Tech CEOs and innovation hubs call for swift action to maintain top talent and jobs threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic

TORONTO, March 26, 2020 /CNW/ – Today, more than 230 CEOs of leading tech enterprises and innovation hubs issued an open letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Finance Rod Phillips and Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli on how the province can strengthen Ontario’s tech sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Ontario’s tech and innovation sectors are important sources of well-paying jobs and engines of economic growth in our province. The GTA alone is the fastest-growing global tech market, recently surpassing Washington, Seattle and San Francisco combined – with a total of 241,000 tech industry jobs. Waterloo has the second-highest density of tech startups in North America,  and Hamilton tech employment has grown 40% over the past five years. The concentration of tech talent in Ottawa is among the highest in North America, with 9.9% of its workforce employed in this sector – just behind San Francisco.

This world-class growth has been supported by successive provincial governments stretching back to the creation of MaRS and Communitech during the Harris government.

“Ontario’s tech leaders believe the ecosystem needs our provincial government to continue taking immediate and longer-term measures to help companies weather this storm,” the letter says.

Recommended actions include…

Read the full release.

Read the open letter to the province.