Invest Ottawa

Invest Ottawa is the lead economic development agency for knowledge-based industries in Canada's Capital. A non-profit organization, it delivers programs, services, and support to entrepreneurs and companies, facilitating economic growth and job creation across Ottawa and the surrounding region.

The agency's work in robotics and automation is centered at Area X.O, an R&D complex designed for the safe development, testing, demonstration, and implementation of next-generation technologies. The facility's focus areas are smart mobility, connectivity, and autonomy technologies - domains that cover the perception, planning, and communications stack required for deploying autonomous systems in real-world conditions.

For engineers in the autonomy space, Area X.O provides a test environment for validating systems that must handle the constraints of unstructured environments, sensor fusion, and reliable communications. Invest Ottawa's model pairs this technical infrastructure with business acceleration support through its Bayview Yards hub, serving technology founders and companies at various stages of growth.