Ontario’s place as a major centre for the financial services and technology sectors has helped Canada become world’s fourth-largest cybersecurity hub, according to a new report produced by Deloitte LLP.
Canada sits behind the U.S., Israel and the U.K. in the ranking, which was based on the number of venture capital deals that occurred in the cybersecurity field between 2012 and 2016, states the study, entitled Harnessing the Cybersecurity Opportunity for Growth, which was released on Wednesday and commissioned by the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and the Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA).
“Given the risks that cybersecurity poses to all businesses, but particularly to the financial services sector, this is very good news,” says Janet Ecker, president and CEO of TFSA, in a statement.
“Canada’s financial services sector has an international reputation for stability, safety and growth. And, it is headquartered right here in the Toronto-Waterloo innovation corridor, among one of the largest technology hubs in North America,” she adds. “This presents a huge opportunity to build capacity to support the financial services sector and to generate economic growth.”
There’s potential for Ontario to further strengthen its cybersecurity dominance, which would benefit the financial services sector and the cybersecurity field as the current race to develop financial technology requires enhanced security protocols, the Deloitte report notes. However, immediate steps must be taken to improve certain areas, including the lack of centralization in the cybersecurity field.
“We have already established significant clusters of cybersecurity innovation. What’s needed now is the co-ordination and focused support that will take this to a new level of global competitiveness,” says Tom Corr, president and CEO of the OCE, in a statement.
In addition, stakeholders would also have to work on addressing the shortage of talent in the cybersecurity industry and its lack of visibility.
The move to action is critical as other jurisdictions around the world are ramping up their investment efforts in cybersecurity and Ontario risks losing its competitive edge and the benefits that come with it, which include high-skilled jobs, long-term security and overall economic prosperity, the study states.
The full report can be found on the OCE’s website.
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