In most conversations about Canada’s innovation economy, attention gravitates toward the big centres like Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver. But far from the country’s largest cities, a different kind of growth is taking shape.
Moncton, New Brunswick, has become one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in Canada.
Between July 2023 and July 2024, its population grew by 5.1%, placing it second nationwide.
Its startup ecosystem is strengthening, jumping 86 spots to rank 747th globally in StartupBlink’s 2025 rankings.
Fintech firms like WeyMedia are scaling nationally and gaining recognition, with WeyMedia landing on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 for the first time as the 46th fastest growing company in Canada.
And while overall growth declined this year in the region (sidebar: it did almost everywhere in Canada), scaling companies reported average revenue growth of 181%.
That growth is bringing new pressure and new opportunity as the city works to strengthen its capacity for entrepreneurship, technology development, and talent building.
Among the organizations playing a central role in that work is Venn Innovation, a Moncton-based group that supports startups, helps companies scale, and collaborates with partners across the region to grow New Brunswick’s evolving innovation economy.
Its newest initiative, announced earlier this month in partnership with the McKenna Institute at the University of New Brunswick, is called Tech Connect Southeast and it offers a window into how these efforts are unfolding.
“The Tech Connect program is designed for newcomers and underrepresented groups who have IT expertise and are looking to break into the Canadian workforce,” says Shannon McMackin, who leads the program for Venn. “It’s a way to support organizations that need digital capacity while also helping highly skilled people establish meaningful employment.”
The program offers paid 16-week placements inside non-profits and public service organizations where many lack internal IT resources. The placements allow participants to contribute immediately to important projects, while also building work experience, expanding their networks, and strengthening their long-term career prospects.
“We want the team to not only learn how to collaborate and lead projects but also to experience the realities of Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses where you have to be quick and think outside the box because the pressure is on,” McMackin told Digital Journal.
Building companies by building capacity
The growth happening in Moncton is more than a matter of population figures — it’s visible in the changing shape of the city’s business landscape. And scaling activity spans industries, from financial technology and artificial intelligence to health technology, business services, and logistics.
“Moncton has experienced a massive transition,” says Doug Robertson, President and CEO of Venn Innovation. “Any day of the week I can count more than 20 languages in the building, and that’s very new in our history.”
Robertson told Digital Journal that one in six jobs in the Moncton area is now filled by a newcomer which is transforming the makeup in the region. This demographic shift is not only reshaping the workforce but is also becoming a core part of the strategy to build long-term innovation capacity.
Organizations like Venn work alongside provincial and federal partners in what has become a coordinated approach to ecosystem development.
- Opportunities NB provides economic development and investment attraction.
- The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation offers early-stage venture capital and research funding.
- The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency supports commercialization and sector-specific growth.
This network of support helps fill gaps that exist in smaller markets where private early-stage capital remains limited.
In 2024, venture capital investment in New Brunswick reached $15 million, well behind neighbouring provinces that benefited from large late-stage deals. Even so, companies that have broken through the early stages are scaling.
The province’s innovation economy has also made strategic use of its smaller size as an advantage for applied experimentation.
Moncton and Saint John have become testing grounds for applied digital health, artificial intelligence, and cross-sector partnerships that integrate new technologies into traditional industries.
The province’s growing fintech sector has also developed national reach.
Applied AI is advancing through partnerships tied to institutions like the McKenna Institute.
And research, startups, and policy are increasingly aligned in ways that allow the province to move quickly in adopting emerging technologies where they can have immediate business impact.
Expanding talent as a foundation for growth
The ability to scale these efforts depends on one factor more than any other: talent. As the economy has expanded, so has demand for skilled technology workers across the province. Moncton’s growing population has helped fuel that demand, but connecting people to the right opportunities remains a constant focus for organizations in the region.
“Many of the people we see entering the program already have significant experience in their fields,” says McMackin. “We have participants with 15 or 20 years of work in software development, project management, and other areas. What they often need is a pathway to demonstrate their skills in a Canadian work environment and to build the kind of relationships that lead to long-term opportunities.”
Tech Connect Southeast’s structure addresses both sides of the labour market.
Local organizations gain access to talent that can help advance digital projects, while participants build real-world experience that strengthens their ability to compete for longer-term roles.
In a province where many non-profits and public service organizations operate with limited IT capacity, the program also helps modernize services that benefit communities directly.
For Robertson, these programs are part of a larger effort to ensure that growth remains sustainable.
“The support systems here have been very intentional,” says Robertson. “We have built an ecosystem where organizations work together. But we also know that we have to continue finding ways to expand the talent base if we want to sustain the momentum.”
That challenge has grown more complex as changes to federal immigration policies have slowed international student enrollment and created tighter controls on skilled worker admissions.
But programs like Tech Connect Southeast are designed to ensure that people already arriving in the province can quickly contribute and establish lasting careers that strengthen the broader economy.
“In my 20 years working here, I have talked to so many people with incredible expertise who just want the chance to contribute,” says McMackin. “This program creates that opportunity, and it allows businesses to see firsthand what these individuals bring.”
For both Robertson and McMackin, the focus remains not only on economic metrics but on building a community that can support long-term opportunity.
“This is about building a place where people want to stay, where they build careers and companies, and where the community benefits from the skills and ideas they bring,” says Robertson.
As Moncton’s innovation economy continues to expand, programs like Tech Connect Southeast provide a clear example of how targeted, inclusive partnerships can help smaller regions turn growth into lasting competitive strength.
