Waterloo, ON (Wednesday, May 16, 2012) – Startup Canada’s National Tour stop in Waterloo Region May 16 – 17 is showcasing how entrepreneurship and innovation go hand-­‐in-­‐hand. Waterloo Region is one of seven Ontario cities participating in Startup Canada’s National Tour.

The Tour, which launched in March, is travelling from coast to coast to celebrate entrepreneurship, identify key challenges facing Canadian small businesses and startups, and ignite new community-­‐ led solutions to those challenges.

“Startup Canada is shining a national spotlight on the importance of Canada’s entrepreneur-­‐driven economy,” said Iain Klugman, CEO of Communitech. “The Waterloo Region tech industry is pleased to partner with Startup Canada to encourage the growth and success of more early-­‐stage companies across the country.”

The visit starts with a tour of theAccelerator Centre, a world-­‐renowned, award-­‐winning centre for the cultivation and acceleration of Canadian technology start-­‐up companies.

“We are very excited to have the Startup Canada Campaign stop in Waterloo Region on their National Tour of Canadian entrepreneurship,” said Tim Ellis, Chief Executive Officer, Waterloo Accelerator Centre. “It is a great conversation to have and what better venue for it to take place than the Accelerator Centre. Waterloo has an incredibly strong community feel to its’ entrepreneurial culture and we are looking forward to having a valuable discussion and contribution to Start-­‐up Canada’s Action Plan.”

Waterloo Region’s other innovation hubs will be on display as Startup Canada tours the Communitech Hub, the Institute for Quantum Computing, attends a grand opening of the Agfa HealthCare building, and tours both the Velocity Garage and Velocity Residence.

Startup Canada will also meet with local enterprise support organizations such as Communitech to speak about Venture Services and the new HYPERDRIVE program, and the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre. The Startup Canada team will have a luncheon with Feridun Hamdullahpur, the President of the University of Waterloo, and other senior members of the entrepreneurial community.

A Waterloo Region Town Hall wraps up the local Tour stop on May 17, facilitated by Startup Canada Board Member Andrea Mandel Campbell and Startup Canada Advisor and National Post columnist Rick Spence.

“It is great exposure for Waterloo Region to have Startup Canada here,” said Dr. Cedric Jeannot, President of I Think Security. “It will put entrepreneurship on the spotlight and increase visibility for the many brilliant start-­‐ups with have here.”

From here, Startup Canada will move to Windsor, York, Sudbury, Kingston and Ottawa to complete the Ontario leg of the tour. Following Ontario, Startup Canada will visit New Brunswick and then head west to the prairies. Along the Tour, provincial steering committees are helping showcase local entrepreneurs on a national media platform and coordinate additional awareness campaigns. The movement is also being fuelled online through Startup Canada’s interactive website, live web-­‐ streamed broadcasts of the tour, and active social media networks.