Ottawa is home to one of Canada's largest technology parks, a world-class university research pipeline, and a federal government hungry for homegrown innovation — and yet, according to Startup Canada CEO Kayla Isabelle, the capital city keeps getting left out of the conversation.
"Nobody's thinking about Ottawa," Isabelle told the Ottawa Business Journal in a recent interview, laying out a candid assessment of the gaps holding back the local tech and startup scene.
The Visibility Problem
For years, Toronto and Vancouver have dominated the Canadian startup narrative. Montreal gets credit for its AI research clusters. Even Calgary and Waterloo punch above their weight in media coverage and venture capital attention. Ottawa, despite its very real strengths, rarely makes the shortlist when investors and accelerators are scanning the map.
Isabelle argues this isn't just a PR problem — it has real consequences. When Ottawa doesn't show up in national conversations about innovation, it's harder to attract talent, harder to close funding rounds, and harder to retain founders who might otherwise relocate to cities with more visible ecosystems.
What Ottawa Actually Has Going For It
The irony, Isabelle points out, is that Ottawa's fundamentals are strong. Kanata North is one of the largest tech parks in North America. Carleton University and the University of Ottawa produce thousands of engineering and computer science graduates each year. The federal government's presence means a built-in market for govtech, cybersecurity, and data solutions.
Ottawa is also home to established players like Shopify (which, yes, started here), Invest Ottawa, and the Bayview Yards innovation hub. The talent is here. The infrastructure is here. The demand is here.
What's missing, Isabelle suggests, is a coordinated identity — a clear story Ottawa tells about itself as a place where startups can start and scale.
What Needs to Change
Isabelle's prescription involves a few key shifts. First, Ottawa's existing institutions need to amplify founder stories more aggressively, not just locally but on national stages. Second, the city needs to do a better job converting its federal adjacency into a competitive advantage — something she notes Ottawa is uniquely positioned to do in areas like defence tech, health data, and clean energy.
She also flagged the need for more risk-tolerant capital. Ottawa has angel investors and some VC presence, but early-stage founders often have to leave the city — or the country — to close seed rounds.
A Moment of Opportunity
With the federal government under increasing pressure to diversify Canada's economy and reduce reliance on US trade relationships, there may never be a better time for Ottawa to step forward as a serious innovation hub. National procurement reform, sovereign AI initiatives, and cleantech investment are all areas where Ottawa startups could realistically compete — if the ecosystem rallies around them.
Isabelle's message is less a criticism than a call to action: Ottawa has everything it needs to be a top-tier startup city. It just has to decide that's what it wants to be.
Source: Ottawa Business Journal via Google News Ottawa Tech
