It’s May, which means we’re at the start of wildfire season in Canada. Actually, that’s not quite true.
Traditionally, wildfire season spans from late April to August, but recent years have shown that wildfires are no longer seasonal.
That change has been devastating across Canada. 2023 was both an outlier and a sign of what’s to come: 16.5 million hectares of forest burned and 640 million metric tons of carbon released into the atmosphere. Worse still, some 200 communities across the country were evacuated.
Abating the human and economic costs of this new reality is a national priority. But it’s also another opportunity for Canada to show global leadership by leveraging its homegrown innovators.
The BetaKit Guide: Wildfire examines the role of technology in addressing the wildfire threat alongside policy shifts, capital investment, and Indigenous knowledge.
Presented in partnership with NorthX Climate Tech (formerly the BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy), the guide is another format in BetaKit’s growing arsenal to engage in the ways Canadian tech intersects with the national interest.
I hope you enjoy our dispatch from the field. After you do, don’t forget to engage with the rest of BetaKit’s stellar output this week: we covered crypto’s impact on municipal elections, provincial efforts to kickstart early-stage investment, and lots and lots of AI news.
Douglas Soltys
Editor-in-chief
Inventures 2025: Connect, Inspire, Innovate
Inventures 2025 returns May 21-23 at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. Join industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and visionaries for three days of groundbreaking discussions and networking. Experience firsthand the fusion of technology and humanity that will shape the future.
This year’s Inventures features world class key note speakers Gary Vaynerchuk and Jim Balsillie, alongside exclusive events including the Goodlawyer x Startup TNT collaboration and Deloitte Technology Fast 50 showcase.
With $240+ million in deal flow generated from past conferences, Inventures has proven itself as Western Canada’s most powerful connection hub for entrepreneurs, startups, investors, and policymakers.
Whether you’re seeking investment opportunities, strategic partnerships, or game-changing insights, Inventures 2025 is where possibilities transform into reality.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of this catalyst for innovation and growth. Are you IN?
Secure your spot today: https://inventurescanada.com/register/
OpenText makes AI “number-one priority” as company slashes 1,600 jobs
Kitchener-Waterloo-based OpenText is cutting an additional 1,600 jobs as it becomes the latest Canadian tech firm to make artificial intelligence (AI) use a baseline expectation for employees.
In OpenText’s third-quarter 2025 earnings call on May 1, OpenText CEO Mark Barrenechea said the headcount reduction is tied to OpenText’s new AI-first approach. In response to an investor question about how OpenText decided on the number of staff reductions, the CEO said the company had conducted a “deep analysis” of which roles could be done with AI.
“AI is a step function to be able to reduce expenses in companies over time,” Barrenechea said.
Anges Québec looks to expedite early-stage rounds with co-investment angel fund
Angel network Anges Québec has launched Elevia Fund, a new co-investment fund meant to allow members and external investors to invest in pre-seed and seed-stage Québec companies while leaving the due diligence to other angels.
“Elevia lowers the barrier to entry, allowing them to invest without any time commitment,” Anges Québec director of investment Pedro Herrera told BetaKit. The fund, which will renew annually, is looking to raise $1 million to $3 million from a maximum of 60 investors.
Healthtech leaders behind AlayaCare and Mimosa say Canadian procurement lacks transparency and risk appetite
A virtual discussion between AlayaCare CEO Adrian Schauer and Mimosa Diagnostics CEO Dr. Karen Cross this week described how Canada’s approach to procurement drives innovation out of the country.
“I would not describe the procurement processes as being very welcoming to younger, growing companies,” Schauer said.
Vancouver byelection result threatens mayor’s “Bitcoin-friendly city” brand
On March 27, Mayor Ken Sim privately admitted that his pitch for Vancouver to become a Bitcoin-friendly city is “not an election winner.”
Sim’s confession eventually proved correct. Of the 13 contenders who ran in a local byelection last month, crypto-friendly candidates Jamie Stein and Ralph Kaisers finished sixth and seventh, the lowest results of any party-boosted candidates.
Sim has experience in taking big swings on risky prospects, and is willing to bet on Bitcoin’s growing importance on the world stage, but the mayor’s pitch faces strong opposition.
