What Hackfest does

Hackfest Communication is a Quebec-incorporated non-profit organization (OBNL) that operates Canada's largest bilingual (French/English) cybersecurity and hacking event. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Quebec City, it runs the flagship three-day Hackfest conference alongside a portfolio of sub-brands: POLAR (an executive-track conference for information security managers, sold out every year since its 2023 launch), QuébecSec (monthly community meetups in Quebec City since 2017), iHack (multi-city conference days across Quebec and Ontario), and La French Connection (a French-language cybersecurity podcast). The event portfolio spans conferences, Capture-the-Flag competitions (including a Physical CTF with full-scale mockups such as a bank heist model and a train-to-hack scenario), hands-on villages covering SCADA/ICS, IoT, RFID, lock picking, social engineering, AI, and hardware hacking, and training sessions from beginner to advanced levels. The 2025 edition introduced Hackfest NOW, a proprietary real-time event platform accessible via web, mobile, and venue displays.

The organization makes money primarily through two streams: event ticket sales distributed via Eventbrite for the annual Hackfest, POLAR, training, and CTF registrations, and multi-tier corporate sponsorships (Presenting, Gold/Kiosque, Silver, Bronze, Lanières, CTF, Poutine, Dépanneur) accessed through a dedicated sponsorship portal. Sponsorship is the larger revenue driver; the 2026 presenting sponsor is Vooban, with CSE/CST (Canada's national cybersecurity agency), TELUS, Check Point, GoSecure, and other firms across lower tiers. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: a 4,000+ member Discord, a multi-year YouTube archive of every conference presentation, the podcast, and volunteer-driven word-of-mouth drive annual attendance that reached 1,600+ participants in 2024 (matching the 2019 record) and was surpassed in 2025.

Hackfest is governed by an all-volunteer committee of cybersecurity professionals and operates without disclosed external investors, parent company, or public funding. It is a founding member of CQEC (Circuit Québécois des événements en cybersécurité) and holds an institutional partnership with the Government of Quebec (formalized in 2022). Audience segments include individual practitioners, students, enterprise CISOs and security managers, government and educational institutions, and corporate sponsors seeking recruitment and lead generation.

Name

Hackfest

Legal name

Hackfest Communication

Website

https://hackfest.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hackfest Communication is a Quebec City-based non-profit that organizes Canada's largest bilingual cybersecurity conference, plus executive (POLAR), community (QuébecSec), and multi-city (iHack) events, monetized through ticket sales and a multi-tier corporate sponsorship program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cybersecurity Events and Community

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Cybersecurity Training & Awareness Programs (BPAEANAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Penetration Testing, Red Team & Ethical Hacking (EDAOAIAH), Phishing, Social Engineering & Business Email Compromise (BEC) Training (EDABAGAB)

Keywords

• Cybersecurity conferences
• Capture the flag competitions
• Cybersecurity training
• Infosec community events
• Hacking workshops villages

Headquarters

HQ city

Quebec

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Event ticket sales: Attendees register for the annual Hackfest event via Eventbrite. The event also features paid CTF competitions, training sessions, and workshops with separate registration.
2. Sponsorship and partnership packages: Companies sponsor the event at various tiers (Presenting Sponsor, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Lannières, CTF, Poutine, Dépanneur). Sponsorship tiers are publicly listed on the sponsorship portal (sponsorship.hackfest.ca) with corresponding booth and visibility benefits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Hackfest Communication organizes Canada's largest bilingual cybersecurity and hacking event, headlined by the annual three-day Hackfest conference in Quebec City. Its portfolio spans the main conference (talks, CTFs, hands-on Villages, training), the POLAR executive conference for information-security managers, the iHack multi-city event days with remote CTFs, and the monthly Qu\u00e9b\u00e9Sec community meetups. Sponsorship packages and paid individual registrations, both transacted through dedicated portals, fund the non-profit's year-round community programming.

Product overview

Hackfest is a cybersecurity conference and event company offering a portfolio of products centered around the annual Hackfest event in Quebec City. The core offering is the three-day Hackfest conference featuring conferences, CTF competitions, and hands-on villages. Supporting products include POLAR (executive-focused security conference), QuébecSec (monthly community meetups), and iHack (multi-city events). Training sessions, after-dark activities, and the La French Connection podcast round out the ecosystem. The 2025 edition introduced the Hackfest NOW real-time event platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• POLAR: Annual conference dedicated to information security managers and executives, featuring high-level talks and networking opportunities.
• QuébecSec
• iHack
• La French Connection
• Hackfest Afterdark

