Okta
The company: A cloud-based identification software that allows scatterbrained multi-taskers to securely log into all of their platforms with just one password.
The place: A 7,500-square-foot office in an old textiles building at Queen and John.
The staff: 60 people.
The perks: The office has Ping-Pong tables, beer on tap and video games. Employees can work from home every Thursday and feast on comped catered lunches three days a week.
Slack
The company: A web-based platform where colleagues can talk and brainstorm.
The place: A three-storey, 22,000-square-foot complex in a former knitting factory at Queen and John.
The staff: 20 people, with plans to hire 125 more employees this year.
The perks: Staff get weekly massage therapy, subsidized monthly gym memberships and up to $2,500 per year to spend on professional development. Every afternoon, a gong sounds to signal that it’s time for a coffee break.
Amazon
The company: The global marketplace for everything from dog toys to dystopian YA novels.
The place: Five glittering storeys of waterfront office space at 120 Bremner. The decor is quintessentially Canadian, with a massive wooden moose sculpture and hallways lined with vintage Toronto maps.
The staff: 600 people.
The perks: All of the glass walls are writable.
Thomson Reuters
The company: The mammoth information and media conglomerate chaired by Toronto billionaire David Thomson.
The place: A 50,000-square-foot technology centre in the South Core devoted to cognitive computing and cloud development.
The staff: 100 people, with plans to hire 400 more in the next year.
The perks: The airy, open-concept space has floor-to-ceiling lakefront views, a staff lounge, a fully stocked games room and a lifetime supply of Diet Coke.
We have hungry entrepreneurs, deep-pocketed investors, next-level start-ups and an infinite supply of brilliant ideas. Inside Toronto’s tech revolution
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A Q&A with Julielynn Wong, a doctor who 3-D prints medical supplies in remote rural areas, in war zones and even in space
Inside the Deloitte Greenhouse, featuring an adorable AI robot, VR headsets and 3D printers
Five ex–RIM staffers turned tech tycoons
HackerYou, Lighthouse Labs and Bitmaker are pumping out tech geniuses
Five deep-pocketed American venture capitalists that are pouring millions into Toronto start-ups
These companies are building Matrix-like virtual smartphone adventures
Guess which of the Big Five banks has a neon-lit bowling alley and a speakeasy bar
Inside Thalmic Labs’s secret wearables warehouse
Everything you need to know about neuroinformatics
Huda Idrees, Candice Faktor and three other women rocking the tech sector
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Geoffrey Hinton and the Vector Institute are helping to make Toronto the AI capital of the world
Uber’s Raquel Urtasun is revolutionizing the automobile at U of T
A Q&A with Toronto’s chief innovation advocate Michelle Holland
Why a bunch of Scandinavian start-up founders spent a week touring Toronto
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Glasses that help the blind see, a device that lets the disabled use smartphones and 3D-printed prosthetics
In the last year, Toronto created some 22,500 tech jobs—twice the number of new gigs as in New York City
“We have amazing talent here, and nobody knows it”
Jimoh Ovbiagele on Ross, his company’s AI assistant that helps lawyers find legal precedents for their cases
Including MaRS, the Ryerson DMZ, OneEleven and more
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/life/tech-giants-setting-shop-toronto/&title=Tech giants are setting up shop in Toronto&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/TECH_okta-2000x1335.jpg&description=
Okta
The company: A cloud-based identification software that allows scatterbrained multi-taskers to securely log into all of their platforms with just one password.
The place: A 7,500-square-foot office in an old textiles building at Queen and John.
The staff: 60 people.
The perks: The office has Ping-Pong tables, beer on tap and video games. Employees can work from home every Thursday and feast on comped catered lunches three days a week.
Slack
The company: A web-based platform where colleagues can talk and brainstorm.
The place: A three-storey, 22,000-square-foot complex in a former knitting factory at Queen and John.
The staff: 20 people, with plans to hire 125 more employees this year.
The perks: Staff get weekly massage therapy, subsidized monthly gym memberships and up to $2,500 per year to spend on professional development. Every afternoon, a gong sounds to signal that it’s time for a coffee break.
Amazon
The company: The global marketplace for everything from dog toys to dystopian YA novels.
The place: Five glittering storeys of waterfront office space at 120 Bremner. The decor is quintessentially Canadian, with a massive wooden moose sculpture and hallways lined with vintage Toronto maps.
The staff: 600 people.
The perks: All of the glass walls are writable.
Thomson Reuters
The company: The mammoth information and media conglomerate chaired by Toronto billionaire David Thomson.
The place: A 50,000-square-foot technology centre in the South Core devoted to cognitive computing and cloud development.
The staff: 100 people, with plans to hire 400 more in the next year.
The perks: The airy, open-concept space has floor-to-ceiling lakefront views, a staff lounge, a fully stocked games room and a lifetime supply of Diet Coke.
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