CEO Don Murray says Safe Software’s new features will help replace enterprise SaaS with AI agents
Safe Software’s Don Murray is one of the many tech executives betting that AI will eat the world. But the CEO of the Surrey, BC-based data integration company says Safe makes an important distinction: AI is an assistant, not an authority.
BetaKit spoke with Murray ahead of Safe’s ‘The Peak of Data and AI’ event in Seattle this week to discuss the intent behind the OpenAPI protocol in Safe’s new features, how AI killing SaaS is a full circle moment, and deploying digital twins in the field.
TD Bank’s chief AI scientist talks about emerging models, safety, and Layer 6’s new NYC office
Just over seven years after acquiring Toronto-based AI company Layer 6, TD Bank is gearing up to open Layer 6’s first office outside of Canada.
BetaKit sat down with Layer 6 co-founder Maksims Volkovs to discuss what Layer 6 has been up to since its buyout, the new office planned to open in New York City, how Canada’s second-largest bank has been using AI, and what he is both most excited about and afraid of when it comes to the technology.
Outgoing Velocity incubator head Adrien Côté is bullish on Waterloo’s tech future
After five years at the helm, Adrien Côté is stepping down from his role as executive director of Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s flagship startup incubator program.
Côté’s departure comes amid a resurgence of energy in student-led tech ecosystem initiatives in the region, and he’s bullish on Velocity’s future impact on the ecosystem.
“This is the most energy and the most engagement that we’ve had—ever—in Velocity’s history,” Côté said.
Earnings season updates 📈
- Shopify beat its forecasted revenue growth in Q1 2025, but posted a net loss and slightly deflated profit outlook for next quarter as it navigates the impacts of a trade war on its merchant clients.
- Digital lending platform Propel Holdings saw its Q1 revenue jump 44 percent year-over-year to a record $138.9 million CAD, while its net profit spiked 79 percent to reach a similarly record-setting $23.5 million.
- Online course creation platform Thinkific reported $17.8 million in Q1 revenue, a 12-percent increase. It swung from a $1.1-million loss last year to $400,000 in net income.
- Burnaby, BC founded, Palo Alto, Calif.-based quantum computing company D-Wave reported a 509-percent jump in revenue in its first quarter of 2025.
FEATURED STORIES FROM OUR PARTNERS
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“We have a ‘your problem is my problem’ approach,” said FreshBooks’ Chief Operating Officer Mara Reiff.
Customer insights have informed what gets built, refined, and rethought, improving everything from support tickets to live calls and in-app behaviour. Read more about where FreshBooks gets its best product ideas.
🇨🇦 Weekly Canadian Deals, Dollars & More
- VAN – Active Impact holds $110M final close for third fund
- VAN – Unblocked secures $27.5M in Series A funding
- VAN – xTAO to list on TSXV following Adrianna Ventures merger
- RCH – General Fusion lays off staff as capital suddenly runs dry
- CGY – UCalgary becomes XPrize’s first international hub
- ON – Ontario invests $56M in “homegrown” mobility companies
- TOR – Age-Well opens Innovation Studio to foster tech for seniors
- MTL – Amilia raises $35M led by Vertu Capital
- MTL – Exterra secures $20M to store carbon in mining waste
- MTL – Shakepay becomes first crypto firm to join Payments Canada
The BetaKit Podcast — Half of the internet is bots and they’re feeding you lies
“Bad actors are weaponizing AI faster than governments and enterprises are using AI to combat it.”
New data shows that more than half of all internet traffic comes from bots, and a third of those bots have malicious intent. Koat.ai co-founder Connor Ross joins to discuss the impact of the disinformation and defamation campaigns these bots run, how governments and enterprises are unprepared for this AI-driven explosion, and why the social networks are doing nothing to stop it.
Take The BetaKit Quiz – This week: OpenAI’s U-turn, XPrize’s Canadian hub, and Vancouver isn’t so Bitcoin-friendly
Think you’re on top of Canadian tech and innovation news? Time to prove it. Test your knowledge of Canadian tech news with The BetaKit Quiz for May 9, 2025.
Feature image courtesy Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution 1.0 (CC BY 1.0).