Collision may be gone, but Toronto has never been so strong

After more than five years, Collision, the darling of the tech conference circuit in North America, is saying goodbye to Toronto and heading to Vancouver to be rebranded as Web Summit, much to the chagrin of many Toronto technophiles.

The general feeling around Collision leaving is that it will lessen Toronto's position among the world’s top tech cities. That it dampens our credibility in the technology sector, because we weren’t able to “hold onto it.”

I have a different take.

I’m not sad about Collision’s departure. If anything, its exit from the city reinforces my conviction that Toronto is on the right path to becoming the epicentre for companies looking to grow and scale - and specifically companies in the technology sector.

Toronto has already emerged as a top global destination for businesses to scale. As a city, and as a community, it seems we haven’t caught up to the fact that we’ve made it. Call it tall poppy syndrome, but we’re often the last ones to acknowledge our own stature and success.

Five years ago, we still had something to prove to the Silicon Valleys of the world. It made sense that we needed to sell what we all celebrate about Toronto: that we’re the beating heart of the Canadian business scene, that we have one of the most diverse and talented workforces in the world, and that we’re one of North America’s leading AI hubs. The list goes on. Collision made sense as a vehicle to promote the benefits of Toronto to the companies and entrepreneurs best suited to build here.

And now it’s done its job — and done it well. 

I want to thank the organizers, the participants, and everyone who made the conference one of the most dynamic in the world. As someone who served on the host committee, I had an inside view into all the hard work and smart thinking that made it such a popular and influential event.

It was a great run while it lasted, but Toronto is ready to enter its post-Collision era. There are other cities who need its presence more than we do, and we’ll support Vancouver next year and beyond. For us meanwhile, it’s time to shift the focus from proving our position as a top place to build and get on with the business of building. 

In Toronto, we’re notorious for dwelling on the challenges our city faces and stubbornly cautious when it comes to embracing and celebrating our accomplishments. In that sense, I see Collision’s exit wrapped up in a larger narrative that Toronto has reached its peak. Or worse, that it’s in decline. Neither of these positions hold when placed under scrutiny.

Let’s not sugar coat the problems. Yes, traffic is terrible. Yes, there’s a lack of affordable housing. These are very real challenges, but they are not unique to Toronto, nor to any major metropolitan hub. In fact, as difficult as it might be to recognize at times, these are in fact markers of growing, thriving, and successful cities. You can call them growing pains, but whatever they’re labelled, the root cause is desirability.

People want to live here, tourists want to visit here, and companies want to do business here.

If you don’t believe me, consider the companies who’ve expanded to Toronto over the last few years. Major players like Netflix, Unilever, Reddit and Pinterest now call Toronto home because they see what our city has to offer, and they understand that these pain points are a cost of doing business in one of the best cities in the world.

The challenges we're experiencing right now are part of a process that will see us reach greater heights, and they are a natural part of a major city's development. If we compare our traffic to that of New York City or our housing prices to those in London, it tells me we are on par with most popular and dynamic cities in the world. 

And if that’s true — and I think that it is — then we need every minute, and every dollar dedicated to servicing and improving our city on its journey to becoming the best in the world. 

I have a lot of gratitude for the years Collision spent in the city, for the conversations it sparked, and the opportunities it delivered. But I’m more excited about what comes next. Toronto is on a tremendous growth trajectory, so let’s embrace what makes this place so enticing, celebrate our status as a global city, and continue to build.

It only gets better from here.