An Inbound Mission: Tour Waterloo with Waterloo EDC Experts

We regularly host companies from around the world on “inbound missions,” a term for day-long ecosystem excursions around Waterloo. An inbound mission is customized to your company’s sector and your short- and long-term goals.

For example, if you’re a technology company, we’ll ensure you tour the best parts of our tech community and meet local tech leaders working in a similar cluster (fintech, cybersecurity, etc.). If you’re in the manufacturing sector, we’ll take you to cutting-edge research centres and introduce you to the major manufacturing players in our ecosystem.

If you’re considering an expansion to the Waterloo area—or just want to see if everything we write about our region is true (spoiler alert: it is)—an inbound mission is an excellent way to experience our vibrant community first-hand.

Here’s what you can expect on an inbound mission with Waterloo EDC, not accounting for personal customization based on who you are and what your company does. This is what a recent inbound mission – focused primarily on technology – with Waterloo EDC looked like:

Start your day with introductions and maple-flavoured coffee

We kicked off our day by meeting outside of Communitech, Canada’s leading technology innovation hub, and making introductions. This inbound mission included leaders from different types of firms, including startups and established companies. We grabbed some hot drinks (maple lattes for some) and headed right across the street to visit Velocity.

Take a tour of Velocity, Canada’s most productive incubator

Velocity sits across from Communitech in the Innovation District. Our group was invited into the building to learn more about how Velocity operates. Velocity is the most productive early-stage incubator in Canada, with 500+ companies incubated and $40B in enterprise value. The incubator launched well-known scaleups like Faire, Trusscore and ApplyBoard.

We embarked on a tour of the space. Velocity, linked to the University of Waterloo, has given students a space to grow and launch their businesses since 2008. We watched teams working away in the open office spaces, creating the next built-in-Waterloo innovation. There was a sense of collaboration and camaraderie in the air.

And it’s more than just office space—Velocity houses several labs for founders to test their ideas. We walked past hardware, biotech and chemistry labs, where people peered into microscopes and test-operated robots. After that, we explored the 3D printing lab, laser cutting lab and wood/metal workshop. All Velocity members have access to these spaces and equipment.

Experience Catalyst137 with a tour and some building history

Next, we headed up the road to Catalyst137, the world’s largest Internet-of-Things maker space. We explored the huge building with one of the co-founders of Catalyst Commons (the co-working portion of Catalyst137), who explained how the hub came to be. The 465,000 sq ft. warehouse used to house the Dominion Tire Company, just one of the major manufacturers that played a part in Waterloo Region’s long manufacturing history. After an acquisition in 1992, the plant was shut down and used as general warehouse space until it was sold to Cataylst137 ten years ago. The co-founders envisioned a hub for tech companies to grow and scale quickly, and construction soon began.

We walked through the finished product—a building full of people, natural light, diverse working spaces and energy. The co-founder shared that Catalyst137 is now home to more than 100 companies, with tenants such as D2L, Miovision, BDC, and the Multi-Scale Manufacturing Lab.

Enjoy a catered lunch at Catalyst137 and the opportunity to network

After our tour, we sat down to a catered lunch in Catalyst Commons, the central co-working space in Catalyst137. Local leaders, experts and founders joined us to grab sandwiches and butter tarts (a classic Canadian treat), allowing everyone to network and make community connections.

Hear from local leaders on industry support in Waterloo

Waterloo EDC can connect you with local industry leaders and experts. It’s just one of many free services we offer to companies looking to expand in Waterloo. It only makes sense that we introduced some of those leaders to our inbound mission delegation.

We brought in several local experts in government research grants and Canadian tax systems to give short presentations on their services. We also heard from leaders at industry support organizations like the Accelerator Centre and Communitech about the kinds of support they offer to local companies. This way, companies considering Waterloo region can meet the people who’d support them and with whom they’d work closely if they choose to expand here.

Stroll through the University of Waterloo for a campus tour

We hopped back on our bus and travelled over to the University of Waterloo (UWaterloo), where we were met by a representative from the university’s corporate partnerships office.

We got a taste of the quantum ecosystem in Waterloo at the Mike & Ophelia Quantum-Nano Centre and the Institute for Quantum Computing. Both research hubs are on the university’s campus and employ faculty members and graduate students. Waterloo is nicknamed “Quantum Valley.” Our community is home to two globally celebrated research institutes (one of which is the Institute for Quantum Computing), 300+ researchers and over 20 quantum technology companies.

We also toured the state-of-the-art engineering buildings at UWaterloo. The university is home to Canada’s largest engineering school and is ranked 30^th in the world in electrical engineering. We even got to witness some students in action at the Robohub, which is the home of robotics at UWaterloo. This research centre is where faculty members and students come together to build technical, educational and research expertise.

Explore Conestoga College’s SMART Centre, guided by an expert

We finished our day at Conestoga College’s SMART Centre, which is a manufacturing research hub. We were given a tour of the facility and had the opportunity to learn more about the innovations taking place here. The Centre partners with small, medium and large businesses in the region to overcome challenges in manufacturing, IT, automotive, health tech and more. We got to see the real-world impact at the SMART Centre, as ideas are researched, developed and commercialized in this space.

If you choose to do an inbound mission with Waterloo EDC, your tour will be customized to your industry and company. Want to check out UWaterloo’s Research + Technology Park or the Waterloo Centre for Automotive Research? Interested in touring the Medical Innovation Xchange or Conestoga College’s new Skilled Trades Campus We can make that happen.