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In 2014, a global design house based in Sweden, Syntronic, opened an office in Ottawa. Seven years later, the Canadian team is now bigger than the company’s presence in Sweden.
“Our success is really based on the fact that there is an extremely high density of talent in both experienced and new grad talent in Ottawa,” Syntronic’s Senior Vice President Darrell Wellington told Shavonne Hasfal-McIntosh for an episode of Invested in Our New Reality. “In addition, the high density of talent enables us to easily attract even more people to Ottawa and Canada. For a design services company, proven access to talent is the biggest reason to continue to invest heavily in our Canadian operations.”
Syntronic helps develop products with their customers – from embedded systems and software development in industries like telecom, automotive, medtech, industrial and defense. They have worked on products such as ultra high-speed switches, robot vacuums, electric cars, infotainment systems, IoT devices, and many more.
“At the end of the day, we really provide high-quality extension of our customers engineering organizations and we provide our employees with what many engineers would consider a dream job with variety and constant learning,” said Wellington.
Like many others, the company hit a speed bump in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. Customers and companies across North America put new developments and spending on hold. That had a major impact on Syntronic’s operations.
After about a month and a half, things started picking back up, and over the course of the pandemic, the company has hired an additional 300 employees in Canada. But the pandemic brought in changes that have created a new normal. Remote work became commonplace, allowing the company to develop satellite design centres in Montreal and Toronto which continue to operate today.
That said, Wellington says Ottawa has been a great choice for Syntronic.
“Tech companies like BNR, Nortel, Newbridge, and Mitel established the foundation of the tech industry in Ottawa many years ago… and brought many talented engineers from around the globe. Once the talent is here, they love it and they don’t want to leave,” said Wellington. “Now we’re benefiting from that talent. The talent attracts more companies to establish themselves in Ottawa and attract even more talent, and even more companies. It has really been a snowball effect.”
Syntronic has a long-standing relationship with Invest Ottawa and is an active participant in many of its programs including the global talent work permit and talent attraction programs. The company is also a major champion of the city in helping attract new companies to the region.
To learn more, visit WhyOttawa.ca. Be sure to tune in to the rest of Season 7 of Invested in Our New Reality, a podcast hosted by Shavonne Hasfal-McIntosh and produced by Invest Ottawa.