The City of Toronto Welcomes the First of Three Collision Technology Conferences
Monday, 20 May 2019 12:01.PM
Tonight, Collision – North America's fastest-growing technology conference – opened in Toronto and is running until May 23 at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place. This is the first time that the conference is being held outside of the U.S.
The City of Toronto partnered with Tourism Toronto and Exhibition Place to bring this sought-after conference to Toronto and will host Collision for three consecutive years starting this year.
"Toronto's technology and innovation sector is growing at a phenomenal rate. Collision will have a huge economic impact on our city and will help us build on that success."
- Toronto Mayor John Tory
Collision brings together the people and companies that are redefining the global technology industry. More than 25,000 attendees, including 3,750 CEOs and 750 journalists, from 120 countries are anticipated to attend. The conference is part of a series of technology conferences that include Web Summit in Europe and RISE in Hong Kong.
"Our local tech industry is growing rapidly and it has attracted the world's attention. The Collision conference will build on this momentum while showcasing Toronto's diverse talent pool and connecting our local businesses to international investment opportunities."
- Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Councillor for Ward 21 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the City's Economic and Community Development Committee
The event includes 14 standalone conferences that focus on industry tracks including marketing, design, coding, robotics, SaaS, big data and more, curated roundtables and workshops, and networking events. More information about Collision is available at https://collisionconf.com/.
By hosting this conference Toronto aims to:
• Attract foreign direct investment to Canada in the form of company expansions and relocations
• Promote international trade and partnerships with Canadian companies
• Entice venture capitalist investment in Canadian companies
• Promote the Toronto and Canadian innovation ecosystems.
Over the three years that Toronto will host Collision, more than 90,000 people are expected to attend and spend an estimated $147 million in the region. It is also anticipated that an additional 1,000 jobs can be created by attracting new companies and investments to Canada. The conference is also expected to attract at least 500 international investors to Toronto each year, providing the opportunity to bring needed investment capital for Canadian technology companies. Collision also attracts more than 500 international media and a global audience, providing an opportunity to highlight Toronto's economic strengths globally.
"Toronto is not an up and coming city, it has arrived, and a number of people around the world haven't realised it yet. Collision is fortunate to be here at a time when Toronto is already booming."
- Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO of Collision
Bringing Collision to Toronto will build on the momentum of the Toronto region's technology industry. The Toronto region ranks as the largest tech sector in Canada and the fourth largest in North America. The sector employs more than 300,000 people in 24,000 companies and accounts for 15 per cent of all the jobs in the region.
In 2016, the growth of the Toronto region technology sector outpaced that of New York City and San Francisco combined. Based on that growth rate, Toronto is expected to have more technology jobs than Silicon Valley in the near future.