University and Durham College, where he teaches courses in international business and artificial intelligence. This is an opportunity for Salman to bring his industry experience to the classroom and share real world examples. “All my students are either international students or new immigrants. This is my way of maintaining the connection with the new immigrant community while sharing my immigrant experience with my students,” he said.

Salman also works with the new immigrant community as a volunteer mentor at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC). Salman advises mentees on how to present themselves in front of Canadian employers and assists them with finding relevant resources. “I’m here to give them the Canadian context of interviews and getting hired,” he said.

Salman hopes this will give new immigrants the confidence and knowledge they need to get the jobs they want. “What I’m doing, on a small level, will make lives a lot easier for international students and recent immigrants who come here,” said Salman. “No one did this for me when I came to Canada. I was on my own.”

What’s next?

Salman has an optimistic look to the future. His favourite quote? “The best is yet to come” – Ted Rogers.

Salman believes the pandemic has highlighted the importance of community, and vows not to take any of his professional or personal relationships for granted. Salman is excited to continue to work with Toronto Global and keep making meaningful international connections.

“I’ve always had exposure to international elements in my life and coming to work at Toronto Global was a natural extension of that. I’m passionate about the exchange of ideas, culture, language, and food – which makes the work I do at Toronto Global that much more exciting and fulfilling,” he said.

Toronto Region is Going Electric!

Salman Khan — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 19:45:00 +0000

EV Sector is Red Hot

Ontario is the only place in North America that is home to five major automakers, so it is no surprise that the Canadian media is often abuzz with investments related to electric vehicles in Ontario. Between Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and General Motors, the first two automakers have already announced significant investments toward production of electric vehicles in Ontario.

Volvo-owned Polestar is the second EV-only car brand that is currently building a retail presence in Canada’s major cities, including Toronto, and will be offering the fully electric Polestar 2 to consumers. This past September, Walmart Canada announced that it is tripling orders of Tesla Semi trucks to 130 as part of the company’s larger strategic investment in Canada.

Despite already having the largest fleet of electric buses in North America, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Board has approved an additional purchase of 300 hybrid and 300 fully electric buses as part of a $550 million investment package.

Government Support

The importance of the federal and provincial government investments in ensuring that the Ontario based original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) commit to manufacture electric vehicles in Canada cannot be underestimated, regardless of your political stripes. Experts agree that the pandemic has accelerated the shift toward the adoption of electric vehicles in the auto industry.

Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson stated that the company has committed to launch an electric vehicle every year for the next five years, with the goal of having 50 percent of its sales volume become electric by 2025. That is a bold commitment, but just one among many from automakers that see zero-emission vehicles as the future. The Canadian government has realized that the EV sector is one that can play a significant role in economic recovery and is committed to supporting Canadian consumers and businesses that want to transition to electric vehicles.

The throne speech in September included promises to make zero-emissions vehicles more affordable, along with investments in charging stations across Canada. Most importantly, from an investment perspective, the federal government has created a new fund to attract investments in making zero-emission products and introduced a 50 percent reduction in corporate tax rates to encourage companies to invest in Canada and create jobs.

Even before the pandemic hit, the Canadian government was laying the groundwork for investment in electric vehicles. For example, Canada was the first country in the world to sign the Drive to Zero initiative by CALSTART in May 2019. The mandate letter by the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities included a promise that the federal government will only finance zero-emission buses and rail rolling-stocks, beginning in 2023.

Moreover, the letter also committed to invest in 5,000 new zero-emission buses for transit agencies and school boards. The government investments aren’t limited exclusively to the purchase of electric vehicles or buses, but also focus on building the required infrastructure, such as electric chargers.

The Canadian government is investing upwards of $300 million to build a coast-to-coast network of fast chargers in public places, of which $8 million will be invested in Ontario to build 160 fast chargers across 73 locations.

Our Strengths

In addition to the public and private investment, the Toronto Region offers an environment that complements all aspects of the slow but steady global transition toward the adoption of zero-emission technology. This includes our strengths in natural resources, a resilient supply chain, research and development talent, manufacturing capabilities, and our proximity to five OEMs.

We are home to North America’s largest Lithium-ion battery recycler, Li-Cycle, which has developed chemical technology that can recover at least 95 percent of all lithium-ion battery minerals, such as cobalt, nickel, manganese and lithium. The first EV battery-grade cobalt refinery in North America is located in the fittingly-named town of Cobalt in Ontario.

