Connor Edwards

Some of you have asked me "Why are you moving back to Canada, tell me what I dont see...". As I have said before on @BetaKit, I think we are telling ourselves the wrong story about Canada. The prevailing narrative is that Canada doesn't build anymore. That capital and talent leave. That we're too dependent on the United States. The data is telling a different story. Canada created more than 100,000 jobs in May and June. We're creating jobs at twice the U.S. rate. We lead the G7 in foreign direct investment per capita. Business investment in machinery and equipment grew 10% (annualized). And we're beginning to sell somewhere other than south. Excluding gold, non-U.S. exports are running roughly $50 billion (or 32%) above pre-tariff levels. There are now 26 nation-building initiatives representing nearly $200 billion in investment and more than 337,000 jobs. The TSX gained nearly 30% last year versus half of that on the S&P 500. Corporate profits are growing. Canadian companies attracted $1b across 100 venture deals in Q1 2026, with the average deal size up 6%. And we're doing it intelligently: Canada has the lowest net debt-to-GDP in the G7, the second-lowest deficit, the lowest long-term interest rates and AAA ratings from S&P and Moody's. Clearly, this is a different story. For the first time in a long time, Canada is starting to bet on itself again. And increasingly, growth is coming from the things we actually want it to come from: private investment, exports, productivity and innovation, not simply population growth and government spending. But this only really works if the next bet is on the people building the next generation of Canadian companies. @DominionDynamic is one example. In barely a year, we've raised C$169 million, including the second largest defence Series A in history (globally). We're on track to roughly triple our workforce (we are hiring more people faster than all but two companies on LinkedIn -- globally). Ottawa is to communications what Silicon Valley is to software, or what Tel Aviv is to cyber. There are founders across Canada doing incredible things. @Wealthsimple @Waabi_ai @cohere @NV_Dynamics @neofinancial @1Password @XanaduAI @turbopuffer @Tailscale Companies that raise here, hire here, own their IP here and build here. That, to me, is what betting on ourselves actually means. Not protectionism. Not pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist. Quite the opposite. Build Canadian companies that are good enough to win everywhere. Then make sure Canada is willing to be their first believer, their first customer and the place they want to keep building. Be our best customer. Again. And again. And again. We have spent a lot of time talking about everything Canada can't do. Lets spend some time thinking about what we actually have done and what we will do. We will win.