Welcome back to VTJ’s Midweek Memo: the Vancouver tech events and opportunities newsletter you can’t miss.
And now, in this week’s edition:
Robots, drones, and the future of firefighting
Rapid prototyping meets human creativity
Is Vancouver living up to its potential?
UPCOMING EVENTS
🗓 Tuesday, December 2 | Register
This event will bring together a collection of Vancouver tech industry founders and leaders for networking, deal-making, and just plain old catching up.
You can look forward to:
Your first drink on us: Compliments of The High Technology Facilities Group, the experts in tech office space for Vancouver’s start-up community.
Industry leaders: Rub shoulders with local special guests who will be in attendance.
Registration required: Please register so we can plan a fantastic experience for all of our guests.
🗓 Wednesday, December 3 | Register
Vancouver Tech Journal, MistyWest and HardTech Forum are bringing together a panel of experts to discuss how technology is reshaping wildfire management with tools like automated aerial fire suppression, real time data from stratospheric imaging units, and perimeter control with robotic firelines.
You’ll hear from:
Alex Deslauriers, CEO & Co-Founder of FireSwarm Solutions
Hamed Noori, CEO & Founder of SenseNet
Teva Zanker, Head Of Hardware at Voxelis
Oscar Malpica, CEO of Envisioning Labs
Michael Guite, Director, Transmission Asset Planning at BC Hydro
SPONSORED BY FASKEN MARTINEAU
Legal advice from startup, to scale-up, to exit
You need legal advice from an advisor who understands both your business goals and the tech industry. As the first Canadian law firm to launch an emerging tech practice over 30 years ago, Fasken is as dedicated to the ecosystem as you are.
We’ve helped thousands of startups transform their ideas into tangible impact, balancing legal precision and business agility, to provide adaptive solutions that scale as your needs evolve. Working with Fasken, you’ll have timely and frequent access to experienced legal and business advisors to coach you through the process of establishing your business and work alongside you to minimize risks.
Whether you’re looking for advice on how to incorporate, raise funds or build your IP strategy, we have the experience and pioneering mindset you need to help your business thrive. Tomorrow starts here. Own it with us. Emerging Technology & Venture Capital | Services | Fasken
🗓 Wednesday, December 10 | Register
Vancouver’s tech and innovation sector has seen explosive growth over the past decade — from AI and biotech breakthroughs to world‑class climate tech and gaming studios. But as we enter the second half of 2025, the big question is: Are we living up to our potential as a leading innovation hub?
SPONSORED BY FLOAT FINANCIAL
Canada's leading companies count on Float.
Float is Canada's only all-in-one business finance platform, combining modern financial services and software to help businesses spend, save and grow.
Businesses across the country are embracing a “buy local” approach to Canadian tech. Float offers a home-grown solution for business accounts, corporate cards, automated expense management, next-day bill payments, market leading foreign exchange, and 4% interest to help take your business to the next level.
Join 6000+ Canadian companies that trust Float to take their finance team to the next level. Switch today.
🗓 Friday, November 28 | Register
Join CITI and BrainStation for a fast-paced evening of innovation, collaboration, and creativity. In this hands-on hackathon, participants will form teams of 3 to explore how to create creative uses of AI.
Over four hours, teams will form, brainstorm, and prototype solutions that blend human insight with AI capability, from life hacks and creative tools to design systems and storytelling experiments.*
*Sponsored listing
Hiring great engineers is still one of the hardest problems in tech—slow, expensive, and fiercely competitive.
VanHack has helped companies like SkipTheDishes, Deloitte, and Brex hire more than 2,200 senior software engineers, drawing from a global community of 500,000+ vetted developers.
Now there’s an even faster way to hire: Vanna, VanHack’s AI recruiter. Tell Vanna what you’re looking for and get three vetted, world-class engineering profiles—free, within 24 hours.
*Sponsored listing
🗓 Friday, December 12 | Register
The event highlights cutting-edge capstone projects in AI, VR/XR, and gamification, alongside a range of other innovative work by Northeastern University students — including research-driven and applied projects from across programs.
🤝 NEW OPPORTUNITIES
🗓️ November 27, 2025 | Apply
NorthX is inviting all eligible and interested applicants to apply to its 2025 Wildfire Tech Call for Innovation. Through this call, up to $3 million in non-dilutive investments will be awarded to Canadian-based innovators developing commercial pathways to scale hard-tech wildfire management solutions across the value chain that directly address associated emissions.
SPONSORED BY FORESIGHT CANADA
New Program Scales Canada's Bioeconomy
Foresight's new BioAcceleration Program, launching January 2026, is a sector-specific initiative helping bioeconomy ventures scale their crucial technologies. Delivered with Genome BC and supported by Natural Resources Canada’s IFIT Program, BioAcceleration is helping build a profitable, net zero future through bio-based innovation.
🗓️ Ongoing | Apply
Apply for this cost-sharing grant program that funds small, medium and large enterprises to support skills training for their workforces, including prospective new hires.
👋 YOUR COMMUNITY
🗣 VTJ Community Slack | Can’t make it to any in-person events? Network and chat with your friendly neighbourhood tech professionals using our dedicated Slack.
🗓️ Vancouver Tech Events Calendar | All local events in one place.
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