Ontario is also home to Glencore and Vale Canada, operating mines in Sudbury, one of the largest producers of nickel sulphide. The Toronto Region is home to Canada’s top engineering and tech talent, with hands-on experience working for innovative companies such as GM, Magna, Siemens, Uber, Linamar and BASF. The five OEMs in Ontario are GM, FCA, Ford, Honda and Toyota, and collectively they produced 1.9 million vehicles in 2019, while employing over 100,000 employees.

Popular models built in the region include the Honda Civic, Ford Edge, Chrysler 300 and Toyota Corolla. As a trading nation, it is important for Canada to have global market access. Through 14 free trade agreements covering 60 percent of the world’s GDP, global companies doing business here benefit from preferential access to global markets and strong supply chain integrations, in addition to easier labour mobility thanks to the government’s business friendly immigration programs.

Opportunities for International Electric Companies

At Toronto Global, one of our objectives is to build awareness about the Toronto Region’s strengths internationally and assist businesses in their expansion plans to the region. When it comes to the electric vehicles sector, we see several opportunities for international companies to expand here as part of their growth strategy. Opportunities range from battery recycling technologies, building charging infrastructure, electric grid integration, battery management software and, of course, manufacturing of electric vehicles themselves.

However, the largest business opportunity that our region offers today is the opportunity to procure a contract with one of the regional transit agencies looking to electrify their bus fleets. In the last few months, we have seen several announcements from regional transit agencies on their plans to replace existing diesel-based buses with zero-emission buses, with the support of the federal government.

Earlier this year, the Canadian Urban Transit Association surveyed its members to understand their appetite and readiness for transition to zero-emission fleets. The survey found that between 2020 and 2024, respondents intend to procure over 5,000 new buses, of which just under 40 percent would be fully electric buses. Perhaps not surprisingly, this percentage jumped to 86 percent for the period of 2025-2029. In the next blog, we will elaborate on the potential that regional transit agencies offer to international electric bus manufacturers.

Connect with Salman on LinkedIn.
Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.

COVID-19 Accelerates Adoption of Virtual Healthcare Services in Ontario

Salman Khan — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 19:35:00 +0000

Prior to the pandemic, healthcare in Ontario was mostly traditional in how it functioned as a publicly funded healthcare system, where patients and healthcare providers interacted in offices and clinics or hospitals. Virtual care was largely a premium service available to some covered by private insurance, or in specific circumstances via the government’s own telemedicine program. The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for innovation and growth in the Telemedicine market in Ontario.

Ontario Healthcare System Market Size

Ontario comprises the largest healthcare system in Canada with 492 hospitals, approximately 935 clinics, 14 million users, 866,600 workers in the healthcare and social assistance sector, and a total of 30, 492 physicians across the province. Clinics are licensed under the Independent Health Facilities Act and deliver services at no charge to patients who are insured by the Ontario Health Insurance Program (commonly referred to as OHIP). Approximately half of the clinics in the province are owned or controlled by physicians. The FAO (Financial Accountability Office of Ontario) projected healthcare spending to grow considerably from $61.3 billion in 2018-19 to $67.3 billion in 2020-21 and $73.3 billion in 2022-23, showing a 19.6 percent increase from 2018 to 2023.

Virtual Healthcare and the Pandemic

A short history lesson, Canada was an early pioneer in the development of virtual care dating back to the 1970s when the late Dr. Maxwell used telephone technology to provide virtual consultation to patients in remote locations throughout Newfoundland. Jumping to 2020, virtual healthcare has emerged as a foundation in Ontario’s mission to protect its citizens and healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a response to the pandemic, the Ontario Ministry of Health made a commitment to modernizing care in Ontario by approving telemedicine and virtual care in the province to be covered by OHIP. To be more specific, the Ontario Ministry of Health introduced temporary billing codes and procedures to support virtual healthcare and the telemedicine market. Therefore, private healthcare providers are covered under Ontario’s Health Insurance Act when providing healthcare consultations for insured Ontarians via phone or video. This change has accelerated the growth of the telemedicine market as more Ontarians access virtual healthcare for the first time. As a result, Ontario has one of the largest virtual care (telemedicine) networks in the world, and patients and providers across Ontario have access to clinical video visits that are publicly funded by the Ontario Virtual Care Program.

Canadians are embracing virtual healthcare. Data collected by Canada Health Infoway shows that prior to the pandemic, only 20 percent of healthcare visits took place virtually rather than in a physical clinic, paling in comparison to the now 60 percent of visits which take place virtually. Patients accessed virtual care through different channels including phone calls (40 percent), video (11 percent) and email/chat (5 percent).

