Waterloo

Waterloo exists because the University of Waterloo invented co-operative education at scale. Founded in 1957, the university pioneered a model where students alternate between academic terms and work terms at companies—creating a talent pipeline that became irresistible to technology employers. The university doesn't own student IP, unlike most institutions, so founders can commercialize what they build.

The region's roots are older: German Mennonites settled here from Pennsylvania in the early 1800s, and Waterloo was incorporated as a village in 1857. But the modern city grew from BlackBerry. In 1984, Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin founded Research In Motion here; by 2008, the company employed 12,000 people and owned half the smartphone market. The BlackBerry changed how the world communicated—and when it collapsed, the engineers dispersed into hundreds of startups.

Waterloo became 'Canada's Silicon Valley' on that foundation. Communitech, the regional tech hub, coordinates an ecosystem of incubators, accelerators, and venture capital. Google, Shopify, and dozens of major tech companies opened offices to tap University of Waterloo talent. The region has produced more startups per capita than any other in Canada; the co-op program graduates over 6,000 students annually into industry.

By 2026, Waterloo faces the challenge that defines all secondary tech hubs: retaining talent against Toronto's gravitational pull. Housing remains cheaper here, commutes shorter, and the university keeps producing engineers—but the largest employers and highest salaries cluster 100 kilometers east. Whether Waterloo can remain a startup generator or becomes merely a training ground depends on whether founders choose to build here instead of moving.