Behind closed doors, AI policy writers, advisors, and advocates say it’s important that “middle powers,” potentially led by Canada, come together to shape guardrails for the technology. Leaders from various government-associated AI policy organizations gathered at the British High Commission in Ottawa on Thursday to discuss the second-annual International AI Safety Report. Authored by over…
Calgary’s tech ecosystem is the fastest growing in Canada, according to the 2026 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER). The news: Released today at the European startup and tech conference VivaTech Paris, the GSER lists Calgary among its cohort of cities in the 41st to 50th fastest emerging ecosystems, putting it on par with cities like…
Toronto’s Realize Capital Partners announced the final close of its first fund today at $277 million CAD, making the social impact-focused fund-of-funds one of the largest of its kind in Canada. The news: A joint venture between Rally Assets and Relay Ventures, Realize is one of three managers chosen by the Government of Canada to…
Markham, Ontario-based aerospace startup NordSpace has moved into a new headquarters designed to manufacture the company’s rockets. The news: NordSpace announced Tuesday the opening of its new, 60,000-square-foot Rocket Factory 1 (RF-1) campus in Markham, northeast of Toronto. Designed to host up to 255 employees, RF-1 will produce the startup’s light and medium-lift orbital launch…
Alberta Innovates has committed to investing more than $14 million in projects to help Alberta tech move toward commercialization. The news: The innovation-focused Crown corporation announced today that it is investing more than $14 million across 12 organizations to accelerate the commercialization of Alberta technology. Funding, which will be deployed over the following months and…
There’s a lot of froth in the “smoke and mirrors show” of the robotics industry right now. At least according to Autonomique co-founder and CEO Vikrant Tomar. “You will see robots doing backflips or dancing…but it’s useless when it comes to actual productivity, right?” he said in an interview with BetaKit. “You will see robots…
Toronto-based BrokerPlus has emerged from stealth with plans to help Canadian residential mortgage brokers use AI to grow their businesses and save time on administrative work. Michael Hyatt is among the investors who have bought into the nascent startup’s vision of disrupting a large, “antiquated industry” with an especially small, AI-native team. “I want people…
In case you missed the big news, the US government just ordered Anthropic to ban foreign access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. In response, Anthropic removed access to those models for everyone. “If your entire technology is coming from a single country, and that country decides that every now…
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), through its VC arm BDC Capital, has the capital and the leverage to set the tone for Canada’s business and tech sector—whether that’s through a newfound focus on defence or heavy promotion of AI adoption. Isabelle Hudon was appointed president and CEO of BDC in August 2021. Five…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM The feeling of not mattering, of going through a whole day without anyone really seeing you, sits closer to the surface than most people let on. Jennifer Breheny Wallace has spent years studying this. In her new book Mattering, she frames it as a gap: the distance between how…