Don’t Forget Your Mental Health!
Mind and Body, the two should not be seen as separate entities. Just as maintaining good physical health can prevent disease, nurturing one’s mental health can maintain a better quality of life, enable creativity, foster learning, and ultimately combat mental illness. The feelings of stress, anxiety and fear are commonplace during a pandemic. Recognizing this, the Ontario government has taken steps to support Ontarians during this time. “Roadmap to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions System” is a strategy put forth by the Ontario Government to improve mental health services for communities across Ontario. As part of this strategy, the Ontario government has pledged to invest $3.8 billion over the next 10 years to develop and implement a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system for Ontarians. Bringing together Ontario’s once fragmented mental health and addictions system is no small feat. Thus, the new Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence within Ontario Health was created as the foundation of the Roadmap to Wellness and will be responsible for system management and coordination of service.

The temporary billing codes rolled out in March for virtual healthcare also include the delivery of psychotherapy, primary mental healthcare and/or counselling services. The support for mental healthcare services did not stop there, in May of this year the Ontario government announced plans to expand virtual mental health services to Ontarians during COVID-19 to help Ontarians experiencing anxiety and depression. The Internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) programs developed in partnership with MindBeacon and Morneau Shepell are to be provided at no out-of-pocket cost to Ontarians.

Private Industry Taking Notice
With virtual healthcare now being covered by OHIP, Ontarians are in many ways spoiled for choice as more companies take advantage of the evolving industry. The pandemic created an opportunity in the Ontario life Sciences and healthcare sector for private companies to put their hats in the ring. CloudMD, Maple, Babylon Health and WELL Health Technologies are just some of the platforms that have taken root and grown in Ontario alongside a strong domestic virtual healthcare sector.

In a partnership with Telus Health, Babylon Health has found success in rolling out its services across Canada, available in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Babylon Health, a unicorn company based out of the U.K., is the developer of digital healthcare applications designed to make healthcare more accessible. With the support of Toronto Global, Babylon Health has continued its expansion across Canada to set up in Ontario once virtual healthcare was available through OHIP.

Furthermore, in response to the regulatory changes set forth by the Ontario government permitting the temporary billing codes; WELL Health was pleased with the decision by the government’s regulatory actions that support doctors and patients in Ontario. WELL has been ramping up its VirtualClinic+ telehealth program offering, enabling the company to operate as ‘Clicks and Mortar’ clinics with a combination of in-person and virtual care available to patients.

In Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of virtual healthcare in Canada, Ontario and beyond. Ontario as the largest healthcare market in Canada offers a lucrative market opportunity for companies looking to partner, leverage and deploy virtual healthcare solutions. Toronto Global is your trusted partner when it comes to assisting companies in navigating the virtual healthcare sector in Ontario. We invite you to be a part of a growing and thriving life sciences and healthcare sector in the business and financial capital of Canada.

Salman and Courtney work with U.K. and Nordic-based companies interested in expanding their operations to the Toronto Region.

Connect with Salman and Courtney on LinkedIn.

The Toronto Region and the United Kingdom’s Exciting Future

Salman Khan — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 18:53:00 +0000

My role over the last two years has been to attract and support U.K.-based businesses in expanding their operations to the Toronto Region. Having travelled to the U.K. on several business missions to pitch the region as a top destination for investment, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the increase in awareness in the U.K. business community about Toronto. No longer do our British friends identify with Toronto as the city where they have distant relatives, or where they went on vacation when they were six years old. Today, the Toronto Region is on their radar as a place to grow and expand their businesses.

Much of this interest is driven by our existing relationships. For instance, did you know that Canada and the U.K. are the only two countries that are members of the G7, the G20, NATO and the Commonwealth? The U.K. and Canada are the 5^th and 10^th largest economies of the world respectively with a combined GDP of just under USD$5 trillion. The U.K. is Canada’s largest and most important commercial partner in Europe and fifth largest globally, with merchandise trade between the economies standing at CAD$26.5 billion in 2017. The U.K. is Canada’s fourth largest contributor to foreign direct investment in several key sectors, including financial services, infrastructure, aerospace, science and technology. Our major pension funds, like CPPIB, OMERS, OTPP and others, have taken large stakes in assets in such as the London City Airport, Canary Wharf, Burton Biscuits, and even the National Lottery operator, Camelot.

