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Canada – Wireless Pioneer and 21st Century Leader

Canada’s world class wireless companies have built a reputation for excellence in infrastructure, data-centric devices, enablers, middleware and applications. With its high-talent, low-cost labour force, R&D advantages, smart regulations and centres of research excellence, Canada remains a rewarding location for enterprising investors.

Look what Canada has to offer:

  • 400 firms with 21,000 workers
  • Canada ranks #2 among the G7 for patent and copyright protection
  • 2nd among OECD countries in tax relief per R&D dollars spent
  • In the top 10% for global broadband penetration rates
  • 1st in the G7 for quality of life

Where Canada’s wireless sector excels:

Cellular Equipment

Canada is at the head of the pack, with Canadian companies holding the number two position in Code Division Multiple Access infrastructure sales and number three in Gigabit Ethernet switching. Canadian industry leaders include Nortel Networks, Sinclair Technologies and Radian Communications.

Mobile Devices and CPE

Canadian companies have demonstrated global leadership, developing solutions that are smart, forward-thinking and innovative – from smartphones like Research in Motion’s Blackberry to Sierra Wireless’ cellular AirCards – that provide end-to-end solutions for e-mail and data communications.

WiMAX

The world is becoming smaller and bringing communities closer thanks to leading edge innovations developed by Canadian firms like BelAir Networks, Bridgewater Systems, Dragonwave, Redline Communications, Vecima Networks and Wavesat. The world has noticed. Wavesat won the 2008 Technology Excellence Award by Frost & Sullivan for its Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing chip set research work, while Redline Communications was recognized as the one of the world’s first companies to have a complete WiMAX product line certified by the WiMAX forum.

Software Defined Radio (SDR) solutions

Canada is home to the world-renowned SCARI Software Suite, an integrated development environment for SDR technology, thanks to the pioneering work of its Communication Research Centre. Already well-established within the military sector as the radio technology of the future, SDR can accommodate any communications protocol and frequency band. The software enables manufacturers to leverage SDR technology for just about any industry, implementation or product. Software Suite 2007 has already been adopted by major radio manufacturers and commercial platform providers, including Spectrum Signal Processing, ISR Technologies, Lyrtech and Pentek.

Clusters of creativity

The Canadian government encourages R&D through its many centres of research excellence, such as the Communications Research Centre, the National Institute for Information Technology and the National Institute for Nanotechnology. Numerous universities also house nanotechnology research centres, including the universities of Toronto, Waterloo, McMaster, McGill and Alberta. Generous federal R&D tax credits that underwrite up to 65 % of firms’ total R&D investment further fuel innovation.

Ottawa
A major high-tech hub, with over 1,600 high tech companies employing 65,000 people. The region is renowned for its strengths in telecommunications equipment and networking. The city’s leading educational institutions include the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, Algonquin College, and Université du Québec en Outaouais. They equip large global players such as Adobe, Alcatel Canada, Calian Technology, Cisco, Cognos, and Mitel Networks with a ready supply of skilled talent.

Toronto
Host to over 3,300 high tech companies including industry leaders like Nortel Networks and TELUS – top flight firms that employ 148,000 and generate annual revenues of $25B. Top notch universities – including the University of Toronto’s Emerging Communications Technology Institute, York University, and the University of Ontario Institute Of Technology – produce highly-skilled workers and conduct research pivotal to discovery and development.

Waterloo
Called Canada’s technology triangle, the region has exceptional educational establishments and a highly-educated workforce. These institutions include the University of Waterloo and Wilfred Laurier University, as well as research facilities such as Communitech Research Accelerator and the University of Waterloo Research + Technology Park. In addition to its nanotechnology research centre and engineering program, the University of Waterloo hosts the Institute for Quantum Computing, which has proven expertise related to cryptography and securitisation of documents and information/data security. These strengths have enticed global industry leaders such as Research in Motion and SiRiFIC Wireless to set up shop here.

Montréal
With 11 institutes of higher learning, the city boasts some of the best educated ICT workers to be found. Montreal hosts the largest number of engineering students and several universities, including Université du Québec à Montréal, McGill University and Ecole Polytechnique Montréal, are home to nanotechnology research centres. Not surprisingly, the city ranked third in employment growth in high-end technology in 2006-2007. The manufacture of IT systems and devices and telecoms produces nearly 21,000 jobs in 370 companies and 700 jobs in 12 affiliated university centres. Sector leaders include CMC Electronic, SR Telecom and Sanmina-SCI.

Calgary
Over 300 companies with more than 16,000 workers specializing in wireless interactivity, mobile commerce, location/mapping technology, telematics, geomatics, GPS and security, wireless content are among the many reasons to explore the province, which hosts WiLan, Zi Corporation, Nortel, Novatel, Safefreight, Wireless Edge and Baseband. The province’s world-class universities, such as The University of Calgary which is recognized for its strengths in geomatics, and TRLabs – Canada’s leading ICT research consortium – offer further incentives to capitalize on the region’s technological advantages.

Vancouver
Home base for 250 companies employing 5,500 people in the wireless sector. Research facilities like the National Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Lab, Nokia’s mobile terminal R&D facility and UTStarcom’s training facility have attracted notable names such as Glentel, Sierra Wireless, Vecima Networks Inc., Versatile Systems Inc., and MDSI Mobile Data.