More than 350 Canadian tech leaders, investors, and workers have signed an open letter advocating for the industry to uphold the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values some companies in the space have abandoned.
The signatory list includes businesswoman and investor Arlene Dickinson, Resiin CEO Helen Kontozopoulos, Willful CEO (and former BetaKit managing editor) Erin Bury, Toast CEO Marissa McNeelands, and Startup Canada CEO Kayla Isabelle.
Avery Swartz
“A small, insular group is pushing dangerous ideas. But they don’t speak for the entire industry.”
Camp Tech
What In the Tech, a community resource organization for Canada’s tech industry, published the open letter this morning. Former BetaKit director of operations and What In the Tech founder Laura Gabor penned the letter, alongside Growclass founder Sarah Stockdale and Camp Tech CEO Avery Swartz.
The letter notes Shopify as among the “influential tech companies” in Canada that have recently rolled back “protections and support” for underrepresented groups in tech.
“This is the wrong direction for Canada,” the letter reads.
The letter opens by referencing the Kanye West-owned online store powered by Shopify, which, for a brief period earlier this month, sold a T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika before being shut down.
In recent weeks, Shopify has dismantled its Equitable Commerce team, which was responsible for social impact initiatives at the e-commerce company. Coinciding with the layoffs, Shopify quietly shuttered its Build Native program for Indigenous entrepreneurs in January and locked a Slack program support channel for Black business owners on Feb. 1, the start of Black History Month.
A growing rift
Support for the letter indicates a broader ideological rift in Canadian tech, according to one of its authors.
“Headlines say that Canada’s tech industry is ‘going right,’” Swartz wrote in a LinkedIn post. “To be crystal clear: we are not. A small, insular group is pushing dangerous ideas. But they don’t speak for the entire industry. They certainly don’t speak for me.”
BetaKit has reached out to What In the Tech and the letter’s authors for comment.
The letter also references “powerful forces” in Canadian tech who seek to “reshape Canada in the image of those who see inclusion as an obstacle, not an advantage.”
“They lobby politicians, control media platforms, and influence policies that move us closer to the divisive politics of our southern neighbour,” the letter reads.
In the United States, there has been a widescale rollback of DEI initiatives across the tech and corporate industries—in many cases, tied to tech mogul Elon Musk’s direct hand in the US President Trump administration. Documents obtained by The Washington Post detail plans the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) developed to purge federal agencies of DEI workers and offices. Some tech leaders, including Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lütke and Maverix Private Equity managing partner John Ruffolo, have called for the Canadian government to implement its own DOGE akin to Musk’s.
That ideological rift noted by Swartz has grown since US President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Lütke and Shopify president Harley Finkelstein were among the 3,500 individuals who signed the open letter against the Trump travel ban in 2017. Published on BetaKit, the open letter noted that the Canadian tech community comprises many different nationalities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, mental and physical abilities, and perspectives. “We believe that this diversity is a source of strength and opportunity,” the letter reads.
The 2025 letter goes on to say that its signatories will not allow “unelected” business leaders to have undue influence on the government. “The government should not be beholden to business interests that prioritize profit over people,” it reads.
RELATED: Canadian tech leaders launch Build Canada for AI-refined policy ideas from entrepreneurs
The letter, when taken with recent social media posts from the authors, appears to reference the newly established Build Canada, an online policy platform for business executives to share policy ideas. Created by ex-Shopify vice president Daniel Debow, the Build Canada website originally listed 28 supporters, including Wealthsimple’s Michael Katchen, Shopify’s Lütke, SRTX’s Katherine Homuth, and Jet Cooper co-founder and BetaKit chair Satish Kanwar; those names have since been removed. Build Canada says it is not a lobby group and bills itself as a non-partisan platform.
In response to tariff threats and economic uncertainty, more than 100 business leaders also recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking him to immediately recall Parliament.
Signatory Saadia Muzaffar, founder of TechGirls Canada, said there is a “clear distinction” between the public interest of government and the profit-driven interest of businesses.
“Businesses can serve as vendors with accountability to our public institutions, and comply with due process, transparency, and checks on monetary influence they can exert on often cash-strapped regional governments,” Muzaffar told BetaKit.
“We need to maintain the integrity of this distinction in Canada, so that our policies and processes reflect that the well-being of Canada’s residents remains our collective north star.”
Return on values
Mandy Potter, managing partner at Misfit Ventures, said she signed the open letter “because innovation thrives on diversity, full stop.” Misfit Ventures is Canada’s first LGBTQ+-focused venture capital (VC) fund.
“When investors actively support diverse founders, we see stronger, more resilient businesses and better returns,” Potter wrote in an email to BetaKit. “The industry needs to move beyond performative allyship and into tangible action. Diversity is not a side initiative, it’s a competitive advantage.”
Sylvain Carle, the co-founder and director of Canadian Impact / Venture Investment Coalition (CIVIC), said he joined the What In the Tech initiative to ensure it was delivered in both French and English.
“As a Quebecker, [multiculturalism] is one of the most important values that connects me to Canada,” Carle said in French. “I know that sometimes, this ideological position can be perceived as opposed to French-Canadian identity, but I believe we should defend the rights of all minority groups, in all circumstances.”
Author and media personality Amber Mac, who signed the letter, said in an email to BetaKit that many successful tech companies in Canada built their businesses based on these values, so abandoning them could impact recruiting and retention.
“Turning our backs on Canadian values, such as fairness, diversity, and inclusion, will only hurt the economic success of entrepreneurs and companies in our tech community,” Mac said.
Disclosure: BetaKit majority owner Good Future is the family office of two former Shopify leaders, Arati Sharma and Satish Kanwar.
With files from Douglas Soltys. Feature image courtesy Unsplash.