Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal within the world's top 50 cities for startups in 2023

As a Montreal-based startup, in HelloSafe we wanted to know what are the best cities in Canada to develop a startup. With that purpose, we dived deep into the giant Startup Blink database, with which we elaborated rankings between the different Canadian cities and provinces, and see their position on global rankings in 2023. This ranking based on 3 main sets of criteria : quality, quantity and business environment.

Canada, the 4th best country in the world for startups in 2023

This dynamism of the Canadian startup ecosystems is again verified through the Startup Blink 2023 best countries for startups ranking, where Canada appears to be 4th, just behind the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. This means Canada is ahead of countries such as France, Germany or China, as shown in the following chart :

Source : Startup Blink Annual Report 2023

Keep in mind

  • Canada ranks as the 4th best country for startups in the world in 2023 - the same position as last year
  • Toronto remains the best Canadian city for startup in 2023, ahead of Vancouver (2nd), Montreal (3rd), Ottawa (4th) and Kitchener (5th)
  • In 2023, 39 Canadian cities ranks among the top 1000 best cities for startups in the world - 2 less in comparison with 2022
  • Among those 39 cities, more than half are located in Ontario, which remains by far the most dynamic province for startups in 2023
  • Owen Sound has gained 215 positions in comparison with 2022, which is the biggest progression for a Canadian city
  • Midland, Cobourg and North Bay are the 3 new Canadian cities appearing in the ranking this year
  • Saint John, Lethbridge, Hawkesbury, Port Hope and Red Deer have disappeared from the ranking this year.

In 2023, Canada has 9 cities ranking in the world top 200 cities for startups

The Canadian startup ecosystem is more lively than ever, with 9 cities ranking into the top 200 cities for startups in the world. This means that in 2023, 4.5% of the cities present in the world top 200 are located in Canada. Not bad for a country that represents less than 0,5% of the world population! As we observe in the table, Toronto (23rd), Vancouver (41st) and Montreal (44st) are the only Canadian cities making part of the world top 50 cities for startups.

World best cities for startups in 2023: all the Canadian cities' ranking and score

When looking at the world top 1000 best cities for startups in 2023, we observe that 41 Canadian cities rank this year, which represents 4% of the total. Here is the complete ranking of the top Canadian cities for startups in 2023 :

Cities2023 scoreNational rankEvolution
(vs. 2022)
World rankEvolution
(vs. 2022)
Toronto
326301=23+1
Vancouver
175922=41-1
Montreal
157553=44+1
Ottawa
90334=68+21
Kitchener Waterloo
85085=76+15
Calgary
63906=111-7
Quebec City
55317+1129+13
Edmonton
45058-1144-4
Kingston
34499=180+3
Halifax
228210+2224+9
Victoria
226211-1225-41
St John's
220712+1229+18
Winnipeg
144313-2288-96
Hamilton
119314=319-10
Fredericton
97815=356-14
Saskatoon
72016=428-51
London
70417+1437+8
Kelowna
67618-1443-30
Regina
52419=485-33
Sherbrooke
44220+1530+3
Saint Catharines
41521+4552+154
Guelph
36022=595-59
Charlottetown
28323-3675-180
Moncton
27524-1683-59
Cornwall
27525+3682+125
Windsor
26126-2693-34
Barrie
25327+2705+115
Thunder Bay
24628-2716+15
Owen Sound
22329+10756+215
Peterborough
21830-3761+14
Sudbury
20431-1782+39
Brantford
17732+1844+21
Sault Ste. Marie
16233+3876+43
Stratford
15634+3892+45
Midland
15635New891New
Cobourg
14836New907New
Collingwood
14537-6915-65
North Bay
13938New933New
Nanaimo
13339-5990-93
Canadian cities within the 2023 ranking of the best cities for startups in the world (source: Startup Blink)

56% of all the Canadian cities ranking in the world top 1000 places for startups are in Ontario

Among those 39 Canadian cities ranked in the world top cities for startups in 2023, 56% are located in Ontario, which shows the overwhelming position of this province in the Canadian startup ecosystem, as we can observe in the below graph :

Methodology

Startup Blink's annual ranking of the best countries and cities for startups is based on 3 sets of criteria, updated each year, which allows this organization to establish a top 100 of the best countries and a top 1000 of the best cities for startups in the world.

Sets of criteriaCriteria
Quantity
Number of startups
Number of coworking spaces
Number of incubators
Number of meetups linked with startups
Quality
Main startups analysis (including traffic, domain authority and client)
Presence of R&Dcenters
Presence of multinational companies
Private sector investment
Number of employees per startup
Number and size of events in relation with startups
Presence of Unicorn, Pantheon o Exit companies
Presence of Global Startup influencers
Organization of Global Startup events
Number of startups backed by incubators
Business environment
Diversity index
Internet speed
Internet freedom
R&D investment
Technological services availability
Number of patents per capita
English level
Universities level
Criteria used in Startup Blink's annual ranking of the Best Countries and Cities for Startups in the world

About HelloSafe Canada

HelloSafe is a leading platform for comparing financial products (insurance, credit, investments) in Canada. Powered by its unique and powerful technology, HelloSafe provides users with dozens of free and anonymous comparison tools, calculators and expert, up-to-date content. Its platform empowers users to make the best decisions for their wallets and find the right products at the right prices for them.

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