How did each of you get involved in launching Toronto Tech Week, and what moment made you realize Toronto needed a grassroots, community-led tech celebration?
Mell and Julia: It started with the realization that Toronto tech is at a crossroads. For years, we relied on international conferences to spotlight some of our global talent. But when it was announced that Collision was leaving for Vancouver after 2024, there was only one question: ‘Now what?’
That moment led to broader discussions across the tech community about how Toronto could continue bringing founders, investors, and builders together. It became clear there was strong interest in creating a platform of our own, something built by and for the local ecosystem. From there, the idea for Toronto Tech Week began to take shape, with community leaders and partners stepping forward to help make it happen.
Toronto Tech Week is built by the community rather than being a traditional top-down conference. Why is that community-first, decentralized model important for the Canadian tech ecosystem?
Julia: Toronto Tech Week was designed to be community-first because that’s how Canadian tech actually works. Our ecosystem isn’t built around one big company or one main stage. It’s made up of founders, operators, investors, students, and community leaders across the city. A traditional top-down conference would only spotlight a small slice of that. We wanted something that reflected the full picture.
By keeping it decentralized, we give people the chance to host, shape, and contribute — not just attend. That creates real ownership. When the community builds it, the energy is different. It feels authentic, and it scales more naturally. It’s also important for Canada right now. We can’t rely on outside conferences to define our tech scene. A community-led model shows that we have the depth and momentum to create something ourselves.
At its core, Toronto Tech Week isn’t about one event. It’s about bringing the ecosystem together and making it visible, in a way that feels open, inclusive, and truly Canadian.
What are you hoping attendees, founders, investors, and operators experience or take away from this year’s week-long series of events?
Mell: We hope people leave feeling two things: more connected and more confident about building here. For tech founders, that might mean meeting an investor, finding a future hire, or simply realizing they’re not building alone. For investors and operators, it’s about discovering new talent and seeing firsthand how much innovation is happening across the city.
More broadly, we want attendees to walk away with a clearer sense of momentum. Sometimes Canadian tech can feel fragmented. When you see hundreds of events and thousands of people showing up across one week, it reminds you that this ecosystem is bigger and stronger than it might seem day-to-day.
If people leave with one new relationship, one new idea, or one new opportunity that changes their trajectory, then the week has done its job. At the end of the day, we want Toronto Tech Week to feel energizing, like proof that we’re building something meaningful here, together.
What are you most excited about for Toronto Tech Week 2026?
Julia: What excites me most about Toronto Tech Week 2026 is that it’s no longer just an idea, it’s momentum. Last year exceeded every expectation. We brought together more than 15,000 attendees across 315 events, with 500 speakers spanning 27 neighbourhoods, making it the largest grassroots tech gathering in Canada. That proved the demand is real and that the community is ready to build something of its own.
This year, we’re returning stronger with a multi-year partnership with the City of Toronto, which signals long-term belief in what we’re building and in the city’s innovation economy. That kind of commitment allows us to scale thoughtfully, not just quickly. We’re also evolving the programming. Homecoming will return even bigger, alongside new formats and experiences across the city.
What’s most exciting is the shift from launch to legacy. 2026 feels less like an experiment and more like an institution in the making, something that grows year over year and truly reflects the ambition of Toronto’s tech ecosystem.
You’ve spoken about connecting capital, talent, and execution across the ecosystem. How does Toronto Tech Week help accelerate meaningful conversations and opportunities in those areas?
Mell: Toronto Tech Week accelerates those conversations because it isn’t owned by one institution; it’s built by the people actually working in the ecosystem.
It’s volunteer-led. It’s community-led. That matters. When founders, operators, and investors are the ones hosting events, inviting speakers, and curating rooms, the conversations are naturally more relevant and more practical. It’s not a programming team guessing what the ecosystem needs — it is the ecosystem designing it.
That creates a different kind of access. Investors aren’t just speaking on panels; they’re sitting in small founder roundtables. Operators aren’t just listening; they’re sharing tactical lessons with peers. Talent isn’t navigating a job fair; they’re stepping into real company spaces and meeting teams directly.
Because it’s decentralized, there isn’t a single gatekeeper. There are hundreds of entry points. That increases the likelihood that capital meets the right founder, that a company meets its next hire, or that an operator shares something that materially improves how someone executes. The acceleration comes from ownership. When the community builds the platform, the conversations are more honest, more specific, and more actionable.
Looking ahead, what do you hope Toronto Tech Week will mean for the city’s profile on the global tech stage and for Canadian innovation more broadly?
Julia: Looking ahead, I hope Toronto Tech Week becomes something the global tech community genuinely pays attention to, not because we’re trying to compete with anyone, but because what’s happening here is worth noticing.
Toronto already has the talent and the companies. What we’ve sometimes lacked is a consistent moment to bring that energy together and make it visible. If Tech Week can serve as that annual moment, where the ecosystem shows up in full force, that alone strengthens how the city is perceived globally.
For Canada more broadly, I hope it reinforces that innovation here isn’t isolated or niche. It’s collaborative, ambitious, and increasingly coordinated. When founders, investors, operators, students, and institutions all participate in building something together, it sends a strong signal about the kind of market this is. Over time, I’d love for Toronto Tech Week to become a fixture on the global tech calendar, a week when people know important conversations will happen, partnerships will form, and new ideas will surface.
If we can help make Toronto feel more connected internally and more confident externally, that’s a meaningful contribution.
Yugbodh (YB) is a contributing writer at Tech Beat Canada, he skillfully weaves captivating stories. For him tech, music and movies serves as an escape, and he finds them fascinating as they constantly evolve. If you have interesting tales to share, feel free to reach out: info@techbeat.ca
