nilever Canada will build an artificial intelligence (AI ) We have opened a laboratory. Areas where the company is currently using AI include advanced analytics, supply chain and logistics, marketing, and customer service.
Why Toronto? At the end of the day, it's about the tech talent that metropolitan areas can offer.
“It's incredibly exciting that Toronto will be home to Unilever's first and only global AI lab,” Gary Wade, president of Unilever Canada, said in a press release at the opening. “By choosing Toronto, we will be able to take advantage of one of the world's fastest growing AI superclusters, with access to best-in-class research facilities and world-class talent, while also providing a , which can strengthen the government's ability to cooperate.
Unilever Canada has partnered with Toronto Global, the region's economic development agency, to establish Horizon3 Labs. “As Canada's AI powerhouse and the second fastest growing technology workforce in North America, there is no better place than the Toronto region to host Unilever's groundbreaking AI Lab.” Toronto's global CEO Stephen Land said at the lab's launch.
Medical technology company trends
Meanwhile, 107 miles southwest of Kitchener, medical technology company FluidAI Medical announced a $25 million investment in January to improve its products and develop an automated assembly line. This investment will create 38 jobs for him. The company manufactures AI-powered monitors to detect post-surgical leaks.
The company took advantage of the Ontario Regional Development Program, which supports small and medium-sized businesses in eastern and southwestern Ontario with equipment financing to expand their operations. FluidAI Medical earned his $1.4 million from the program's Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream.
“With support and funding from the Ontario government, we are developing local talent and driving innovation right here in Ontario,” said Youssef Helwa, CEO of FluidAI Medical. “Together, we are poised to transform patient care by providing surgeons with advanced AI-powered tools for clinical decision-making.”
Kitchener is part of the Waterloo region. In an analysis sent to Site Selection by Colin Jascoci, executive director of CBRE's Tech Insight Center, he found Waterloo and the same Ontario metropolitan area among the 10 hottest tech hubs in North America. , citing the capital city of Ottawa, noting that these two markets “had the highest share of technology.” “Jobs as a share of office employment in 2022. Waterloo had 21,100 tech jobs, accounting for 29.5% of office employment, while Ottawa had a slightly lower share at 27.1%. Waterloo saw a 15% year-over-year increase in technology employment.
The 2024 edition of CBRE's Global Tech Talent Guidebook, released in February, classifies the Toronto-Waterloo mega-region as a “powerhouse market” for technology talent. Among the findings: The region's working-age population is just over 5 million people, more than the Bay Area, and in terms of population share it trails only the world's only seven largest metropolitan areas. Ta.
Among North American markets, Toronto-Waterloo's tech sector's five-year annual growth rate from 2017 to 2022 was 9.6%, the third highest after Austin and Vancouver.
