What is Collision?

Collision is the fastest-growing tech conference in North America. Now in its fifth year, Collision has grown to over 25,000 attendees. Following the lead of our European event Web Summit, Collision has become a crossroads for the world’s largest buyers and sellers of technology, alongside many of the world’s most disruptive emerging technology companies.

Inc. has said we run “North America’s fastest-growing tech conference”; The Wall Street Journal that “the giants of the web assemble” at Collision; USA Today that Collision is “the anti-CES” Network.

This year over 25,000 people will come to Toronto for Collision. We’ll be joined by the CEOs and founders of the world’s biggest companies, as well as some of the most promising new startups, influential investors and leading journalists. Learn We live in uncertain times for tech and business. 

At Collision, we welcome the people who are tackling the big challenges facing industry today. Our stages cover topics ranging from data science and content to autotech and environmental sustainability. 

Amplify Collision gathers the most prestigious names in international media, attracting more than 750 journalists from publications including Bloomberg, Financial Times, Forbes, CNN, CNBC, and the Wall Street Journal. It's like TIFF for tech The conference, which will be held in the Enercare Centre at Exhibition Place from Monday through Thursday next week, will call Toronto home for the next three years.

Cosgrave says he shocked many in Silicon Valley when he decided to hold it in Toronto instead of San Francisco. "It was a bit out of left field, especially for a lot of Americans. But I strongly believe Toronto has arrived."

The high-tech field is booming in the Greater Toronto Area, led by research and investment in artificial intelligence, financial technology, biotech and software development.

Last year saw 29,000 jobs created in the GTA, which is more than San Francisco, Washington DC, New York and Seattle combined.

"It's hard to know why certain cities click over the long arc of history, but right now in Toronto something's clicking," said Cosgrave. "And that's why we're here." Toby Lennox, the CEO of Toronto Global, says despite the area's recent growth, its successes aren't widely known. "The Toronto region does not have an international profile as a place to go and do business and to grow." His agency's mission is to attract businesses to the Greater Toronto Area. He says the conference will keep his colleagues busy. "Collision provides that incredibly concentrated opportunity to showcase how vibrant and how exciting the Toronto region tech scene is. This is like business development on steroids."

Toronto's diversity is also a big draw, as is Canada's approach to immigration. Rickett says some attendees to last year's conference, held in New Orleans, had trouble getting visas to visit the United States. "When you're growing a global conference and people can't get to it, that becomes a problem." Cosgrave thinks many first-time visitors will be surprised with what they find when they get here.

"I think perceptually, perhaps, the world doesn't really realize that Canada's got a whole other side to its economy, which is driven by lots of very interesting innovative companies, backed up by incredible research institutions."