Waterloo is one of the few mid-sized tech and manufacturing hubs in North America within an hour of a major metro. From our community, companies can reach Toronto’s talent and capital, a strong manufacturing corridor, the US Eastern Seaboard and Midwest, as well as Canada’s key decision-making centres by road and rail. That access comes with the lower costs, quality of life and tight-knit ecosystem only a mid-sized community can offer.
In tech, unicorns are startups that reach a valuation of over $1 billion. They grow quickly, disrupt industries and challenge traditionally held ideas about the way the world works. They break the mold.
Waterloo is a unicorn in a way, too—fast-growing, disruptive, willing to take risks. Unique. This kind of culture permeates both tech and manufacturing ecosystems and is fostered by our physical environment. Unicorns can’t grow without a network, and thanks to our strategic location, the Waterloo region is connected to several. Our mid-sized community makes it easy to access people, markets and suppliers by road and rail.
Find out how Waterloo’s strategic location is a valuable asset for any company considering a North American expansion.
Access Toronto in an hour
Not many mid-sized hubs can claim one-hour proximity to one of North America’s biggest metro areas. Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Columbus and Nashville can’t. But Waterloo can.
Toronto, home to more than seven million people, is only 65mi/105km away from Waterloo. The highway connecting our regions is known as the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor, but it’s more than just infrastructure. The corridor also refers to the flow of people and ideas between the two areas.
Toronto is a massive financial, tech and manufacturing hub, and a huge talent market. Locating in the Waterloo area means your company can easily tap into these resources and join the momentum that proximity to a major North American market brings.
“Our presence in Waterloo, and being right along this [Toronto-Waterloo] Corridor, has presented us with great opportunities from a business development standpoint,” said Hugo Fuentes, CEO & Co-founder of The Owl Solutions. “It has benefited us by bringing us closer to our potential customers and even attracting investment.”
Access other major North American cities in a day
The Waterloo region is within a day’s drive of major Midwest cities (Detroit and Chicago), the Eastern Seaboard (New York City and Boston) and Canadian decision-makers (Montreal and Ottawa, in addition to Toronto).
The Waterloo-Midwest connection offers manufacturers an established supply chain, reliable trade infrastructure and a corridor of manufacturing and automotive innovation. You can reach Detroit in three hours from Waterloo, passing through hubs like London and Windsor. Chicago is reachable in approximately four more hours. It’s a tried-and-true corridor that has supported manufacturers on both sides of the border for decades.
Road connections link Waterloo-based companies to Toronto, Detroit, Buffalo and more
Quick access to the Eastern Seaboard is key for tech and finance companies, and enterprises looking to reach consumer masses. Proximity to New York City offers access to several multinationals’ global headquarters and a city of over eight million people. Boston is a tech mecca, home to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, opening the door to partnerships and talent.
Being right in the middle of the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard is a unique advantage you’ll only find in a handful of competitor communities.
Main Canadian decision-makers—Montreal and Ottawa, plus Toronto—are important, too. We’re not isolated from our Canadian counterparts, which enables us to work together more effectively. Talent, R&D resources, commercialization support and government assets are shared, creating synergy in industries like AI and quantum.
Waterloo is centrally located, with one-day access to 194M customers in the US and Canada.
Other mid-sized markets with comparable manufacturing and tech workforces can’t claim this kind of proximity to so many diverse regions. “It’s easy to access both the Canadian market and the American market, and pretty easy to get from here to just about anywhere in the world,” explained Heather Galt, Chief Customer Officer at P&P Optica. “As we’ve expanded our geographic footprint beyond Waterloo Region, we’ve been able to do it from here very effectively. It’s a place I can’t imagine running our business from anywhere else.”
Choosing to ground your business in Waterloo, though, is critical. Here, you can access these markets and their resources while maintaining an excellent quality of life, lowering operating costs and participating in a tight-knit ecosystem, something that can only really happen in a mid-sized hub. It’s the kind of environment where unicorns are made.
In Summary
- Waterloo is one of the few mid-sized tech and manufacturing hubs in North America within an hour of a major metro, sitting 105 km (65 mi) from Toronto.
- Companies in Waterloo can reach Midwest manufacturing centres like Detroit and Chicago and Eastern Seaboard markets like New York and Boston within a day’s drive.
- Waterloo pairs this market access with lower operating costs, a high quality of life and a tight-knit ecosystem that only a mid-sized hub can offer.
Explore all the ways your company can reach key cities across the continent from Waterloo in our guide.