Labour market continues to challenge Deloitte Technology Fast 50 winners, followed by technology advancements and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Toronto, November 17, 2021 – Deloitte Canada is honoured to announce this year’s winners of the Technology Fast 50, Enterprise Fast 15, Clean Technology, and Companies-to-Watch awards. Now in its 24^th year, the Technology Fast 50 program recognizes the world-class achievements of Canadian technology companies, highlighting their commitment to innovation, continued resilience amid a global pandemic, strong leadership, and rapid revenue growth between 2017 and 2020. This year, the average three-year growth of the Fast 50 winners is 2,604 per cent, compared to 2,144 per cent in 2020.

At the top of this year’s Technology Fast 50 list, with three-year growth of 33,614 per cent, is the mobile commerce business, Snapcommerce. Based in Toronto, Snapcommerce’s global message-driven commerce platform gives users a new way to shop by using AI to connect consumers to the best prices and promotions on mobile.

This year’s Technology Fast 50 program welcomes a new award category, the Clean Technology award, a ranking of Canada’s top clean innovators providing processes, goods or services that reduce environmental impacts. The majority of the companies’ revenues must come from products or services that have a positive environmental impact in the following areas: carbon emissions reduction potential, resources circulation (reduce, reuse and recycle), or environmental preservation and safety. With reduction of the carbon footprint of paramount importance, these outstanding companies help create the sustainable business and technology landscape of the future and pave the way for other companies focused on reducing their environmental impacts.

Taking first place in the new Clean Technology category, with three-year growth of 4,043 per cent, is Pela. Based in Kelowna, Pela is developing products that reduce waste and educate and inspire a global community of people who are committed to making a positive impact on our planet.

“Designating this year’s crop of Fast 50 winners is an incredible honour, as all of these companies act as catalysts for the growth of Canadian businesses, and play an integral role in helping make Canada one of the best places in the world to live and work,” said Anders McKenzie, partner and national co-leader for the Technology Fast 50 program at Deloitte Canada. “Not only are they continuing to put Canada on the world-stage when it comes to innovation and leadership, but they’re doing it on the heels of a global pandemic, fraught with uncertainty and instability. As we cope with an ever-changing new normal, resilience like this cannot be understated.”

Labour market continues to pose biggest challenge

Deloitte’s annual survey of Technology Fast 50 Executive Leaders found the labour market is the top ranked challenge facing Canadian businesses in 2021 (56 per cent), while COVID-19 ranks as the third most pressing challenge this year, slightly outranked by technology advancements.

“This year’s data shows us that the labour market continues to be the biggest pain point for Canadian businesses, coming in as the top challenge yet again,” added McKenzie. “Pair this with the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic and we have a full picture of what weighs on the minds of today’s businesses leaders. The good news is, most respondents believe the government has played a positive role in both supporting businesses throughout the pandemic, and in aiding Canadian tech companies during these unprecedented times. This support is key, especially as the role of government remains critical in navigating the next normal.”

Remote work is here to stay

As Canadian businesses continue to adapt to the ongoing pandemic and discover their “next normal”, 83 per cent of this year’s Fast 50 winners expect the majority of their employees to continue working from home for the foreseeable future. Likewise, 33 per cent believe they’ll be reducing their office space in some capacity or eliminating their office entirely. In contrast, while only 11 per cent of respondents expect most or all of their employees to return to the physical workspace, 23 per cent plan on increasing the size of their existing office.

“What’s clear is that there’s still a lot of uncertainty among this year’s Fast 50 winners around returning to the office, and for most businesses looking to enter their next normal, that means adopting more of a hybrid approach to work,” stated Erica Pretorius, partner and national co-leader for the Technology Fast 50 program at Deloitte Canada. “For those companies who expect the majority of their employees to return to the workplace, it’s interesting to see a sizeable number of respondents claiming they’re going one step further, planning to increase the physical space of the office.”

2021 Technology Fast 50 program winners

The 2021 winners of the Clean Technology category are Pela, mCloud Technologies, Stromcore Energy Inc., Opus One Solutions Energy Corporation, MineSense Technologies Ltd., Biktrix Enterprises Inc., Vive Crop Protection, Food Cycle Science, Eddyfi/NDT, good natured Products Inc., CoolIT Systems, FLO | AddEnergie, Hifi, Ecopia AI, and LUMINOR Environmental Inc.

This year’s winners of the Enterprise Fast 15 category are Valsoft, Vosker Technology, Jobber, Sangoma Technologies, Hopper, Doxim, Docebo, Prodigy Education, Blackline Safety Corp., Q4 Inc., Canada Drives, Visier, Farmers Edge, Behaviour Interactive, and TouchBistro. These winners dominate in their sector and join the ranks of other global leaders across Canada.

The 2021 Companies-to-Watch category winners are Blockthrough, BluWave-ai, Canalyst, Cinchy, Clir Renewables, Coconut Software, CoPilot AI, Flashfood, Gazelle.ai Inc., Mysa Smart Thermostats, Nobul Corporation, Potloc, Skywatch, Smile CDR, and Sollum Technologies. These outstanding companies are key to the future success of the technology sector.

A complete list of winners of the Technology Fast 50, Enterprise Fast 15, Clean Technology, and Companies-to-Watch categories is available at www.fast50.ca.

About the Deloitte Technology Fast 50™ program

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program is Canada’s pre-eminent technology awards program. Celebrating business growth, innovation and entrepreneurship, the program features distinct categories, including the Technology Fast 50 ranking, Enterprise Fast 15, Clean Technology, and Companies-to-Watch. The program also recognizes companies within the North American Technology Fast 500 ranking, identifying technology companies in the United States and Canada. The 2021 program sponsors include Deloitte, RBC, EDC, TMX Group, Miller Thomson, Clarity Recruitment, and Lafond. For further information, visit www.fast50.ca.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. Deloitte serves four out of five Fortune Global 500® companies through a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories bringing world-class capabilities, insights, and service to address clients’ most complex business challenges. Deloitte LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, is the Canadian member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms.

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