The arrival of Collision Conference, which lands in Toronto for the first time this May, has encouraged several organizations to schedule more than 100 inbound trade missions for global businesses looking to explore Canada’s innovation ecosystem.
“We see this is a great opportunity to build export opportunities for local companies help[ing] them continue their global growth.”
The missions are being arranged by Global Affairs Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of Toronto. The organizers will set aside several days for B2B gatherings concentrated on introducing Toronto and Canadian companies to international businesses interested in connecting with Canadian technologies and services. The organizers are hoping to give Canadian business a chance to leverage Collision to forge new connections and partnerships.
“This is really an opportunity for Toronto and Canadian companies to engage with international buyers at scale,” shared Chris Rickett, manager of special projects with the City of Toronto. “We see this is a great opportunity to build export opportunities for local companies help[ing] them continue their global growth.”
These free-to-attend meetings will complement the international trade missions that are being scheduled as a part of Collision Conference. This year, over 2,500 international companies are among the estimated 25,000 Collision attendees.
Related: How Justin Trudeau and a former diplomat convinced Paddy Cosgrave to bring Collision to Canada
Taking place from May 20 to 23 at the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Collision is bringing together over 450 speakers, 500 investors, and 1,000 startups from over 120 countries. Past speakers at the conference have included Al Gore, Anjali Sud, Wyclef Jean, Sophia Bush, Damon Wayans Jr., and Brad Smith.
Early last year, BetaKit was first to report that Collision would be coming to Canada for 2019. Last May, Paddy Cosgrave, CEO of Web Summit, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau officially announced that Collision will be hosted in Toronto for a three year stint.
Collision — which will address topics including AI, automated and connected vehicles, data, software development, and investment — is expected to bring over 90,000 attendees to Toronto over three years, with an economic impact of $147 million.
Attendance at Collision is not required for participating in the B2B meetings, but there will be limited space available. The earlier Canadian companies register, the better the opportunity will be for those companies to register for meetings that will fit their needs.
The emphasis of the B2B meetings will be business across technology, services, and manufacturing sectors. Any interested Canadian companies that operate in these verticals should complete this questionnaire.
Interested individuals can learn more about Collision here.
Image courtesy City of Toronto.
