Toronto Gets Tech

Canada’s business capital is taking aim at AI with big investments, big names, and big breakthroughs.

- Angela Pasceri

“Toronto was and is at the forefront of AI,” said Raquel Urtasun, head of ride-sharing giant Uber’s new self-driving car lab in Toronto. A theme that would be reinforced as the Elevate Toronto technology conference continued with other Ted-like talks, panel discussions and fireside chats over three days in mid-September.

Spread out across the city including 70 venues, 95 community players and 5,000 participants, Elevate Toronto was a Herculean feat in bringing together the leaders of tech and innovation, and to showcase the city and the greater Toronto area’s growing clout in these areas. (For the record, there was no heroic effort on my part to cover all the sessions. I did do my best, though, to pop my head into a few Hong Kong favourites: artificial intelligence, health care, and fintech.)

Urtasun, a University of Toronto associate professor of computer science and a leading name in the artificial intelligence (AI) field explained that Toronto’s reputation as a culturally diverse, cosmopolitan city was also a major draw for the Spanish native.

Toronto is a city for young adults, consummate professionals, families at all stages and retirees with something for everyone, all year round. There’s a vibrant and dynamic arts, theatre and music scene ensconced in North America’s fourth largest city which makes Toronto a very livable and fun place to be. Add to that biking, blading, hiking, running, water sports, you name it - what’s there not to love.