Cybersecurity

Ottawa-Gatineau is Canada’s Cyber Cluster

Our thriving cluster brings world-leading research, innovative engineering, and specialized cyber expertise together to keep the world’s digital information safe and secure. Made up of over 100 companies, our cluster is well-known for its specialized cyber expertise, products, and solutions in areas such as encryption, identity and access management, and vulnerability defence.

The sector ecosystem is supported by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS), part of the Federal Government’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE). Other departments and agencies
supporting the cybersecurity sector include, Public Safety, CSIS, the RCMP, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).

With North America’s highest concentration of tech talent, cyber companies in Ottawa take advantage of a growing pipeline of highly skilled workers. Our world-class post-secondary institutes educate more than 130,000 students each year, of which a growing number study science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Canada’s National Capital Region is building the next-generation of cyber talent. These R&D centres play a crucial role in complementing commercially deployable research to locally-based companies like Blackberry’s QNX, Nokia, Cisco, and Ciena which invest in R&D, grow the talent pool, and attract investment.

Why Ottawa is the ideal location for cybersecurity leaders:

    • 90% of Canada’s industrial telecommunications research takes place in Ottawa
    • Ottawa is one of North America’s top 10 tech talent markets (CBRE 2021)
    • Home to 65 federal research labs, including four which directly support the communications technology sector
    • Home to Canada’s only SaaS-based accelerator (L-Spark) and Canada’s largest tech park (Kanata North)
    • Ranked as the most affordable, major city in North America, Ottawa offers a robust technology ecosystem with low overall living costs

Cybersecurity Companies in Ottawa

Fact Sheet

Ottawa is at the epicentre of Canada's telecommunications industry. Home to leading experts and researchers who are shaping the global communications industry.

Examples of Ottawa's cybersecurity brilliance

These companies are contributing to our thriving cybersecurity cluster.

Field Effect

Founded five years ago, Ottawa cybersecurity company Field Effect has ambitious plans to triple its revenues over the next 12 months while boosting its staff to 200. Field Effect’s main product, Covalence, is a sophisticated holistic cybersecurity solution priced for SMEs and powerful enough to protect the most complex networks. While Field Effect has a growing global presence in countries like the UK and Australia, the company maintains its HQ in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood and even opened a second Ottawa office in early 2020 . Invest Ottawa has worked closely with the company’s leadership over the past few years to help support their growth both locally and overseas. The company is also a member of our Cybersecurity Founders Peer Group.

SonicWall

Headquartered in California, SonicWall launched its Ottawa operation in 2016. Today, it has 100 employees in Ottawa, working in three divisions: sales, service and engineering. The company has been in the cybersecurity business for 29 years and has evolved to identify and stop the world’s increasing cyber threats. Today, it boasts more than 500,000 customers — from SMBs to enterprise companies in everything from banking to education. Customers span six continents, it has offices in 10 countries and 1,700 employees around the world.

Fortinet

Fortinet is widely recognized as a global leader in high performance cybersecurity solutions and is one of the four key international players in the firewall market. Canada’s federal government recently contracted Fortinet’s Ottawa subsidiary to upgrade its information technology infrastructure. Fortinet plans to deploy high-performance, scalable network security solutions across more than 100 government departments and agencies in order to secure them against cyberattacks.

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