Cybersecurity

A world-class ecosystem of cybersecurity innovators

Waterloo is home to a world-class security business ecosystem, featuring 100+ companies working in embedded security, cryptography, risk assessment and threat detection. The community is anchored by BlackBerry– a locally-grown business – and now includes global brands like McAfee and Oracle NetSuite, as well as scaling companies like Magnet Forensics and eSentire and new unicorn Arctic Wolf. 

The University of Waterloo has pushed the pace of cybersecurity innovation for decades, with elliptic curve cryptography and managed detection and response (MDR) both invented in the community. For companies looking to innovate, Waterloo has numerous research centres focused on cybersecurity, including the Waterloo Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. 

Download our Security Ecosystem Map for a full business listing.

North America’s #1 emerging tech talent market

In 2020, CBRE’s annual Scoring Tech Talent report recognized Waterloo as North America’s top emerging tech talent market. For two consecutive years, CBRE has also called our experienced tech talent “exceptional,” ranking Waterloo #1 in Canada for tech talent quality and quality-to-cost. 

The University of Waterloo–Canada’s top technology university– helps fill this outstanding tech talent pipeline as well as producing top security and cybersecurity graduates. Our experiential learning programs – known as co-operative education– ensure that most engineering and computer science students graduate with two years of on-the-job experience at world-class companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google and Disney. 

Conestoga College, a leading polytechnic institute, offers programs focused on cybersecurity, network security and application security.

A unique focus on entrepreneurship has led to the second highest density of startups in North America. In fact, more than 18% of all Canadian tech founders were trained at the University of Waterloo.

The second largest technology cluster in North America

Waterloo is also a key partner in the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor, which is the second largest technology cluster in North America and one of the world’s top tech hubs. Within this area you’ll find 9,700 tech companies, including 2,000+ startups and nearly 300,000 tech workers.