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BetaKit
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Award-winning coverage of Canadian startups and tech innovation since 2012.
The new projects will bring internet access speeds up to federal targets for 83,600 homes across 759 Alberta communities, including 3,488 Indigenous households.
Canada and Alberta announce 27 new projects to expand high-speed internet access | BetaKit
The new projects target communities that are still falling below national internet speed benchmarks.
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February 2, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Investors allege MDA Space insiders made millions selling stock with the undisclosed knowledge that the contract could be impacted by EchoStar’s FCC battle.
Class-action lawsuit targets MDA Space over scrapped, $1.8-billion EchoStar deal | BetaKit
In a lawsuit filed by retail investors, the plaintiffs allege the firm didn’t disclose regulatory risks before the contract collapsed.
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January 30, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Canada is reportedly considering joining Australia in banning youth from accessing social media. Josh Tabish, a senior director with @progresschamber.org, says that would be a bad idea.

Here's what he thinks Canada should do instead.
Q&A: Why Canada shouldn’t ban kids from social media | BetaKit
Tech policy advocate Josh Tabish explains why he thinks a social media ban for youth isn’t the right move, and what could be done instead.
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January 30, 2026 at 3:45 PM
Cleantech startup Xatoms earned a top spot among 300+ startups and secured $300K at the #WEF’s Water Resilience Challenge, showcasing how #quantum chemistry and #AI can clean the world's contaminated water.
Canadian water purification startup Xatoms makes a splash at World Economic Forum | BetaKit
The cleantech firm secured grant funding while representing Canada as a delegate of UpLink Ventures at Davos.
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January 30, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Retailers are increasingly turning to body-worn cameras for loss prevention and staff safety. Quebec's Ionodes and its body cameras are catching more attention beyond law enforcement.
Ionodes’ new body camera tech sees demand from surprising source: retailers | BetaKit
The Québec security tech firm says it’s seeing a hike in demand from retailers for body cameras.
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January 29, 2026 at 7:58 PM
Sutton is the founder of modern computational reinforcement learning, a branch of machine learning in which AI systems learn to solve problems through trial-and-error, mirroring human learning.
AI pioneer Richard Sutton to receive honourary degree from U of A | BetaKit
Sutton will receive the university’s highest honour for his groundbreaking research into machine learning.
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January 29, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Five months after ousting longtime leader Mark Barrenechea amidst declining revenue, OpenText has named a former IBM president, Ayman Antoun, its new CEO.
OpenText appoints former IBM Americas president as new CEO | BetaKit
The Kitchener-Waterloo software firm has been searching for a permanent leader since August.
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January 29, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Doctors could spend less time on notes and more time with patients thanks to #AI scribes. But only if risks like data security and accountability are tackled head-on.

Read how experts like @kwame_mckenzie, @IPCinfoprivacy, and @ColleenFlood2 feel about AI and privacy in healthcare:
As AI scribes flood healthcare, experts stress need for responsible adoption | BetaKit
At a data privacy event. experts unpack how AI could save doctors time, but erode patient trust in the process.
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January 29, 2026 at 4:15 PM
ICYMI: Waabi announced yesterday it closed the largest funding round in #CDNTech history

That means founder Raquel Urtasun, years after leaving Uber, is once again developing robo-taxis with the ride-hailing giant.
Waabi claims largest-ever Canadian tech fundraise with $750-million USD Series C
Toronto-based autonomous vehicle startup Waabi announced this morning that it has secured $750 million USD in fresh financing—one of the largest funding rounds in Canadian tech history.
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January 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Do you know the wild story behind the infamous "butt dial" that almost unraveled everything for a Rogers CEO?

Michael Healey recaps the scandal on The BetaKit Podcast. Listen for even more insight and history about one of Canada's most notorious business families:

betakit.com/rogers-v-rog...
January 29, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Thanks in large part to a successful crowdfunding campaign by burgeoning social media company @gandersocial.bsky.social, FrontFundr reported strong financial results today.
FrontFundr posts breakout quarter following Gander Social’s success on its crowdfunding platform | BetaKit
The equity crowdfunding platform grew its community by 10 percent in its first fiscal quarter of 2026
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January 28, 2026 at 9:07 PM
As #AI fuels demand for compute capacity, serious people are considering building data centres on the moon. Jim Kalogiros of Schneider Electric sees the benefits, but thinks we should focus should be on solving Earth's constraints first.
Earth is full of power-hungry data centres. Is shooting them into space the answer? | BetaKit
Tech giants are mulling space-based data centres, but solving Earth's problems is still important.
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January 28, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Pluvo is heading to Silicon Valley as a member of the latest a16z speedrun cohort. The Ottawa startup is developing AI-driven decision intelligence software that it calls “System of Judgment.”
Pluvo heads to San Francisco to join the latest a16z speedrun cohort | BetaKit
The Ottawa company says it was selected from a group of more than 19,000 possible participants.
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January 28, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Canada’s defence tech landscape is heating up. BDC Capital’s Geneviève Bouthillier walks through new investments, partnerships, and what dual-use innovation means for the market.
Q&A: BDC Capital’s head on why Canadian defence tech investments are heating up | BetaKit
Geneviève Bouthillier unpacks recent investments in Irréversible and Canada Rocket Company.
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January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Years after leaving Uber, Raquel Urtasun is once again developing robo-taxis with the ride-hailing giant, after the largest funding round in #CDNTech history.

