Connecting Waterloo’s best students with Canada’s best companies

Chris Albinson, co-founder and managing partner of Canadian venture capital fund True North Fund and co-founder of C100, says Canada is at a critical juncture in its continuing evolution as a global innovator. He says the country and its tech leaders need to work harder to retain the best and the brightest.

“We really need to build the narrative of 'Canada or bust!' The time for 'Cali or bust' that we hear from students has come to a close,” says Waterloo-based Albinson. “For the first time we have a critical mass of global leaders based in Canada. We need to connect them to our best students. Considering the geopolitical environment we’re in, now is the time.”

Prompted by conversations at last spring’s convocation with University President and Vice-Chancellor Vivek Goel and Faculty of Engineering Dean Mary Wells, Albinson says they started exploring more ways to connect Waterloo’s best students with Canada’s top private companies. That work has culminated in a partnership between True North and the University.

“As much as we’re proud to see our students thriving around the world, we also have a responsibility to show them they can build ambitious, meaningful careers right here in Canada,” Wells says. “Partnerships like this one with True North connect our students to top-tier co-op opportunities and help them see the possibilities that exist at home. I want them to see themselves not just working in Canada but also helping to build it for the future.”

Team True North is modelled after Canada’s “Own the Podium” Olympic strategy which focuses on providing resources to athletes with the highest potential for success. By merging True North’s roster of tech companies with Waterloo’s co-op network, it creates a pipeline for growth and innovation in Canada.

Using an objective global standard data, True North identifies the top performing tech companies in Canada. The True North branding will provide students with the knowledge and confidence that they will have a meaningful and fulfilling co-op or full time experience at a global leader, right here in Canada.

At the bottom of each job description for these companies, it will read: “This company is part of Team True North, a comprehensive group of Canadian tech firms with performance and growth rates that match the top 1 per cent of companies worldwide.”

Some students might be surprised to learn that companies such as Arctic Wolf, Clearpath Robotics, 1Password, eSentire, Miovision Technologies and Faire are not only based in Canada but local to the Waterloo region.

From the beginning, the world’s top high-tech companies have come to the University of Waterloo to recruit its students. They are frequently drawn to Waterloo by its track-record of developing leaders and innovators across sectors. For students, especially those seeking co-op experience, they are keen to join these large companies for the prestige and bragging rights.

The University has more than 8,000 employer partners across more than 70 countries including major tech companies such as Microsoft and Google. Despite data that shows every dollar invested by a business in a Waterloo co-op student creates a greater economic gain, small and medium-sized companies may worry there might not be a critical mass of co-op applicants to draw talent from.

“We’ve heard that all high performing Canadian firms know about Waterloo, but aren’t sure there are opportunities for them to recruit the University’s top students when competing against the world’s biggest companies,” Albinson says. “The same is true on the other side of the equation, that many students simply don’t realize the global leading opportunities right here in Canada, and we want to change that.”

Of Canada’s top 100 highest performing private companies, two-third are already working with Waterloo co-op students. Albinson wants to close the gap with the remaining third of companies who he believes are missing an opportunity. “If we want these companies to compete globally, we need to connect them to Waterloo’s talent pipeline, and vice versa, we need Waterloo’s students to know and seek out these global Canadian companies.”

Companies like Faire, an online wholesale marketplace for retailers and brands, are already benefiting from its relationship with the University. With offices in San Francisco, Salt Lake City and Waterloo, it employs more than 200 staff, many with University of Waterloo connections.

“Our region is fortunate to be the epicentre of innovation in Canada,” Albinson says. “Our new partnership with the University of Waterloo will help connect Canada’s best students with Canada’s best companies.”