Recognized Technology Cluster

Robust and Diverse Economy Offers Competitive Advantages

The Waterloo Region has one of the most diverse economies in Canada, with strengths in the advanced manufacturing, insurance, automotive, information and communications technology, and business and financial service sectors. The use of advanced technology in production and business processes is the consistency among the diversity of 11 industry segments that comprise the advanced technology sector. Areas of specialty include: agri-food, alternate energy, biomedical, enterprise software, Internet, nanotechnology, new media, photonics, quantum computing, telecommunications, video, wireless, metal fabrication, and electrical/electronics.
The advanced technology cluster boasts a healthy mix of small-, medium-, and large-sized companies, and young and well-established companies. Industry analysts point to this diversity as one of the underlying strengths of Waterloo’s entrepreneur-driven economy.

Feeding off the presence of a renowned Knowledge Creation Cluster in the Region, the Advanced Technology Cluster has been identified as a leading economic growth generator in the Region. The Waterloo Region’s robust and adaptable economy is attractive to investors and entrepreneurs. Its diversity protects it from the uncertainties of economic cycles.

Brains, Money and Culture Breed Success

The Waterloo Region is neither a resource-based nor a branch-plant economy, making continuous 'reinvention' all the more vital to economic success and prosperity. New company creation and organic growth are the mainstays of the Region's highly successful advanced technology sector, augmented by acquisition of successful start-ups by global players. There’s a particular confluence of brains, money, and culture that breeds success in the Waterloo Region. The Region attracts bright people, give them resources to succeed, and support them through a culture that celebrates risk-taking.

The Region's advanced technology firms have a significant concentration of local ownership. Alumni from local post-secondary institutions comprise a large portion of the executive leadership within local technology firms. Area companies also invest heavily in R&D activities and in the creation of intellectual property.

The Waterloo Region's Advanced Technology Cluster – At a Glance

Size of cluster (2007) – 527 firms employing 30,000 (10% of workforce)

Firms by City: 42% Waterloo; 24% Kitchener; 17% Cambridge; 9% Guelph; 6% Other

Firms by Size: 52% 1-10 employees; 30% 11-50 employees; 14% 51-250 employees; 5% 250+ employees

Firms by Category

• Software - 37%
• Advanced Manufacturing - 14%
• IT Services - 13%
• Internet Technology - 10%
• Hardware - 6%
• Environmental/Engineering - 5%
• Medical Devices/Photonics/Digital Media - 4%
• Biotech - 4%
• Telecommunications - 4%
• Services and Suppliers - 3%

Tech Leadership:

• 67% of tech leaders are grads of a local post-secondary institution
• 30% are serial entrepreneurs
• 30% were ‘born and raised in Waterloo Region/Guelph’

Estimated annual revenue range in 2007: 

• Less than $100,000 - 24.2%
• $100,000 - $1M - 32.0%
• $1M - $5M - 16.4%
• $5M - $10M - 9.4%
• $10M-$50M - 5.5%
• $50M and more - 12.5%

(Source: 2007/08 Waterloo Region Tech Survey)