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I've always asked myself how come big companies like Google, IBM,etc are on the east side and not in Vancouver. I mean this clearly illustrates that there might be more tech workforce in Ontario. So for a startup this could be an advantage. It's just a educated guess and I don't have any facts yet.

[fiveo]

On the other hand, there are tons of game companies in Vancouver ranging from online game, MMORPG, PS3, NintendoDS, to online gambling.

There's MS here but they are here to act as a buffer for their engineers pending H1-B.

Some hardware companies Broadcom, PMC-Sierra, Sierra Wireless.

There are IBM centers in Vancouver and Vancouver Island, but they do largely government projects (consulting) instead of R&D like the ones in Markham area.

Speaking about Google, they seem to acquire a handful startups in the Montreal to Ontario areas.