“Toronto PropTech has the most cranes in the sky than any other city in North America” is a line you may have heard floating around the past couple years. For those outside of the construction and real estate industry, this might seem far-fetched. “What about Chicago, Los Angeles, or even New York City?” is a common response. Well, it’s true. The Toronto Region has and continues to be home to the highest number of cranes at 124, almost a third of the total amount in North America.
This number is just the first indicator of a broad sector that often flies underneath the radar of other, flashier industries – PropTech. While the Toronto Region has long been known as a centre of finance, software development, and even mining, the Prop Tech sector is less obvious.
It (property technology) is a sector that focuses on the intersection of real estate and technology. It encompasses software platforms that inform property managers on the status of physical buildings and assets, hardware devices that can offer safety and security to tenants, and even cross over onto segments like renewable energy, climate change, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity.
Yet this is something that is beginning to change, and Toronto and Canada’s strengths in our talent, diversity, open immigration, and innovation are bringing forward property technology to even greater prominence and its booming with opportunity.
The inaugural 2021 PropTech in Canada Report is an exciting demonstration of the sector’s increasing recognition and importance. Created by the Canadian property technology Collective, this report examines the landscape via interviews with key players, an analysis of emerging trends, and shares insights into the Canadian real estate industry.
The 2021 PropTech in Canada Report highlights three trends.
First, Canada has a growing tech and property technology ecosystem via our globally recognized academic institutions, our venture capital and affiliated incubators and accelerators, and significantly by Toronto’s status as a massive hub of traditional real estate and construction companies.
Second, we are not just growing our own property technology startups, but serving as a landing pad for international companies attracted by our diverse talent, growth, and market size.
Third, despite Canada’s tendency for our traditional industries to adopt change a little more slowly than our southern neighbour, the strong opportunity for disruption is enabling PropTech business models to thrive.
The growth and impact of the property technology sector is leading the way toward a promising and exciting future in a post-COVID Canada. In collaboration with allies at Proptech Collective, Alate Partners, Colliers Proptech Accelerator, and other Canadian champions, Toronto Global is ready to support and welcome new companies in choosing Toronto as a place to expand and thrive.
About PropTech
Similar to the Toronto Region’s motto of “This is Big,” when people think of North America, and even globally, about which major cities are leading the PropTech industry, we can confidently say that what we’re building here is bigger than all the rest.
Read the full report here.