Councillor Plays Key Role in Attracting North America's Major Tech Conference to Toronto

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed     Toronto Councillor, Michael Thompson, is also a Deputy Mayor and the Chair of the City's Economic and Community Development Committee

A Jamaican-Canadian municipal politician was a key member of a Toronto project team that successfully lobbied executives of Collision, one of the world’s leading high technology conferences, to choose Toronto as the conference’s home for 2019 – 2021. This is the first time that the conference is being held outside of the U.S. 

This year’s conference was held from May 20-23 bringing more than 25,000 technology executives and investors to the city and injecting tens of millions of dollars into Toronto’s economy.

"Our local tech industry is growing rapidly and it has attracted the world's attention. The Collision conference will build on this momentum while showcasing Toronto's diverse talent pool and connecting our local businesses to international investment opportunities," says Jamaican-Canadian Michael Thompson who is the City of Toronto’s deputy mayor, councillor for Ward 21 Scarborough Centre) and chair of the City's Economic and Community Development Committee.

On October 22, 2018, Thompson, a member of the executive committee, was re-elected for a fifth term as councillor in the municipal elections. He was first elected to the Toronto city council in 2003 and is the city’s only black councillor.

He was selected by the mayor to serve as one of three new deputy mayors of Toronto and his focus is on job creation. 

Collision, North America's fastest-growing technology conference, took place at the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place. 

The City of Toronto partnered with Tourism Toronto and Exhibition Place to bring this sought-after conference to Toronto and will host Collision for three consecutive years starting this year.

"Toronto's technology and innovation sector is growing at a phenomenal rate. Collision will have a huge economic impact on our city and will help us build on that success," said Mayor John Tory. 

Collision brings together the people and companies that are redefining the global technology industry. 

More than 25,000 attendees, including 3,750 CEOs and 750 journalists, from 120 countries were anticipated to attend the recently-held 2019 conference.

The conference is part of a series of technology conferences that include Web Summit in Europe and RISE in Hong Kong.

The event included 14 standalone conferences that focus on industry tracks, including marketing, design, coding, robotics, SaaS, big data and more, curated roundtables and workshops, and networking events. 

By hosting this conference, Toronto aims to attract foreign direct investment to Canada in the form of company expansions and relocations, promote international trade and partnerships with Canadian companies, entice venture capitalist investment in Canadian companies, and promote the Toronto and Canadian innovation ecosystems.

"Toronto is not an up and coming city, it has arrived, and a number of people around the world haven't realized it yet. Collision is fortunate to be here at a time when Toronto is already booming," said Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO of Collision. 

Over the three years that Toronto will host Collision, more than 90,000 people are expected to attend and spend an estimated $147 million in the region. 

It is also anticipated that an additional 1,000 jobs can be created by attracting new companies and investments to Canada. 

The conference is also expected to attract at least 500 international investors to Toronto each year, providing the opportunity to bring needed investment capital for Canadian technology companies. 

Collision also attracts more than 500 international media and a global audience, providing an opportunity to highlight Toronto's economic strengths globally.

“Bringing Collision to Toronto will build on the momentum of the Toronto region's technology industry. The Toronto region ranks as the largest tech sector in Canada and the fourth largest in North America. The sector employs more than 300,000 people in 24,000 companies and accounts for 15 per cent of all the jobs in the region,” notes a media release from the City of Toronto.

In 2016, the growth of the Toronto region technology sector outpaced that of New York City and San Francisco combined. Based on that growth rate, Toronto is expected to have more technology jobs than Silicon Valley in the near future.

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of more than 2.9 million people. 

The city is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities.

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, May 30-June 5, 2019.]