Products and services

• Hackfest Conference Annual multi-day bilingual cybersecurity and hacking conference in Quebec City featuring international talks, CTF competitions, hands-on Villages (SCADA/ICS, IoT, RFID, lock picking, social engineering, AI, hardware hacking), training sessions, and after-dark activities. Designed for cybersecurity practitioners, students, and enthusiasts.
• POLAR Conference Dedicated executive-track conference for information security managers, CISOs, and security decision-makers, featuring banquet-style programming, high-level industry discussions, and peer networking. Held annually at Le Capitole de Qu\u00e9bec and sold out every year since launch.
• iHack Multi-city cybersecurity conference day combined with remote Capture the Flag competitions in the evening, spanning Quebec and Ontario locations. Designed for regional practitioner communities outside Quebec City.
• Qu\u00e9b\u00e9Sec Community Meetups Monthly in-person cybersecurity meetups and presentations held at La Console in Quebec City, offering free or low-cost French-language technical content for the regional cybersecurity community. Average attendance of 30-80 participants per session.
• Hackfest NOW Real-time event navigation and information platform accessible on web, mobile, and venue screens throughout the conference, showing attendees what is happening where at any moment during the Hackfest event.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,600 participants in peak edition (2019, matched in 2024, surpassed in 2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• VoobanflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerVooban is the presenting sponsor of Hackfest 2026 (Level Up! edition). The presenting sponsorship represents the highest-level partnership, with Vooban's logo prominently featured as the main sponsor on the Hackfest homepage and event materials.
• ASTATEcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerASTATE is a kiosk/partner sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the partner section of the website.
• EliteSeccoreGTM or Marketing PartnerEliteSec is a kiosk/partner sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the partner section of the website.
• Cégep Garneau - Formation ContinuecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCégep Garneau - Formation Continue is a partner/sponsor at Hackfest 2026, supporting the event as an educational institution partner.
• CSE / CST (Communications Security Establishment)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerCSE/CST (Communications Security Establishment / Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications), Canada's national signals intelligence and cybersecurity agency, is a partner/sponsor at Hackfest 2026.
• TELUScoreGTM or Marketing PartnerTELUS is a partner/sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the partner section of the website.
• It2GominorGTM or Marketing PartnerIt2Go is a partner/sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the partner section of the website.
• Groupe CosiorminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGroupe Cosior is a partner/sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the partner section of the website.
• GoSecureminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGoSecure is listed as a Dépanneur (convenience/store) level sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the website.
• Check PointminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCheck Point is a sponsor at Hackfest 2026, with their logo displayed on the website.
• SekcoreminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSekcore is listed as a Lannières (lanyard) level sponsor at Hackfest 2026, providing branded event lanyards.
• Secur01minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSecur01 is listed as a Poutine level sponsor at Hackfest 2026, a food-related sponsorship tier.
• POKAcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPOKA is the CTF level sponsor at Hackfest 2026, supporting the Capture the Flag competition.
• Government of Quebec (Gouvernement du Québec)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Government of Quebec became an official partner of Hackfest. Minister Éric Caire delivered the opening remarks at Hackfest 2022. The partnership represents a significant government endorsement and supports the event's mission of cybersecurity awareness and education.
• CyberCapcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCyberCap partnered with Hackfest in 2025 for the Generations village, opening the doors of the cybersecurity community to the next generation. This collaboration targets youth and students interested in cybersecurity careers.
• Centre des congrès de QuébecflagshipOthersThe Quebec City Convention Centre is the primary venue for the annual Hackfest conference (2022-present). The venue is directly connected to the Hilton Quebec hotel.
• Le Capitole de QuébeccoreOthersLe Capitole de Québec (972 Rue Saint-Jean) is the venue for the POLAR executive conference, a separate event for information security managers held within the Hackfest 2026 weekend.
• Hackfest NOW PlatformcoreTechnology or IntegrationHackfest NOW is a proprietary real-time platform developed in 2025 that shows what's happening where at the event, accessible on web, mobile, and displayed on screens throughout the venue. It represents an innovation in event experience.
• CQEC (Circuit Québécois des événements en cybersécurité)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHackfest is a founding member of the CQEC initiative, which unites cybersecurity events locally to strengthen Quebec and Canada's digital security. This is a collaborative effort across the regional cybersecurity event ecosystem.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BSides: Global network of community-driven, volunteer-organized security conferences (BSides events in dozens of cities). Highly comparable as a peer model: grass-roots, non-profit, sponsorship-funded, speaker-submitted format serving local security communities.
• SecTor: Toronto-based cybersecurity conference (owned by ITWC / Greycast) targeting Canadian security practitioners with technical talks, labs, and a career fair. A direct Canadian peer operating at the intersection of conference, training, and sponsor-driven recruitment.
• NorthSec: Montreal-based applied security conference organized as a non-profit since 2003, combining talks, trainings, and its flagship Capture-the-Flag competition. Directly comparable to Hackfest as a Canadian, French-rooted, community-driven cybersecurity event with both conference and CTF pillars.
• CanSecWest: Vancouver-based Canadian applied security conference (since 2000) with Pwn2Own and technical trainings. Directly comparable as a Canadian security event with deep technical roots, CTF-style competitions, and a similar practitioner-and-researcher audience.

Broad incumbents

• RSA Conference: San Francisco-based enterprise cybersecurity conference (RSA / RSAC) and the largest commercial cybersecurity event globally. A broader incumbent with substantially larger sponsor and attendee footprint, comparable in driving the same enterprise security buyer demand Hackfest serves.
• Black Hat: U.S.-based, Informa-owned cybersecurity conference series with global events (Las Vegas, Europe, Asia) covering both technical and executive audiences. A broader incumbent with overlapping enterprise sponsor base and similar talk-plus-trainings-plus-villages format.
• DEF CON: The world's largest annual hacking conference, held in Las Vegas with thousands of attendees and embedded villages, CTFs, and contests. A broader incumbent in the same cybersecurity event category that defines the upper bound of scale and reputation Hackfest is operating against.

Others

• OWASP Global AppSec: Global conference series organized by the Open Worldwide Application Security Project, with regional AppSec events combining talks, trainings, and CTFs. An ecosystem peer that Hackfest partners with (e.g., OWASP Montréal co-organized the eSport-format event in 2015) and that targets a partially overlapping community of security practitioners.

Emerging players

• Nullcon: Non-profit-aligned cybersecurity conference held in Goa, India with research talks, trainings, and hacking village. Comparable as a peer-run community security event with sub-brands (Nullcon Black Trainings, HackIM CTF) closely mirroring Hackfest's POLAR-training-CTF portfolio.
• BruCON: Non-profit, community-organized security conference held annually in Belgium featuring talks, workshops, and CTF. A European peer with the same non-profit, volunteer-led, sponsorship-funded model aimed at local security communities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/HackfestMontreal
• Xx.com/hackfest_ca
• Facebookfacebook.com/hackfest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/duo-plastics-limited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hackfest