At a time when some may say that physical Toronto office space is losing significance – pointing to the city's scarcely occupied office buildings as proof – some companies are upgrading their spaces in both size and design features.
Earlier this month, global data cloud company Snowflake announced its Toronto office expansion, and relocation to a sleek and sky-high new space. Located in an expansive 52,000 square foot piece of real estate at 16 York Street, the new Toronto office will serve as the company’s Canadian headquarters.
The move is one that supports Snowflake’s strategic growth in the Canadian market, as well as its growing headcount, according to the company. Snowflake first landed in Canada in 2022, making Toronto home to one of the company’s five global Snowflake Engineering Hubs. According to the company, Snowflake Canada is on track to double its team in 2024 and further build out its Canadian presence. So, it needed more space.
Image: Snowflake
Snowflake Canada’s new Toronto office, which has more than doubled in size from the previous location, reflects today’s forward-thinking workplace, promoting increased collaboration and productivity, with an open seating floor plan where teams and individuals from all areas of the organization share workspaces.
Infused with natural light, the office features spaces for collaboration, focus rooms, and living room-like spots designed to embody Snowflake’s mission to foster innovation. There's also a clear nod to Canadian culture, and design elements that play on the company’s founding story of being born on the ski slopes.
“Snowflake's Toronto office has several standout design features created to meet the needs of our growing team and promote collaboration, innovation, and productivity,” says Shannon Katschilo, Country Manager of Canada, Snowflake. “For example, we have dedicated collaboration spaces, focus rooms, and open living room areas where multidisciplinary teams and individuals from all areas of the organization can gather. The office also offers a stunning city view and abundant natural light that enhances the overall work experience.”
Image: Snowflake
If this sounds like your type of vibe, the company is currently hiring. For those in the tech space, Snowflake is currently hiring for positions across engineering, sales, and more, as the organization scales to meet increasing demand from customers.
“Toronto is home to a rich tech talent pool, top universities like the University of Toronto and The University of Waterloo, and a vibrant technology scene that has attracted major players in data technology globally,” says Katschilo. “These factors align with Snowflake's growth strategy and the company's focus on attracting top-tier talent.”
Even if some Toronto office spaces sit pretty much unused compared to pre-pandemic days, Katschilo recognizes tremendous value in a physical office space. “The physical office space is important at Snowflake because it contributes to building a strong company culture and provides a dedicated space for teams to collaborate and innovate,” says Katschilo. “Face-to-face interactions and a physical workspace contribute to creativity, and employee engagement. It also provides a hub to accommodate our growing customer-base and partners in the Canadian market.”
Image: Snowflake
The company’s expanding local footprint follows Snowflake’s exponential growth worldwide. Snowflake now has over 7,000 employees, more than 45 global offices, and serves over 9,400 total customers (as of January 31, 2024). This includes Alberta Health Services, eSentire, Sanofi, and more.
Along with their growing number of employees, we can expect Snowflake’s number of customers to increase with the demand from customers to fortify their data infrastructure and facilitate AI adoption.
“The AI revolution has caused every organization’s data to become that much more imperative seemingly overnight, and businesses across Canada are looking for ways to harness their enterprise data with generative AI to drive impact,” says Katschilo. “At Snowflake Canada we are at the heart of this, helping customers not only build strong data foundations, but leverage leading AI innovations like Snowflake Cortex so they can seamlessly bring AI solutions to their data, all within Snowflake’s security and governance boundary.”
Katschilo says that the Toronto office move and expansion reaffirms Snowflake’s commitment to the Canadian market and dedication to advancing cutting-edge data and AI technologies.
“The Snowflake Toronto office is focused on creating industry-first innovations that usher in a new era of data collaboration, including the Snowflake Native App Framework (general availability on AWS), which enables developers to build and test Snowflake Native Apps and make them available for customers to install directly from Snowflake Marketplace,” says Katschilo. “Canadian companies including Bond Brand Loyalty, Maxa, and more are embracing this new application type and unlocking entirely new revenue streams with Snowflake.”
