Ottawa: A Global Tech Hub

Ottawa is a globally-recognized, innovative and future-ready city, and the best place to learn, work, live, and play.

Area X.O Selected as a NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) Test Centre

NATO Collaboration Will Fuel New Global Opportunity and Impact in Canada’s Capital, a Global Tech Hub

Why Ottawa?

For decades, Ottawa has been a global leader in telecommunications technology. Today, Canada’s capital is one of the hottest and most diverse tech hubs in North America. (*Source: Conference Board of Canada, Q2 2023, **Source: CBRE, 2023)

Ottawa:

  • Has the highest concentration of tech talent in North America at 12.3%, tied with SF Bay Area (CBRE, 2024) 
  • Ranked #2 among North American tech markets for Tech Job Growth Rate (CBRE, 2024) 
  • Has decades of disruptive tech expertise, capabilities and companies
  • Is the most educated city in Canada - 65% have post-secondary education (Stats Canada 2021) 
  • Has a consumer base of nearly 20 million within a 400km radius
  • Ranked second lowest for cost of living among top North American cities  (Global City Ranking from Mercer, 2024)
  • Ranked 1st in Canada and 7th in the world for best work-life balance (KISI, 2022)
Why Ottawa video screenshot
Women enjoying a patio beside parliament hill

Access to Talent


Ottawa has the highest concentration of tech talent in North America at 13.3%. That’s higher than San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Washington and Toronto. Canada also offers a fast and predictable immigration process. In addition, our city is home to top-tier post-secondary institutions including Algonquin College, Carleton University, La Cité and the University of Ottawa that educate as many as 168,000 students with 17% specializing in STEM (28,000+).

News & Updates

The latest news and updates from our global expansion team and Ottawa companies across the sectors we serve.

Staff of tech company Cellusys stand posing for a team photo holding blue balloons branded with the company logo.

Cellusys Expands to Canada, Lands at Invest Ottawa’s Global Runway

Ottawa, Ontario – October 2024:  Cellusys Ltd, a global leader in mobile signaling solutions that power security and roaming, has officially incorporated in Canada, marking a major milestone in its international growth.  Known for its signalling control technology, which enhances security, combats fraud, and improves roaming quality for telecommunications providers worldwide, Cellusys continues to strengthen […]

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The Wind River team poses for a team photo with a cheque for charity at an outdoors event.

Ottawa Tech Success Story: Wind River Drives Innovation in Canada’s Capital 

Ottawa is often touted as Canada’s innovation capital because of its vibrant tech ecosystem and the numerous stories of tech companies finding success in this city.   Today, we talk about another company’s success in Ottawa: Wind River, which recently announced the launch of eLxr Pro, its commercial enterprise Linux offering, to address the unique needs […]

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A decorative design featuring a microchip background and the text, Key sector spotlight: Semiconductor

Ottawa: North America’s Leading Compound Semiconductor Centre

From the very start of every day, our modern lives are impacted by semiconductors. By the time we start the car or hop on the train to work, we have already interacted with devices containing hundreds of these colloquially named Chips. From our cellphones to Starlink, to the Garmin devices we use to call for […]

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Evaluate Our Market

Ottawa is a globally-recognized, innovative and future-ready city, and the best place to learn, work, live, and play. The following tools highlight data and information on Ottawa’s diversified economy and high quality of life so that you can make informed decisions about investing and growing in Ottawa.

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