Increasingly, though, the U.K.’s business community has come to recognize the emerging strengths in the Toronto Region. My U.K.-based clients are no different. Over the last two years, they’ve come from a variety of industries and sectors including financial services, artificial intelligence, business services, engineering, architecture, pharma, consulting, and even fire suppression. In fact, in our first fiscal year, just over half of the 27 companies that Toronto Global helped expand to the Toronto Region were based in the U.K. Not surprisingly, my client list is tech-heavy, mainly because these companies, many of which are based in London, are naturally attracted to the Toronto Region because it is a financial services and technology hub. The region, which includes Brampton, Mississauga and the regions of Halton, York and Durham, are known for their manufacturing, logistics and pharmaceutical industries and provide excellent expansion opportunities for U.K. businesses in the Northern Powerhouse cities. Add the high quality talent, connectivity to the U.S., and shared cultural and moral values to the mix, and the Toronto Region starts to sound increasingly appealing – despite our snowy winter!

As businesses in the U.K. look increasingly toward the Toronto Region as an attractive business destination, there are a few things they are focusing on.

Toronto Technology Strengths

Firstly and most importantly, our region has been seeing phenomenal growth over the last few years, especially in the technology space. Not only are existing technology companies in the Toronto Region expanding, but companies from around Canada and the world are building new teams across the region and contributing to the flurry of business activity – much of it driven by our abundance of talent. Although a large percentage of it is home-grown, a significant number of international talent is also arriving at Toronto’s doorstep through immigration, the increase in international students studying in Canada and staying to work here as well as the skill-based visa programs offered by the federal government. It was no surprise then that Toronto saw an unprecedented CAD$1.4 billion in investment in Toronto from Microsoft, Uber and Shopify in the month of September 2018 alone. The Toronto Region’s bid for Amazon’s HQ2 also was of enormous benefit as the region received worldwide recognition when it was shortlisted in the top 20 cities, and was the only Canadian location to feature in that list. Toronto Global was the lead organization for the Toronto Region bid and our bid book was downloaded over 20,000 times.

Brexit and Canada’s Trade Agreements

There’s also Brexit (I can’t believe I got this far without saying the “B” word!). U.K. companies with growth aspirations can no longer expect to access the E.U. market as easily and freely. To generate growth, they have to expand internationally, and Toronto offers a great option given its stability, low-risk, proximity to the U.S. market, a renegotiated NAFTA, and the CETA agreement between Canada and the E.U., giving companies preferential access to the world’s largest economic zones. Canada is the only G7 country that holds free trade agreements with every other G7 country. When the CPTPP trade agreement is fully functional, Canada will enjoy preferential market access via 14 trade agreements to 51 countries with 1.5 billion consumers and a combined GDP of US$49.3 trillion!

The U.K. has also identified Canada as a substantial trade and investment market for the U.K. and has appointed Andrew Percy as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Canada. It is only a matter of time before Canada and the U.K. ink a bilateral trading agreement once the U.K. formally exits the E.U. This will only strengthen the commercial links between the two allies.

Geopolitical Uncertainty

The second half of 2018 was littered with economic, political and regional instability. Trade wars and barriers between major trading partners such as the U.S., China, and the E.U. made headlines on a daily basis, giving rise to uncertainty for businesses. Canada had its fair share of trade drama as well, which it has now put behind us in the form of NAFTA 2.0. Businesses need certainty to grow, and the Toronto Region is recognized for its stable political and regulatory environment. Brexit in the U.K. and worries about the U.S. are turning companies toward the Toronto Region, where businesses can find the certainty and stability they so desperately need to thrive.

Business Costs
The Toronto Region’s business climate offers highly competitive advantages that make it more cost-effective than other major cities in the U.S. or Europe. The cost for hiring talent in Toronto is very competitive and attractive for employers. At the same time, universal healthcare in Canada means employers do not have to spend an extravagant amount on buying health plans for their employees. In the Amazon HQ2 bid we estimated substantive savings to employers from the provision of a single payer healthcare system. The comparison with the US for companies in terms of health care costs is striking. Canada offers a Scientific Research & Experimental Development program to companies doing R&D in Canada – and it is one of the most generous tax incentives in the industrialized world.

Working with companies in the U.K has been a truly rewarding experience. The friendship and commerce between Canada and the U.K. is steadfast and thriving. Our transatlantic relationship stands the test of time.

If you are a U.K. business exploring international markets, connect with Salman Khan to learn more.

