Rogers Centre Ottawa Ottawa is rapidly establishing itself as a preferred hub for IEEE and engineering conferences, leveraging its G7 capital status, deep tech ecosystem, and access to national policymakers.
In July, Ottawa hosted the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and the North American Radio Science Meeting, welcoming over 1,500 delegates. The successful bid, initiated at IEEE Convene 2019, was supported by destination funding.
Looking ahead, the International District Energy Association Annual Conference will arrive in 2026, backed by Canada’s International Convention Attraction Fund (ICAF). Organisers cited Ottawa’s leadership in energy infrastructure and proximity to decision-makers as key factors.
“Choosing Ottawa gives technical societies direct access to regulators, industry leaders, and research networks,” said Stephanie Seguin, Vice President, Business & Major Events at Ottawa Tourism. “We connect organisers with the experts and testbeds they need.”
Ottawa’s innovation sector includes more than 1,800 tech companies, from global leaders like Nokia, IBM, and Ericsson, to Canadian success stories like Shopify, Kinaxis, and Fullscript. “Ottawa’s collaborative ecosystem fuels world-class events,” added Sonya Shorey, CEO of Invest Ottawa.
The city has also recently hosted the IEEE Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference and the International Conference on the Physics of Semiconductors, both in 2024.