In the past few days, the Canadian tech community has rallied behind those affected by the recent executive order in the US, which bans travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. In an open letter, signed by over 3,000 people and including 1,800 companies, the community shared the sentiment that diversity is a source of strength. The letter called on the Canadian government to issue temporary visas for anyone displaced by the order.
Since then, many members of the Canadian startup community have stepped up to help in other ways. CEOs like Helpful.com’s Dan Debow and Slack’s Stewart Butterfield have committed to matching donations to the ACLU, a non-profit fighting against the executive order.
And now, several incubators and startup community members are opening up their doors to people affected by this order. Below is a list of spaces across Canada that are offering up workspaces and services.
Toronto
Hubba
Address: 129 Spadina Ave, Suite 200
Offering: Wifi, coffee, cool people
Contact: Steph Little
Lighthouse Labs
Address: 46 Spadina, 4th floor
Offering: Workspace, coffee, Wifi
Contact: Rachel Greenspan or Emma Cuddy
FocusHub
Address: 48 Yonge Street
Offering: Wifi, printing, work station, catered breakfast, fully-stocked snack area, access to all of the member companies in the space, support for job related areas like career pathing and job search
Contact: Jeff Waldman
TribalScale
Address: 48 Yonge Street
Offering: Technology, Wifi, printing, work station, catered breakfast, fully-stocked snack area, and access to all of the member companies in the space
Contact: Sheetal Jaitly
Nascent
Address: 257 Adelaide Street, Suite 300
Offering: Up to six available desks, office amenities like food, drinks, Wifi
Contact: Shawn Konopinsky
Project Spaces
Address: 73 Bathurst Street, 4th floor and 20 Camden Street, Suite 200
Offering: Complimentary lounge access
Contact: General HQ
DMZ
Address: 10 Dundas St E, 6th floor
Offering: Common space access between 8:30 to 6 p.m. (hot desk, Wifi, coffee, snacks), community inclusion, events and workshops wherever possible, access to advisors and service providers, support in finding work positions (temp or long term), introductions to key players across Ryerson University and the wider Toronto tech community
Contact: Danielle Smith
HackerYou
Address: 483 Queen Street W
Offering: Monitors, Workspaces, two kitchens, projectors, meeting rooms
Contact: Heather Payne
Diagram/Collage
Address: 30 Duncan St, Suite 701
Offering: Wifi, coffee, workspace
Contact: Karel Vuong
Herscu & Goldsilver
Address: 20 Maud St, Suite 203
Offering: Free desk space to work. Depending on career or background, H&G are open to employment chats.
Contact: Corey Herscu or Samantha Goldsilver
Wealthsimple
Address: 860 Richmond Street West, 3rd floor
Offering: Office space to work out of, lunch with the team any weekday, HR support for jobs with Wealthsimple
Contact: Nora Jenkins
MaRS
Address: 101 College Street
Offering: Will offer services on a case-by-case basis
Contact: Vanessa Pierson
OneEleven
Address: OneEleven, 325 Front St West, Suite 4
Offering: Access to our common space during business hours (9 a.m.- 5 p.m.) including free WiFi, desk space, coffee, and tea.
Contact: Nora Bieberstein (Please provide 24 hours notice).
Kitchener
Communitech
Address: 151 Charles St. W., Suite 100
Offering: Will offer services on a case-by-case basis
Contact: Susan Brockhus-Strickler
Vancouver
Launch Academy
Address: 128 West Hastings Street, Suite 300
Offering: Free workspace in hot desking area, free Wifi, free coffee, opportunities to network and make connections
Contact: Hussein Hallak
HiVE Vancouver
Address: 128 West Hastings Street, Suite 250
Offering: Hot desk drop in between Monday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; go to the front desk to register for a five-day pass, with ID.
Contact: Katie Stewart, Melissa Hope
Unbounce
Address: 401 West Georgia St., Suite 400
Offering: A desk to work from, access to conference rooms, Wifi, phone, coffee, and snacks.
Contact: Support
Montreal
Unbounce
Address: 3575 boul. Saint-Laurent, Suite 119
Offering: A desk to work from, access to conference rooms, Wifi, phone, coffee, and snacks.
Contact: Support
Crew
Address: 360 Rue Saint-Jacques
Offering: Free café seating, dedicated desk rental
Contact: Sophie Silkes
Notman House
Address: 51 Rue Sherbrooke Ouest
Offering: Free café seating, dedicated desk rental
Contact: Emma Williams
District 3
Address: 1250 Rue Guy
Offering: Free drop-in seat, free dedicated desk (team), incubator, accelerator, Makerspace
Contact: Noor Elhuda El Bawab
Halifax
Volta Labs
Address: 1505 Barrington Street (Maritime Center), 7th floor
Offering: Free coworking space
Anyone affected can apply to be a network member for free on Volta’s website.