Inside Toronto’s AI Ecosystem

Salman Khan — Thu, 31 May 2018 18:33:00 +0000

Recently, a group of international journalists visited the Toronto Region to learn about our AI ecosystem and meet with some of the key players. I had the opportunity to join them and educate myself about the great things happening in the AI space in Toronto.

Despite the constraints of squeezing the visit into a single day, the Toronto Region was able to curate an impressive agenda to highlight the reasons why AI is thriving here.

The journalists started off with an introduction to Toronto Global, the Toronto Region’s investment attraction agency that has taken up the challenge of attracting foreign companies, including AI businesses, to the region.

Two recent wins for Toronto Global in the AI sector include Samsung Research, which just earlier this month launched its AI Centre in downtown Toronto, and online retailer Etsy, which also announced plans this month to setup a Machine Learning Centre of Excellence here.

Dan Silverman, the EVP of Investment Attraction at Toronto Global, gave the audience an overview of Toronto’s technology sector and spoke about the importance of the federal and provincial governments in building and growing the STEM talent pipeline locally.

He spoke about the Toronto Region’s bid for Amazon’s HQ2 and how, instead of offering tax incentives, the Toronto Region, with support from our provincial and federal governments, offered Amazon a steady pipeline of technical talent.

One of the promises of the Province of Ontario to businesses is to graduate 1,000 more AI Master’s students annually by 2022. This is further cemented by the commitment to increase the annual number of STEM graduates by 25 percent, bringing the total to 50,000 within five years.

After introductions, the first stop on the tour was a visit to Deep Genomics, a Toronto-based startup that is using AI to build a new of universe of life-saving genetic therapies.

Deep Genomic’s CEO, Brendan Frey, a former student of Geoffrey Hinton, spoke about his experience studying neural networks at the University of Toronto and how he was involved in lobbying the government into investing in building the AI ecosystem in Canada.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Vector Institute, located directly across from the first international Uber self-driving research lab. The Vector Institute is based in MaRS, also known as the Discovery District, the world’s largest urban innovation hub that is home to a diverse set of not-for-profits, start-ups and corporations, including AirBnB, JLABS, Autodesk and Facebook.

The Vector Institute recruits AI Master’s and PhD students from affiliated universities to work on the business problems of its corporate sponsors. One of the key purposes of the Vector Institute is to grow, attract and retain AI talent in the region as part of its larger objective to make Toronto a global hub for AI.

Graduates in the AI field from Canadian and international universities now have the opportunity to work on interesting AI problems in Toronto rather than having to make their way to the Valley. The Vector Institute is sponsored by both government and private sector corporations. Founding partners include Google, NVIDIA, Uber, Shopify and Thomson Reuters. The Chief Scientist Officer at the Vector Institute is none other than Geoffrey Hinton, the Godfather of Deep Learning.

About AI Ecosystem

Last but not least, Jordan Jacobs and Tomi Poutanen, founders of artificial intelligence start-up Layer 6 AI, shared why they believe Toronto is the best place to build an AI company. Layer 6 AI works with enterprises who want to predict the needs of customers in real time: for example, a customer looking for a mortgage.

They explained the reasoning behind Layer 6 AI being sold to TD, a Canadian bank, rather than to foreign investors: they wanted to remain a Canadian company and use this opportunity to support AI in Canada and make it a dominant AI player. Both Jordan and Tomi are also co-founders of the Vector Institute.

To learn more about the AI ecosystem in Toronto, come visit Toronto Global at the Canada Booth at the AI Summit on June 13/14. Toronto Global is a not-for-profit government agency that helps international companies expand their businesses to the Toronto Region.

Toronto Region – The Next Stop For Your FinTech Business

Salman Khan — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 18:44:00 +0000

A strong technology sector, resilient financial system, quality talent pool and low business costs put the Toronto Region on the global fintech map. Not only does the Toronto Region boast being home to the headquarters of major Canadian banks, but it also lays claim to three of the top 60 global pension funds and seven of the largest global hedge fund administrators

After New York City, Toronto is the largest financial centre in North America, hosting around 12,000 financial firms and employing over 360,000 people. It is also the 3rd largest technology hub in North America. Since 2015, the number of fintechs in Canada has skyrocketed from 40 to over 250 and counting. These fintechs operate in multiple sectors including payments, financing, robo-advising, crowdfunding and blockchain.

