Emerging trends in Canadian tech stocks: Spotlight on innovative startups in 2025
Canada has long been a leader in AI research, and 2025 is seeing that expertise translate into commercial success. The federal government's C$2.4 billion investment in the AI Compute Access Fund is accelerating the growth of AI startups. Notable companies: Cohere (Toronto) : Specializing in natural language processing, Cohere is gaining traction globally with its enterprise-focused language models. It recently secured major partnerships in the financial and legal sectors.
: Specializing in natural language processing, Cohere is gaining traction globally with its enterprise-focused language models. It recently secured major partnerships in the financial and legal sectors. DarwinAI (Waterloo) : Focused on explainable AI, DarwinAI helps manufacturers optimize processes while ensuring transparency in AI decision-making. Its client base includes aerospace and automotive firms.
: Focused on explainable AI, DarwinAI helps manufacturers optimize processes while ensuring transparency in AI decision-making. Its client base includes aerospace and automotive firms. AltaML (Edmonton): This firm builds AI-powered decision-making tools for sectors like healthcare and energy. Its recent expansion into the U.S. market signals strong growth potential. 2. Cybersecurity: A rising priority
With cyber threats escalating, Canadian cybersecurity firms are stepping up with innovative solutions tailored for SMEs and critical infrastructure. Notable companies: 1Password (Toronto) : While no longer a startup, 1Password continues to grow rapidly, expanding its enterprise offerings and integrating AI for threat detection.
: While no longer a startup, 1Password continues to grow rapidly, expanding its enterprise offerings and integrating AI for threat detection. Field Effect (Ottawa) : A rising star in cybersecurity, Field Effect offers holistic threat monitoring and response platforms. Its Covalence platform is gaining popularity among mid-sized businesses.
: A rising star in cybersecurity, Field Effect offers holistic threat monitoring and response platforms. Its Covalence platform is gaining popularity among mid-sized businesses. Cycura (Toronto): Specializing in offensive cybersecurity and penetration testing, Cycura, a WELL Health Technologies (TSX:WELL) company, is carving a niche in proactive cyber defense. 3. Green technology: Innovation meets sustainability
Canada's commitment to net-zero emissions is fueling a surge in green tech innovation. Startups are leveraging AI and IoT to create scalable, sustainable solutions. Notable companies: CarbonCure Technologies (Halifax) : This cleantech firm injects recycled CO₂ into concrete, reducing emissions. It has secured funding from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund and is expanding globally.
: This cleantech firm injects recycled CO₂ into concrete, reducing emissions. It has secured funding from Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund and is expanding globally. BrainBox AI (Montréal) : Using AI to optimize HVAC systems, BrainBox AI helps buildings reduce energy consumption by up to 25 per cent. It's gaining traction in North America and Europe.
: Using AI to optimize HVAC systems, BrainBox AI helps buildings reduce energy consumption by up to 25 per cent. It's gaining traction in North America and Europe. Encycle (Toronto): Focused on intelligent energy management, Encycle's AI-driven platform helps commercial buildings reduce peak demand and energy costs. Market performance and investment outlook
While many of these companies are privately held, several are preparing for IPOs or are accessible through venture capital and private equity channels. The Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange are also seeing increased listings from tech firms in these sectors. Key trends for investors AI adoption is accelerating across industries, with Canadian firms well-positioned due to strong research foundations and government support.
across industries, with Canadian firms well-positioned due to strong research foundations and government support. Cybersecurity spending is rising , especially among SMEs, creating demand for agile, cost-effective solutions.
, especially among SMEs, creating demand for agile, cost-effective solutions. Green tech is benefiting from ESG investing trends, with Canadian firms offering scalable, exportable solutions. An intelligent opportunity
For investors seeking exposure to innovation-driven growth, Canada's emerging tech sector offers compelling opportunities. By focusing on lesser-known but high-potential companies in AI, cybersecurity, and green tech, investors can tap into the next wave of technological transformation.
