Toronto, O.N., December. 14, 2015 | Thanks to a new partnership between Startup Canada and eight Ontario co-working spaces – CoMotion on King (Hamilton), Co-work Niagara Co-operative Inc. (St. Catharines), Impact HUB Ottawa (Ottawa) LabB (Brampton), LabTO (Toronto), The Creative Space (Barrie), Offices That Work! (Peterborough) and UnLondon Digital Media Association (London) – entrepreneurs now have more co-working opportunities across Ontario. These entrepreneur hubs are recipients of Startup Canada’s Startup Space Fund, the non-profit organization announced today.
The announcement comes after a call-for-proposals was issued by Startup Canada in early September to partner with grassroots, entrepreneur-led co-working spaces, incubators, and makerspaces across Canada to create or provide physical spaces for Startup Canada Members to start and grow their businesses.
“The partnerships established through the Startup Canada Startup Space Fund will give entrepreneurs living in and travelling to Ontario easy access to innovative places to work,” said Victoria Lennox, CEO of Startup Canada. “It’s another step forward in connecting entrepreneurs to local support and showcasing what the province has to offer.”
The spaces will be made available to entrepreneurs through the Startup Canada Passport, a component of the Startup Canada Membership Program, which launches in 2016. The spaces were chosen based on regional demand, the innovative nature of the space, and additional benefits provided to Startup Canada Members.
The Startup Canada Startup Space Fund is one of five Startup Canada Investment Funds. As Startup Canada travelled the country with its #EveryEntrepreneur Tour this fall, the organization announced recipients of the Startup Canada Startup Space Fund across the country, as well as recipients of the TruShield Insurance Retail Startup Fund, the Startup Canada Women Entrepreneurship Fund, and the Startup Canada Community Investment Fund.
The Startup Canada Startup Space Fund is supported by Intuit QuickBooks, TruShield Insurance, TELUS and UPS, industry leaders committed to strengthening the national entrepreneurship ecosystem in Canada through grassroots startup initiatives.
For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact:
Kathryn Forrest
Communications & Marketing Manager, Startup Canada
About Startup Canada
Startup Canada is a grassroots network of more than 125,000 entrepreneurs and more than 500 like-minded organizations that support entrepreneurs and small businesses as the voice of Canada’s startup community. Learn more at startupcan.ca.
Quotes from the recipients
CoMotion on King
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“CoMotion on King is excited to be a resource and a hub for startup companies and entrepreneurs,” said Tammy Hwang, Co-founder and President of CoMotion of King. “This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs and companies to get looped into an amazing network like Startup Canada and we look forward to supporting that effort.”
Coworking Niagara
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“Cowork Niagara members have always been active participants in the Niagara startup ecosystem,” said Trevor Twining, President of Cowork Niagara. “This formal partnership with Startup Canada is a logical extension of that activity and we couldn’t be happier to help Startup Canada build this pan-Canadian support network for entrepreneurial activity.”
Impact HUB Ottawa
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“Impact HUB Ottawa is thrilled to be part of Startup Canada’s ecosystem for building entrepreneurship across the country and in the national capital, connecting members to HUB’s vibrant coworking space and cross-sector community, as well as providing an opportunity for startups to plug into Impact HUB’s global network of 11,000+ social entrepreneurs and innovators around the world,” said Heather Ward, Director of Community, Impact HUB Ottawa.
LabB
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“We are excited to partner with Startup Canada to continue to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Brampton,” said Harpreet Zingh, co-founder of LAB B Coworking. “This grant allows us to plug into the amazing work that Startup Canada has been doing.”
LAB TO
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“The digital economy has meant more Canadians are working remotely, freelancing, or starting businesses,” said David Hamilton, Managing Director at LabTO. “At LabTO we want to humanize this new economy by bringing people together in a new type of collaborative office environment where they can generate new connections and new inspirations. Our partnership with Startup Canada means our Toronto co-working space can connect more people from more places across Canada.”
The Creative Space
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“The Creative Space has, over the past six years, created a hub for startups and ‘treps to find community, learn, collaborate and grow their companies,” said Chad Ballantyne, owner of the Creative Space. “Being a pioneer is not easy and any support and validation can mean so much. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that The Creative Space was chosen to receive a $500 grant from Startup Canada! It was perfect timing too, as we’ve also begun the process of becoming a Startup City! Thank you so much and we look forward to showing Canada just how startup ready Barrie is!”
Offices That Work!
- “Offices That Work! assists our community through creating a dynamic ecosystem that provides space, cuts overhead and limits risks involved with starting or maintaining your own business,” said Offices That Work! owner Alvin Schieck. “Our space is perpetually evolving in order to accommodate our community entrepreneurs and we look forward to injecting the grant funds from our Startup Canada partnership to help facilitate growth in our building to assist us in meeting our communities entrepreneurial needs.”
UnLondon Digital Media Association
- “Through the support of Startup Canada and their Startup Space Fund, UnLondon will continue to build the premier hub for media artists, freelancers and the creative community across Southwestern Ontario at 121 Studios in downtown London,” said Titus Ferguson, Executive Director at UnLondon Digital Media Association. “We look forward to advancing entrepreneurship and small businesses through increased programs, events and space.”