The financial sector in Canada is expected to allocate $15 billion in technology spending in 2018. So, no wonder that between 2012 and 2016, the venture capital community invested over $1 billion in fintechs here. Some of the biggest fintechs making waves in Toronto include WealthSimple, League, NestWealth and Sensibill.

Wealth of Talent

From a talent perspective, the Toronto Region is a compelling location for fintechs. Ontario, which is the province Toronto resides in, is home to over 30,000 of the country’s approximately 60,000 fintech employees and offers one of the most highly educated workforces in the world. Ontario turns out 40,000 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students a year – with plans in the pipeline to increase this number by 25% in the next five years.

The Toronto Region draws graduates from the entire province in addition to the graduates from the five universities and six colleges in the region. What makes the talent even more attractive for businesses is that the average salaries for engineering, management, and software development talent are 17-33% lower here when compared to major cities in the United States.

So, many European companies have already got the message: the Toronto region is a great place to grow your fintech. UK-based Ebury recently opened an office in Toronto and plans on servicing the large SME community in Canada with its financial solutions. Sweden-based Bambora has opened a Toronto office to be more accessible to its customers.

Misys merged with Toronto based D+H to create Finastra, the third largest financial services technology company in the world and its CEO of Finastra, Nadeem Syed, plans to expand the existing capability in Canada by taking advantage of the depth of talent available in the Toronto Region.

A Supportive Environment

From a regulatory perspective, things are looking much rosier. The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has created a Fintech Advisory Committee to advise staff on developments in the fintech sector. It created the Launchpad – essentially a sandbox for fintechs to test their products under supervision of the provincial regulator.

Moreover, the OSC has signed co-operation agreements with the FCA and Australia’s ASIC – an indication of willingness to operate at a global level. Ontario is striving to create an innovative ecosystem for fintechs to thrive in. The Ontario Fintech Accelerator office will be launched soon to promote innovation in the fintech space – one of its responsibilities will be to help start-ups get established.

About Toronto Region

With the continuous uncertainty surrounding Brexit, protectionist policies in the US, and the positive note struck by the trade agreement between Canada and the EU (CETA), fintechs in the EU and UK would do well to consider expanding to the Toronto Region – home to a consistently stable political and economic climate.

Not only does the region offer the opportunity to establish your business in Canada, but it also doubles as a springboard to enter the US and Mexico markets.

Businesses can take advantage of the Eastern Time Zone to service North American clients and easily access cities throughout the Americas from Toronto’s two international airports – The Toronto Island Airport in downtown Toronto connects to destinations in the United States daily and you can be in New York, Boston, Washington or Chicago in two hours and even pre-clear customs in Canada. Meanwhile, Toronto Pearson International Airport Pearson connects traveler – 44.3 million of them – to 67% of the world’s economies through daily, non-stop flights.

You could say the fintech sector in Toronto is cleared and ready for takeoff!

Toronto Building Critical Mass to Become a Blockchain Hub

Salman Khan — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 15:53:00 +0000

Toronto Building Critical Mass to Become a Blockchain Hub

Just like Artificial Intelligence a few years ago, blockchain is being classified as a game changer, a technology with the potential to fundamentally disrupt how transactions are processed by removing intermediaries from the equation and guaranteeing the integrity of a transaction. Experts believe that there is a good chance that blockchain will uproot many business models, beginning with the financial services sector.

Canada’s Financial and Technology Hub

With the Toronto Region emerging as a technology hub, there couldn’t be a better time for distributed ledger technology to take off in Canada. Toronto is home major Canadian banks, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and some of the world’s largest pension funds, making it the second largest financial center in North America.

The emerging fintech market is growing quickly with Toronto-based fintech companies like WealthSimple, SecureKey and Sensibill raising millions for product development and international expansion. Major global players including Uber, Amazon, GM, IBM and Cisco have research and development centers here because they realize the value of the talent graduating from the academic institutions in the region.

Toronto’s Blockchain Ecosystem

Canadian banks are not taking a back seat to the blockchain phenomenon. For example, CIBC, RBC, National Bank of Canada, BMO and Scotia Bank are working with San Francisco-based Ripple Labs to speed up cross-border payments using blockchain technology. Canadians banks are partnering with IBM and SecureKey to test a digital identity network built on distributed ledger technology with the goal of keeping consumer data safe.

The Bank of Canada, in collaboration with Payments Canada, banks and R3 explored using blockchain to process transactions and found that the technology isn’t mature enough yet to settle national interbank payments. Despite the setback, this openness to even consider blockchain technology says a great deal about the willingness of the ecosystem to tinker with innovation.

