5. Canada’s Silicon Valley
The drive from Toronto to Waterloo along Highway 401 is fairly uneventful. The city’s looming skyscrapers eventually give way to trees and fields as the road winds through a handful of small towns.
But this 115 kilometer stretch is remarkable in a different way. It’s the home of Canada’s Silicon Valley.
Like the original, the genesis of Canada’s Silicon Valley can be traced back to several contributing factors. Particularly important was the decision by Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research In Motion (RIM), to headquarter the company in Waterloo, Ontario. Once a powerhouse in the smartphone market, RIM’s presence helped to connect small and large technology companies with innovators, engineers and venture capitalists.
Even as the BlackBerry bubble burst, the region remained prosperous, thriving and expanding to become the world’s second largest innovation corridor. Today, it employs 280,000 tech workers and adds over $30 Billion to Canada’s GNP.
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