Top 250 Canadian Technology Companies
Results by region While Canada’s ICT industry stretches from coast to coast, the overwhelming majority of its activity takes place in four of Canada’s 10 provinces. These four provinces—Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec—represented more than 97 per cent of total revenues on this year’s Top 250, up slightly from 2009 figures.
Ontario-based companies generated approximately $41.10 billion in revenues, up 1.01 per cent compared to 2009, while listed companies headquartered in Quebec increased revenues by 2.25 per cent to $16.77 billion in 2010. British Columbia-based ICT companies experienced strong growth in 2010, boosting revenues by 6.34 per cent compared to 2009 figures to $9.87 billion. Picking up where it left off last year, Alberta continued its emergence as a hotbed for leading ICT activity as the province realized a 46.31 per cent increase in provincial revenues to $4.12 billion.
Performance by category The Top 250 is comprised of four major categories: Software, ICT Professional Services, ICT Hardware and Infrastructure and x Service Providers (xSP). The ICT Professional Services category now represents the highest percentage of companies (34.4 per cent) on this year’s listing, overtaking the Software category, which accounted for 32.8 per cent of Top 250 companies listed this year, down from 34 per cent in 2009. The ICT Hardware and Infrastructure and xSP categories also experienced declining representation, falling from 24.4 and 12.8 per cent in 2009 to 21.2 and 11.6 per cent in 2010, respectively.
Despite its low level of representation, the xSP category realized impressive growth in 2010 and now accounts for the highest percentage (40.42) of Top 250 revenues. The 29 xSP companies appearing on this year’s Top 250 combined to generate $29.89 billion in sales, up 7.6 per cent from $27.78 billion in 2009, with 26 of the category’s companies experiencing growth in 2010. The ICT Professional Services and ICT Hardware and Infrastructure categories also experienced growth in 2010, although at a lower rate, boosting cumulative revenues by 3.26 per cent and 1.31 per cent to $10.65 billion and $29.12 billion in 2010, respectively. The lone major category that experienced a decline in 2010 was Software, with total revenues falling 4.65 per cent to $4.27 billion.
The top performers For the second consecutive year, RIM was Canada’s undisputed ICT industry leader and Canada’s largest ICT Hardware and Infrastructure Company. The wireless solutions pioneer continued its rapid growth in 2010, albeit at a lesser clip than previous years, increasing revenues by 35.14 per cent to $14.87 billion in 2010 from $11.01 billion in 2009. The next 12 months will give market watchers a good indication of whether or not RIM has what it takes to remain an elite player in the global wireless arena. RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook is slated to launch in the U.S. in early 2011, with a worldwide rollout planned for the second quarter of 2011. RIM has also announced that, moving forward, its wireless suite of smartphones will boast the same robust operating system that supports the BlackBerry PlayBook, a solution obtained as part of RIM’s acquisition of Ottawa-based QNX Software. These significant product announcements indicate that RIM has heard the message loud and clear: in order to stay on top it must continue to innovate and deliver leading-edge technologies that offer the ultimate user experience.
The Big Three Canadian telecommunications firms (BCE, Rogers Communications and TELUS) maintained their leading positions on the Top 250 in 2010. Although each experienced modest single-digit growth and led the Top 10 xSP companies listing in 2010, there is no telling what the future may hold as competition in Canada’s wireless sector continues to heat up.
Long-time ICT Professional Services category leader CGI Group also experienced an eventful 2010 fiscal year. Although revenues fell 2.43 per cent compared to 2009 figures, CGI Group finalized the Canadian ICT Industry’s largest acquisition in 2010, acquiring U.S.-based Stanley for $923.15 million. Although integration efforts are only partially complete, early indications are positive as first quarter 2011 sales for CGI Group increased 22.75 per cent year-over-year to $1.12 billion.
Open Text cemented its status as Canada’s leading software player in 2010, as the global enterprise content management specialist boosted revenues by 16.08 per cent to $907.10 million in 2010 from $781.42 million in 2009. Adding to its artillery of solutions, the Waterloo, Ont.-based company acquired Burntsand and Nstein Technologies, both former Branham300 companies, for a combined purchase price of US$44.70 million in mid 2010.
For additional details on the Branham300, including the complete list of all companies recognized in 2010, please visit www.branham300.com or www.backbonemag.com/top300.
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