Toronto is home to a growing community of blockchain start-ups, associations and not-for-profits that have raised the profile of the nascent technology. Ethereum, probably the least known unicorn in the world, was founded in Canada in 2014 by Vitalik Buterin.

Joseph Lubin, a Canadian entrepreneur who co-founded Ethereum now runs New York based Consensus Systems, which develops decentralized software services on the Ethereum distributed ledger technology. Other blockchain start-ups getting attention in the distributed ledger technology space include Nuco, Decentral and Paycase.

Toronto is also home to the author of the Blockchain Revolution, Don Tapscott who a leading authority on the impact of technology on business and society. He also founded the Blockchain Research Institute in Toronto to study the application of distributed ledger technology across different industries.

Besides support from private sector players IBM, Accenture, and Thomson Reuters, the institute is also backed by the Ontario government and the Government of Canada. Another recent addition to the blockchain ecosystem is ColliderX, the world’s first open-source, crowdsourced, and crowdfunded distributed ledger technology research and development hub. ColliderX strives to bridge the gap between industry problems and research.

Stars are Aligning for Blockchain Adoption

Interest from Canadian banks in testing the emerging blockchain technology, organic growth in the fintech space, government support for innovative technology initiatives, top quality local entrepreneurial and technology talent, and the support of distributed ledger technology advocates represent the critical mass that is driving distributed ledger technology adoption in Canada.

Anthony Di Lorio, co-founder of Ethereum, is based in Toronto and believes that Canada can be a leader in blockchain technology if the regulatory hurdles are addressed. In a positive step to working out regulatory issues, at least for Ontario-based companies, is that the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has unveiled the OSC Launchpad to support fintechs in navigating the regulatory framework successfully.

The OSC also created a fintech advisory committee with several distributed ledger technology advocates, including Joseph Weinberg (Paycase), Matthew Spoke (Nuco), and Joseph Lubin (ConsenSys). Having the right people at the table to integrate distributed ledger technology backed innovation into the regulatory framework is a step in the right direction.

Looking at the big picture, Toronto has already arrived on the tech scene with a big bang. Most recently, Toronto has finally cemented its leadership in artificial intelligence by becoming a hub for research and development in AI. There is no reason why Toronto cannot achieve the same for blockchain.

Toronto Region – A Magnet for Canadian and Foreign Tech Companies

Salman Khan — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 18:17:00 +0000

Of all the major technology hubs across Canada, the Toronto region in particular is gaining a worldwide reputation as a welcoming destination for tech-centric. For start-up founders, SMEs, academics, university students and global firms alike, Toronto functions as a dynamic incubator for technologies like fintech, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and big data analytics.

Over 400,000 technology jobs existed in the Toronto tech sector in 2016 – many of which are distributed among Toronto’s active tech start-ups that are estimated to number over 2,500. Canadian companies like Slack, Hootsuite and Shopify, which are not based in Toronto, have unsurprisingly had to expand operations to Toronto to tap into the talent pool and scale up.

Such fast-growing enterprises are ideal for attracting the attention of international venture capital (VC) investors. In 2017, Toronto accounted for 29% of an impressive USD 2.7 billion of VC funding invested in Canada, with the highest number of deals in the country. Combined with significant government support, world leading incubators and accelerators, supportive public-private partnerships and superb talent, it’s not hard to see why Toronto’s tech eco-system has grown.

Homegrown Start-ups a Big Draw for VC Funding

With proven business models backed by serious cash from international VCs, Toronto is fast becoming a hotbed of successful start-ups. Fintech, artificial intelligence, insurtech, blockchain and cybersecurity are just some of the up-and-coming sub-sectors rapidly gaining traction in the start-up scene.

Since artificial intelligence (AI) is the rage these days, it only makes sense to lead with an AI example …Canadian born Steve Irvine, a former Facebook executive, chose Toronto to design and develop his AI start-up, geared to enable large enterprises in increasing both client interaction and revenue growth by training their AI-enabled solutions ($5M).

His main motivation for choosing Toronto over Silicon Valley was the exploding pool of regional AI and engineering talent. Top Hat, ranked 18th in Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 50™ Program is billed as “a complete teaching solution ($30M). Sensibill, a fintech company that helps banks generate customized digital receipts is already going international ($17M).

Last but definitely not least, WealthSimple, the Canadian fintech darling based in Toronto, is already managing $1 billon in managed assets ($75M).

