Waterloo is a city in southwestern Ontario and together with adjacent Kitchener, it is often referred as “Kitchener-Waterloo”, despite the fact that both cities have separate city governments. Waterloo today has a population of over 97,000 people; in addition to that there are over 20,000 non-resident post-secondary students which brings the total resident count to over 115,000.
Waterloo’s economy is primarily service based with a strong focus on heath insurance and high technology businesses. The Region of Kitchener-Waterloo together with Cambridge forms Canada’s Technology Triangle and has one of the highest concentrations of high-technology companies in the country. Companies such as Open Text Corporation and Research in Motion are headquartered in Waterloo, and international companies such as Google, Adobe, Oracle, McAfee, NCR and Agfa have development offices in Waterloo.
The financial industry also is strongly represented in Waterloo and includes several major insurance companies. Manulife, Sun Life Financial and Economical Insurance have a significant presence in the city. These growing international business activities set the stage for an increasing demand for linguistic services.
Waterloo is also an important centre of science, education and research. Wilfrid Laurier University is headquartered in Waterloo and offers a diverse range of undergraduate and graduate programs. Particularly well-known are its School of Business and Economics, the Faculty of Music and the graduate School of Social Work. It is one of Canada’s fastest growing universities and attracts a growing international student base. The University of Waterloo is an internationally acclaimed research-focussed university that is particularly well-known for its math, engineering computer science programs. Several well-known companies were founded by UW graduates, including Research in Motion, Sandvine and QNX. A Research and Technology Park focussing on various high-tech industries was created in 2001. Conestoga College, headquartered in Kitchener, also has a campus in Waterloo.
The majority of Waterloo’s population is of ethnic German descent, and there is also a significant Mennonite presence in the area. Ethnic minorities include South Asian, Chinese, African-Canadian, Filipino and Hispanic population groups. An increase in non-European residents as well as a growing international student body present ethnic marketing opportunities in the future.
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