“Self-driving is happening,” the Waabi founder told us. “The technology is ready now."
Waabi claims largest-ever Canadian tech fundraise with $750-million USD Series C
Toronto-based autonomous vehicle startup Waabi announced this morning that it has secured $750 million USD in fresh financing—one of the largest funding rounds in Canadian tech history.
betakit.com
January 28, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Conversation is raging as a divided #CDNTech debates Y Combinator removing Canada as one of its permitted sites of investment.

More reactions and analysis from across Canadian tech here:
How a small change to Y Combinator’s terms sent waves through Canadian tech
Industry divided over accelerator’s decision to remove Canada from list of investable sites.
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January 28, 2026 at 2:07 PM
"Instead of replacing [an] engine, can we retrofit it to run on hydrogen?” betakit.com/u-of-a-partn...
U of A partners with City of Edmonton to study hydrogen-powered vehicles | BetaKit
The partnership is the latest turn in a long saga of Edmonton attempting to green its fleets.
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January 28, 2026 at 12:32 AM
Calian is watering the seeds of Canada’s burgeoning #defence industry with a $100 million CAD platform led by its new Ventures arm. #ottcity #CDNtech
Calian outlines new $100 million platform to bolster Canadian defence businesses
Calian is watering the seeds of Canada’s burgeoning defence industry with a $100 million CAD platform led by its new Ventures arm.
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January 27, 2026 at 7:17 PM
More than five percent of Canada's potatoes go to waste before reaching a deep fryer. Calgary #AgTech startup Cellar Insights just raised $500K CAD to change that.
Cellar Insights pockets $500,000 investment to help it protect potatoes | BetaKit
Investment will be used to further commercialize the startup’s potato storage monitoring tech.
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January 27, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Float, Wise, Koho, Paramount, and Brim have become members of Payments Canada, setting them up to access the upcoming real-time rail system. #CDNtech
Float, Wise, Koho, Paramount, and Brim join Payments Canada
A handful of Canadian FinTech firms are now in line to reap the benefits of the country’s incoming real-time rail payments infrastructure system.
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January 27, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Canada is the sixth-best place on earth to build a tech startup, according to a new index from StartupBlink.
Canada is the sixth-best place on earth to build a tech startup, new index suggests
StartupBlink says Canada currently offers the world’s sixth most favourable business environment for building a technology startup.
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January 27, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Montréal industrial #AI scaleup raises $110-million USD and crosses $100-million CAD annual run rate. #MTLtech
Montréal industrial AI scaleup Vention raises $110-million USD Series D
Company says it crossed $100-million CAD annual run rate as it looks to expand in Europe.
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January 27, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Toronto venture studio AXL will help companies find new ways to use #AI through a new partnership with technology service provider Compugen.
AXL partners with IT firm Compugen to help turn AI ideas into AI applications
AXL will help companies find new ways to use artificial intelligence through a new partnership with technology service provider Compugen.
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January 26, 2026 at 10:42 PM
The @ycombinator.com.web.brid.gy website no longer lists Canada as a country it invests in.

The change implies Canadian startups have to incorporate in the US, Cayman Islands, or Singapore to join the famed Silicon Valley accelerator. #CDNtech #YC
Y Combinator website no longer lists Canada as a country it invests in
Y Combinator has revised its standard deal terms to exclude Canada as a permitted site of investment, implying that Canadian startups aspiring to join will have to incorporate elsewhere.
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January 26, 2026 at 10:13 PM
After a "near-death experience," Montréal-based construction tech startup Billdr has relaunched with $4.4-million CAD in seed funding. #MTLtech
Billdr relaunches with $4.4 million CAD to build “operating system” for construction
After a “near-death experience,” Montréal-based Billdr pivoted from a home renovation marketplace to a vertical SaaS company. Now it wants to become “the operating system” for construction.
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January 26, 2026 at 6:00 PM