Compelling Destination for Foreign Tech Businesses

Toronto is equally attractive to foreign tech companies of every size. PayCommerce, a cross-border payments firm from New Jersey decided to launch a research and development operation in Mississauga because of the easy access to talent, proximity to the financial services center and the potential to partner with leading academic research institutions.

WeWork, a co-working space provider based in New York City, has decided to take up 60,000 square feet of office space in downtown Toronto to capitalize on the growing entrepreneurship energy here. This trend is further endorsed by Toronto’s 4th (up from 6th last year) place rank in fDi Magazine’s 2017/18 American Cities of the Future report, which analyzes greenfield foreign direct investment across North and South American cities.

Let’s not forget about massive international ICT companies like IBM,HP,Cisco and Microsoft that house their Canadian headquarters in the Toronto region and exert a strong influence in shaping the city’s tech sector. GM Canada is opening a 15,000 square foot technical center in Markham to conduct research and development on autonomous cars, with the potential to create up to 700 high-quality jobs.

More recently, Uber is jumping on the autonomous driving bandwagon in Ontario by launching a research hub in Toronto with intentions to capitalize on the artificial intelligence expertise of the Vector Institute. Sidewalk Labs, the urban innovation unit of Alphabet is partnering with Waterfront Toronto to build a high tech city. No surprise then that Expert Market ranked the Toronto region third out of 20 global tech hubs to live and work, ahead of Silicon Valley, Boston and Tel Aviv.

Fostering Synergy in the Tech Community

Great examples of organizations fostering synergy are the Toronto Region Board of Trade and the Toronto Financial Services Alliance. In fact, earlier this year, they collaborated with the OCE to organize a fintech symposium where key players in the financial services ecosystem got together to discuss the challenges they are facing and how to not only co-exist but also partner with one another in an effort to make Toronto a global fintech leader.

This is just one example of a multitude of community-driven tech events. In May, a blockchain event at MaRS was organized by the Canada Bitcoin Blockchain meetup where Toronto based Alex Tapscott was the keynote speaker. It was probably the biggest blockchain/bitcoin event in Canada, ever – at least that is what the organizers liked to think so! The sheer number and variety of such events in Toronto is mind-boggling – just check out the events page at TechTO or Eventbrite.

Incubators and Accelerators – The Nurturers

The start-up scene in Toronto convinced incubators and accelerators to swoop in and provide critical supporting services. The most notable examples include the DMZ, MaRS and OneEleven. Partnerships between accelerators and industry players are key for local start-ups to succeed against one of their biggest challenges – scaling up. A prime example of this is the agreement between RBC and OneEleven to work together to support start-ups with the knowledge, network and resources that are imperative for them to commercialize and scale up.

This irresistible start-up hype attracted prominent US-based accelerator, Techstars, in partnership with Real Ventures, to get in on the tech action by expanding to Toronto. The ever-increasing support network for incubators and accelerators, often in partnership with corporate players, enables a higher percentage of companies to successfully commercialize their products and scale up, which in turn advances the very same ecosystem that they are a product of.

Federal & Provincial Budget Recognizes Tech Sector’s Potential

The 2017 federal budget and Ontario’s provincial budget included several initiatives clearly intended to support and nurture the continued advance of technology-related business ventures, both in Toronto and across Canada. The Global Skills Strategy initiative is expected to launch in mid-June and will allow technology businesses to acquire international talent within weeks.

The Innovation Supercluster Initiative is designed to bolster Canada’s global growth and competitiveness – $950 million in federal funding will be distributed on a competitive basis around the country to support clusters that can catalyze economic growth in the tech sector. The government of Ontario is investing $80 million in the Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Network in partnership with the OCE in an effort to prepare the province’s infrastructure and transportation network for self-driving cars.

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is administering funding for a $125 million Pan-Canadian strategy to generate an AI talent pipeline. Both governments have come together to launch the AI-focused Vector institute with funding of $100M. The Blockchain Research Institute was founded by father-and-son duo Don and Alex Tapscott to research the applications of blockchain on multiple industries.

Toronto Region Endless Opportunities, Limitless Growth

In the global technology realm, it’s becoming evident that Toronto is a place that has everything going for it. In addition to its reputation as a lively ecosystem that embraces tech businesses, Toronto has repeatedly placed highly in international rankings as one of the most livable, competitive and innovative urban centres that tech businesses can call home.

Hey Amazon, what are you waiting for?