Invest Durham
Invest Durham is the publicly funded economic development and tourism division of the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario. It provides free investment attraction, site selection, incentives, and business advisory services to companies, entrepreneurs, and priority industry clusters across Durham's eight municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersWhitby, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Invest Durham does
Invest Durham is the economic development and tourism division of the Regional Municipality of Durham, a municipal government entity headquartered at 605 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Ontario. It provides free advisory and facilitation services to domestic and international companies, entrepreneurs, and industry clusters seeking to establish, expand, or relocate operations across Durham Region's eight municipalities (Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge, and Whitby) on the eastern side of the Greater Toronto Area. Its service portfolio includes investment attraction, site selection, incentives guidance, permits and zoning navigation, demographic and market data, business advisory (via the Business Advisory Centre Durham), incubation/accelerator referrals, co-working and creative-industry studio access, entrepreneurship funding programs, and tourism promotion. There is no commercial technology product; the offering is delivered through direct outreach, regional offices, the Invest Durham website, events, and a content presence across LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.
The organization targets five priority industry clusters — Future Energy (where Durham is positioned as the Clean Energy Capital of Canada), Next Gen Mobility, Agri-Food, Creative Industries, and Applied Digital Technology — supported by 30,000+ annual post-secondary graduates, 10,000+ skilled energy workers, and access to 135 million North American consumers within a day's drive. The leadership team is led by Simon Gill (Director, Economic Development and Tourism), with managers overseeing Business Development and Investment, Agriculture and Rural Economic Development, Marketing and Tourism, and BACD, plus specialists across business development, tourism, rural economic development, creative industries, content, and agriculture.
Invest Durham does not generate commercial revenue. It is publicly funded through the Regional Municipality of Durham and does not charge fees for business development services, incentives guidance, or site location assistance; the underlying financial signal is the municipal operating budget rather than commercial revenue mechanics.
Invest Durham firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Invest Durham
- Legal name
- Invest Durham (Economic Development Division of the Regional Municipality of Durham)
- Website
- https://investdurham.ca
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Invest Durham is the publicly funded economic development and tourism division of the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario. It provides free investment attraction, site selection, incentives, and business advisory services to companies, entrepreneurs, and priority industry clusters across Durham's eight municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Invest Durham industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Regional Economic Development Services
- NAICS
- Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Economic Development & Business Licensing (Local) (BPAIACAN)
Keywords
Where Invest Durham is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Whitby
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Invest Durham business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels6 records
Invest Durham product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Invest Durham is the economic development and tourism division of the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It provides free services to attract investment, support business expansion and relocation, foster entrepreneurship, and promote Durham Region's priority industry clusters. Core offerings include business funding and support matching, co-working and studio spaces, incubation and accelerator programs, small business advisory, tourism promotion, and site location assistance including demographics, incentives, permits, zoning, and transportation information.
Product overview
Invest Durham is an economic development organization for Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. Rather than a unified technology product, it offers a portfolio of business support services including the Business Funding and Support Finder, Co-Working Spaces, Creative Industries Studios, Entrepreneurship Funding Programs, Incubation/Hubs/Accelerators, Research and Development support, Small Business Support, and Start Your Business programs. Additionally, Invest Durham promotes five priority industry clusters: Future Energy (clean energy), Next Gen Mobility (automotive/advanced mobility), Agri-Food (agriculture production), Creative Industries (arts, culture, film, TV), and Applied Digital Technology (digital tech businesses and workforce).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Business Funding and Support Finder
Companies that use Invest Durham
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Invest Durham technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Invest Durham partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Invest Durham competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Calgary Economic Development: Calgary's economic development agency with strong energy sector positioning, comparable clean energy transition narrative, and similar investment attraction mandate targeting North American investors.
- Vancouver Economic Commission: Metro Vancouver's economic development agency with similar clean tech, digital technology, and creative industries cluster priorities. Comparable as a Canadian urban EDO pursuing green economy investment.
- Toronto Global: Toronto's foreign direct investment attraction agency, operating in the same Greater Toronto Area with overlapping investor segments and mandate of attracting inbound capital. Toronto Global is the principal competitor for inbound investment within the same metro.
- City of Hamilton Economic Development: Ontario municipal EDO serving a comparable post-industrial city with advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and agri-food priorities — overlapping target industries and inbound investor pool.
- York Region Economic Development: Adjacent GTA region's economic development office, serving comparable sectors (advanced manufacturing, life sciences, agri-food) and competing for the same pool of inbound investment and corporate relocations.
- Invest Ottawa: Ottawa's economic development agency offering comparable incubation, accelerator, and investment attraction services. Comparable as a Canadian municipal EDO with overlapping entrepreneurship support and FDI mandates.
- Peel Region Economic Development: GTA neighbor with comparable industrial base, talent pool, and investment attraction mandate, directly competing with Durham for logistics, advanced manufacturing, and corporate head-office relocations.
Broad incumbents
- Ontario Investment Office: Provincial-level investment attraction body that oversees and partially funds regional EDOs across Ontario. Operates one tier above Invest Durham in the investment attraction hierarchy.
Others
- Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship: Canadian innovation policy think tank and entrepreneurship enabler. Thematically related to Durham's innovation and entrepreneurship priorities but operates at a national rather than regional level.
- Business Advisory Centre Durham (BACD): Embedded small business advisory service within Invest Durham's portfolio. Comparable as a peer small business support organization, but functions as an internal delivery arm rather than an independent competitor.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks4 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Invest Durham social profiles
Digital presenceInvest Durham financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Invest Durham leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles20 records
Invest Durham funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Invest Durham M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Invest Durham
What does Invest Durham do?
Invest Durham is the economic development and tourism division of the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It provides free services to attract investment, support business expansion and relocation, foster entrepreneurship, and promote Durham Region's priority industry clusters. Core offerings include business funding and support matching, co-working and studio spaces, incubation and accelerator programs, small business advisory, tourism promotion, and site location assistance including demographics, incentives, permits, zoning, and transportation information.
Is Invest Durham a public or private company?
Invest Durham is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was Invest Durham founded?
Invest Durham was founded in -1. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Invest Durham based?
Invest Durham is headquartered in Whitby, Canada, in the North America region.
Who are Invest Durham's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Calgary Economic Development, Vancouver Economic Commission, Toronto Global, City of Hamilton Economic Development, York Region Economic Development, Invest Ottawa and Peel Region Economic Development. Ontario Investment Office is listed as a broad incumbent. Others are Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship and Business Advisory Centre Durham (BACD).
Does Invest Durham have an API?
No public API is recorded for Invest Durham.
What industry is Invest Durham in?
Invest Durham's product category is Regional Economic Development Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIACAN, Economic Development & Business Licensing (Local). Its NAICS code is 7113.