Coworking Toronto Day

Greater knowledge sharing and increased creativity are among the top reasons that many small businesses in Canada and independent workers are choosing coworking and discovering a great way to work that “makes a positive impact to the local economy.”

In this spirit of collaboration and community, newly elected Toronto Mayor, John Tory encouraged organizations (some numbering one employee) to embrace these core values of coworking, visit a nearby space, “attend events and network with others.”

Mayor Tory proclaims February 24, “Coworking Toronto Day”

Since 1995, when C-Base, a hacker space in Berlin, which is readily recognized as one of the first coworking spaces ever (in spirit at least), made WiFi networks available and promoted free access to the internet, the idea of a physical space where people can meet and work has evolved. Four years later, Brian DeKoven finally coined a term, “coworking” that would refer to a “method that would facilitate collaborative work and business meetings, coordinated by computers.”

Collaborative spaces began to pop up all around the globe and near the end of 2007, “Coworking” was listed as a term on Wikipedia followed by an article in the New York Times titled “They’re Working on Their Own, Just Side by Side”. In 2012, 93,000 tweets were sent with the hastag #coworking, a 54% increase from the previous year. That same year the Rostie Group provided its first collaborative workspace in its support of the movement and entrepreneurs.