The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
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Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Greener steel arrives in Canada to a market in turmoil and future unclear
Published Aug 10, 2025 • 5 minute read Steam rises as water is poured over hot steel at Algoma's Direct Strip Production Complex in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. Photo by Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS TORONTO — Like some superhero channelling the power of lightning, Algoma Steel Inc. has started using the heat cast off by the arcs of powerful electric currents to make greener steel. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Electric arc furnaces are nothing new — the technology is more than a century old, and there's already a few in Canada — but Algoma is calling the achievement of production from its first of the kind furnace last month a win as it faces an existential threat from U.S. tariffs. 'We have reached a truly pivotal milestone for Algoma and the Canadian steel industry,' said chief executive Michael Garcia on a recent earnings call. 'Despite the uncertainty that the trade war has unleashed, this achievement reinforces our confidence in our transformation strategy.' Part of that strategy has been to dramatically reduce emissions in an attempt to differentiate its products; it even trademarked Volta as the name for its cleaner steel that it plans to produce from a mix of low-emission iron feed and scrap metal. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But experts say the project is coming online as the market for green steel, and the metal more generally, faces turmoil from tariffs and price pressures, making it unclear what financial advantages producers may get from the big upfront investments needed. 'The question is, will the demand be there? Is there going to be sufficient demand in North America for green steel?' said Chris Bataille, who researches the steel transition as an adjunct research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. 'The U.S. was starting to move fairly quickly in terms of moving to electric vehicles and to cleaner steel and everything else under the last administration, but now we've got a complete U-turn.' Steel emissions had been a priority in the U.S., and remains one in Canada, because using coal to produce steel is so emissions intensive. Globally, steel production makes up about eight per cent of carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But while it makes sense from an emissions perspective, buyers willing to pay a premium for the more eco-friendly steel have mostly been limited to the auto sector, said Bataille. European automakers have been paying a premium of as much as 40 per cent for the cleaner material, since they can use it for marketing while only adding a little to the end cost of a car, but the more important building sector has been more hesitant, he said. There is still demand in Europe, a region Canada has looked to diversify its exports, but with tariffs causing disruption there too it's not clear how much potential there is, said trade expert Tommaso Ferretti. 'There is a structural demand in Europe, but to what extent that structural demand will remain in place, it's a big question mark,' said the assistant professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Garcia himself has warned that Algoma doesn't see much potential to sell to Europe, or anywhere else internationally. 'We can put our steel on an ocean-going ship here in Sault Ste. Marie, but getting it to an export customer in Europe or elsewhere, there just aren't those opportunities right now. I don't think that there'll be a lot of those opportunities going forward, to be frank,' he said. The challenges help explain why the other flagship green steel project in Canada, at ArcelorMittal's Hamilton, Ont., operations, is stuck in neutral. The company made a big show of announcing in 2022 that it was moving ahead with a $1.8-billion project to move to green steel _ but the last updates show the project is still at the engineering stage, with a spokesperson confirming there are no new milestones to report. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Wider oversupply issues in the industry that have pushed down prices is part of the problem, as are doubts about policies like carbon pricing, said Bataille. 'There's some uncertainty about how fast the transition will go. … It's just a difficult business to make a buck, to be honest.' ArcelorMittal said in its latest sustainability report in April that it doesn't expect green steel projects to be economical until the 2030s, and that policies will be needed to address the high capital and operational costs. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Federal and provincial governments in Canada have already stepped in to help out with capital costs. Algoma received $420 million to help cover the more than $880 million cost of its project, while ArcelorMittal was offered $900 million to help ease its overall costs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But unlike Algoma, ArcelorMittal's plans also include building a plant in Hamilton to remove oxygen from iron ore using hydrogen, rather than coal — a process that remains expensive, leading to several recent project cancellations. ArcelorMittal itself just cancelled two green steel projects in Germany in June, citing high electricity prices, while last year it noted the future of several other of its European steel projects is unclear because 'there is limited willingness among customers to pay premiums for low-carbon emissions steel.' Cleveland-Cliffs, which bought Hamilton-based Stelco Holdings Inc. last year, recently shelved plans for green steel conversion at a U.S. plant that already had US$500 million in government funding secured. