Canada has no shortage of entrepreneurs. In fact, the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report shows that Canada leads comparable G6 economies in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity, with 27.4% of adults starting or running a new business in 2025. Yet this strength at the front end of the entrepreneurial pipeline has not translated into enough globally competitive scaleups. While thousands of businesses are launched across the country each year, too few successfully transition from promising startup to globally significant enterprise.
While Canada has developed a strong ecosystem to support new ventures, fewer resources are focused on helping established, ambitious companies navigate the distinct challenges of scaling. ScaleUP, a Calgary-founded initiative with reach across Western Canada, is working to fill this gap by helping companies understand the drivers of scale and connecting them with the insights, expertise, networks and resources needed to achieve their growth aspirations.
What is ScaleUP?
Founded by Dr. Simon Raby at Mount Royal University, ScaleUP combines the latest global evidence, leading professional development programs, and peer-to-peer networking to help leaders navigate the complexities of scaling a business. Focused on accelerating the growth of established small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), ScaleUP has evolved into a year-round platform dedicated to helping founders, CEOs and leadership teams navigate one of the most demanding stages of business growth.
“Starting a business and scaling a business are very different challenges,” says Raby. “As companies grow, leaders face increasingly complex decisions around markets, technology, talent and organizational design. ScaleUP exists to help leaders navigate that journey.”
Through ScaleUP Week, Summits in Calgary and Vancouver, and its Awards program, ScaleUP is helping build Canada’s next generation of scaleups by connecting evidence with practice and bringing together entrepreneurs, executives, investors and ecosystem partners around a shared mission.
ScaleUP is built on partnership: in 2026, National Bank joined as Presenting Sponsor, alongside strategic partners Mount Royal University’s Bissett School of Business, Growth Catalyst, McLeod Law LLP, VistaVu Solutions, MNP and TD. Together with more than 30 organizations across Canada’s innovation ecosystem, these partners are helping create the conditions for more Canadian companies to scale successfully.
ScaleUP Summit Helps Entrepreneurs Power Global Growth
Scaling is not simply about increasing revenue or hiring more people. It requires leaders to make deliberate choices about where to compete, how to create value, and how to build organizations capable of sustaining growth.
As Professors Esther Tippmann and Justin Jansen argue in the 2026 ScaleUP Drivers report, leaders should spend less time asking how quickly their business is growing and more time asking whether it is becoming more scalable.
“The companies pulling ahead aren’t getting lucky,” says Raby. “They’re making deliberate investments in leadership, technology, talent and market development. Growth doesn’t happen by accident.”
Across Summit keynote presentations, executive roundtables and panel discussions, four priorities consistently emerged: successful scaleups understand their customers, align sales and marketing efforts with customer goals, strengthen customer relationships, and intentionally expand into new markets.
Increasingly, they are also becoming more deliberate about how they show up in the marketplace. Strategic visibility, reputation and thought leadership have become competitive advantages in attracting customers, talent, partners and investors. As Heather Kernahan shared, leaders must learn to “behave famously“—being intentional about how their organizations’ brands are known and remembered.
ScaleUP Helps Entrepreneurs Look Beyond Canada’s Borders
Canada remains an exceptional place to start and build a business, but for companies with ambitious growth aspirations, international expansion eventually becomes a necessity.
Historically, the United States has been the natural first destination for Canadian business owners because of its size, proximity and cultural familiarity. Increasingly, however, Canadian companies are adopting a broader international outlook.
“Companies have to move beyond their borders if they want to scale,” says Raby. “The U.S. remains an incredibly important market, but we’re seeing more leaders exploring opportunities across Europe, Asia and other high-growth regions.”
This shift reflects both opportunity and resilience. As markets evolve and geopolitical uncertainty increases, diversification is becoming not only a growth strategy but also a risk-management strategy.
Export Development Canada similarly notes that Canadian exporters continue to identify international markets as an important source of future growth, while emphasizing the importance of helping businesses compete successfully on the global stage.
Canada enters those markets with an important advantage.
“Our companies are viewed internationally as credible, innovative and reliable partners. That’s a competitive advantage we should continue to build upon.”
The Western Canada Difference
While Western Canada is known for agribusiness, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and transportation solutions, today’s growth economy is becoming increasingly diverse. This year’s ScaleUP finalists and winners demonstrate the province’s capabilities in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, agri-food, Indigenous entrepreneurship, clean technology, logistics, architecture, consumer products and health innovation.
Propra Technologies was recognized as Rising Star ScaleUP of the Year for helping organizations better manage and govern information. Mitsoh was named Inclusive ScaleUP of the Year, demonstrating how Indigenous entrepreneurship can create economic opportunity while celebrating culture and community. Alberta Finalists also included Micro Engineering Technologies, Inspired Go, Pure Environmental, Nanotess, Drive Workforce Lodging, Frank Architecture, AdvancedAg, SketchDeck.ai, and Gummy Nutrition Lab further illustrating the breadth of innovation emerging across Alberta.
Beyond Alberta, companies such as Veritree, Oxygen8 Solutions, Blume, TAIV, Valley Fiber, and BUILD demonstrate that world-class scaleups are emerging across Western Canada.
“What stands out about these companies isn’t simply their growth,” says Raby. “They’re solving meaningful problems. They’re building businesses that create value for customers, communities and the broader economy.”
To Scale, Leaders Must Look Beyond Capital
Discussions on scaling often begin with capital, however Raby believes they should begin elsewhere.
“Capital matters,” he says, “but capital tends to find companies that have built strong fundamentals. Leadership, execution and organizational capability must come first.”
Ultimately, ScaleUP is about more than helping individual companies grow. It is about strengthening Canada’s economy by helping more businesses become productive, innovative and globally competitive.
“Canada doesn’t have a startup problem,” says Raby. “It has a scaleup gap. If we can help more businesses successfully navigate that journey, we’ll create stronger companies, better jobs, more resilient communities and a more competitive economy.”