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs, cited the lack of clear hydrogen supply as part of the reason for cancelling the project. He said on a July earnings call that plans to revamp the operation using existing resources, including 'beautiful coal,' generates a very good conversation with the current U.S. Department of Energy. Ferretti worries that the pressures the industry is facing will also mean less investment in research and development to try and bring costs down. He said there needs to be even greater collaboration between the public and private sector for the critical industry to chart a path forward. 'The real question in fact is to see … the collaboration between the companies, the steel manufacturers, Canadian government, and their ability to reinvent themselves.' For Bataille, that path could include using Canada's vast renewable energy and iron ore deposits to build a direct reduction plant for processing closer to the source, and then shipping the already oxygen-reduced iron around the world. 'You could triple the value of those exports,' said Bataille. 'So on the one hand we face headwinds and the Chinese overcapacity continues, but on the other hand, I think there's new possibilities open in shipping green iron places that, you know, we hadn't considered before.' Columnists Columnists Sunshine Girls Sports Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
KINSELLA: Polls suggest Mark Carney doing a fine job as PM
Despite missteps, Canadians overwhelmingly approve of his performance Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (R), flanked by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss both trade negotiations with the US and the situation in the Middle East, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on July 30, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images How is Mark Carney doing? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The polls suggest he's doing just fine. Here's a summary: – Carney's Liberals are ahead by an astonishing 23 points in Ontario and 27 points in Quebec, says the aggregator Polling Canada – Nanos gives the Grits an 11-point lead over the Tories, and a 32-point lead over the NDP, and says that Carney more than doubles (51%) Poilievre (23%) for preferred Prime Minister – A Polling Canada seat projection suggests that all means 196 seats for Carney and only 121 for Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives – Angus Reid Institute says almost 60% of the country approve of Carney's performance Read More Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's Summertime, Tories and Dippers will say. No one is paying attention to Ottawa, they'll insist. And there's some truth to that. Carney is still in his honeymoon, they'll also claim. It's early days. He hasn't been tested. Except: Mark Carney has been tested. He has. And, on multiple files – particularly those involving international affairs – he hasn't met the standard he's set for himself. Canadians are still giving him the benefit of the doubt, however. Overwhelmingly, they still approve of his performance. Consider: Carney clearly believed he could craft a trade deal with Donald Trump – and avoid Trump's tariffs. He dispatched his most-senior, most-trusted advisors – elected and not – to Washington, for weeks, to hammer out a deal. He, they, failed. They came home with their tails between their legs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Some – including this writer – believe that trying to reach an agreement with Trump was always a fool's errand. The U.S. President passionately believes in tariffs, and no amount of politesse and cajoling is ever going to change that. It was surprising that Carney ever thought he could. Another Carney misstep, and again on the foreign policy front: recognizing Palestine. A few days ago, the Liberal Prime Minister appeared before the Press Gallery and insisted he had secured the agreement of the Palestine Authority (PA) to hold general elections in 2026, in which Hamas would play no part. It was the stuff of utter fantasy. The PA is an undemocratic, corrupt farce, one that doesn't have the power or the wherewithal to get Hamas – or the PFLP, or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or anyone, really – to do anything. But Carney stood before the assembled media and insisted that the PA would deliver. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As his PMO said: 'Prime Minister Carney welcomed President Abbas' commitment to these reforms.' There will be no reforms. There will be no general elections. Hamas will not be removed from power anytime soon. And a two-state solution? It ended on Oct. 7, 2023. But Canadians seemingly don't care about the reality on the ground, or have boundless faith in Carney's approach. Fully half of the country, says Leger, believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Trade with Mexico? As with the other international initiatives, a familiar pattern is seen: lots of sizzle, but not much steak. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand travelled to Mexico City to meet President Claudia Sheinbaum to boost economic ties. But Sheinbaum said there was 'no need' for a separate trade deal with Canada. Meanwhile, Mexico – unlike Canada – had been given a months-long exemption from Trump tariffs. It's a depressing downward cycle – many promises from Mark Carney about our relationship with the rest of the world but not much in the way of results. The Prime Minister clearly isn't fussed. His two main opponents are effectively leaderless, the House of Commons is recessed, and he's riding high in the polls. For now, he's got nothing to worry about. Columnists Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Sports Sunshine Girls
Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Greener steel arrives in Canada to a market in turmoil and future unclear
TORONTO – Like some superhero channelling the power of lightning, Algoma Steel Inc. has started using the heat cast off by the arcs of powerful electric currents to make greener steel. Electric arc furnaces are nothing new — the technology is more than a century old, and there's already a few in Canada — but Algoma is calling the achievement of production from its first of the kind furnace last month a win as it faces an existential threat from U.S. tariffs. 'We have reached a truly pivotal milestone for Algoma and the Canadian steel industry,' said chief executive Michael Garcia on a recent earnings call. 'Despite the uncertainty that the trade war has unleashed, this achievement reinforces our confidence in our transformation strategy.' Part of that strategy has been to dramatically reduce emissions in an attempt to differentiate its products; it even trademarked Volta as the name for its cleaner steel that it plans to produce from a mix of low-emission iron feed and scrap metal. But experts say the project is coming online as the market for green steel, and the metal more generally, faces turmoil from tariffs and price pressures, making it unclear what financial advantages producers may get from the big upfront investments needed. 'The question is, will the demand be there? Is there going to be sufficient demand in North America for green steel?' said Chris Bataille, who researches the steel transition as an adjunct research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. 'The U.S. was starting to move fairly quickly in terms of moving to electric vehicles and to cleaner steel and everything else under the last administration, but now we've got a complete U-turn.' Steel emissions had been a priority in the U.S., and remains one in Canada, because using coal to produce steel is so emissions intensive. Globally, steel production makes up about eight per cent of carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. But while it makes sense from an emissions perspective, buyers willing to pay a premium for the more eco-friendly steel have mostly been limited to the auto sector, said Bataille. European automakers have been paying a premium of as much as 40 per cent for the cleaner material, since they can use it for marketing while only adding a little to the end cost of a car, but the more important building sector has been more hesitant, he said. There is still demand in Europe, a region Canada has looked to diversify its exports, but with tariffs causing disruption there too it's not clear how much potential there is, said trade expert Tommaso Ferretti. 'There is a structural demand in Europe, but to what extent that structural demand will remain in place, it's a big question mark,' said the assistant professor at the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management. Garcia himself has warned that Algoma doesn't see much potential to sell to Europe, or anywhere else internationally. 'We can put our steel on an ocean-going ship here in Sault Ste. Marie, but getting it to an export customer in Europe or elsewhere, there just aren't those opportunities right now. I don't think that there'll be a lot of those opportunities going forward, to be frank,' he said. The challenges help explain why the other flagship green steel project in Canada, at ArcelorMittal's Hamilton, Ont., operations, is stuck in neutral. The company made a big show of announcing in 2022 that it was moving ahead with a $1.8-billion project to move to green steel — but the last updates show the project is still at the engineering stage, with a spokesperson confirming there are no new milestones to report. Wider oversupply issues in the industry that have pushed down prices is part of the problem, as are doubts about policies like carbon pricing, said Bataille. 'There's some uncertainty about how fast the transition will go. … It's just a difficult business to make a buck, to be honest.' ArcelorMittal said in its latest sustainability report in April that it doesn't expect green steel projects to be economical until the 2030s, and that policies will be needed to address the high capital and operational costs. Federal and provincial governments in Canada have already stepped in to help out with capital costs. Algoma received $420 million to help cover the more than $880 million cost of its project, while ArcelorMittal was offered $900 million to help ease its overall costs. But unlike Algoma, ArcelorMittal's plans also include building a plant in Hamilton to remove oxygen from iron ore using hydrogen, rather than coal — a process that remains expensive, leading to several recent project cancellations. ArcelorMittal itself just cancelled two green steel projects in Germany in June, citing high electricity prices, while last year it noted the future of several other of its European steel projects is unclear because 'there is limited willingness among customers to pay premiums for low-carbon emissions steel.' Cleveland-Cliffs, which bought Hamilton-based Stelco Holdings Inc. last year, recently shelved plans for green steel conversion at a U.S. plant that already had US$500 million in government funding secured. Lourenco Goncalves, chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs, cited the lack of clear hydrogen supply as part of the reason for cancelling the project. He said on a July earnings call that plans to revamp the operation using existing resources, including 'beautiful coal,' generates a very good conversation with the current U.S. Department of Energy. Ferretti worries that the pressures the industry is facing will also mean less investment in research and development to try and bring costs down. He said there needs to be even greater collaboration between the public and private sector for the critical industry to chart a path forward. 'The real question in fact is to see … the collaboration between the companies, the steel manufacturers, Canadian government, and their ability to reinvent themselves.' Wednesdays What's next in arts, life and pop culture. For Bataille, that path could include using Canada's vast renewable energy and iron ore deposits to build a direct reduction plant for processing closer to the source, and then shipping the already oxygen-reduced iron around the world. 'You could triple the value of those exports,' said Bataille. 'So on the one hand we face headwinds and the Chinese overcapacity continues, but on the other hand, I think there's new possibilities open in shipping green iron places that, you know, we hadn't considered before.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug 10, 2025. Companies in this story: (TSX:ASTL)
