Ottawa’s largest convention and event facility is rebranding after signing a naming rights agreement with a Toronto-based AI company.
As of May 1, the Capital Exhibition Centre, more recently known as the EY Centre, will be renamed the Cohere Centre, after the Canadian enterprise AI company.
Cohere, which was founded in 2019, specializes in large language models and products to solve business challenges in regulated industries such as finance, health care and manufacturing. Headquartered in Toronto, it currently operates offices across the world, including in New York, London, Paris and Seoul.
Located at 4899 Uplands Dr., the 200,000-square-foot convention centre is adjacent to the Ottawa International Airport and first opened in 2012.
The facility hosts a variety of events each year, including corporate and government gatherings, large-scale conferences, consumer expos and major public shows.
“This partnership is a testament to Ottawa’s emergence as a hub for innovation and world-class events,” Neill Bales, general manager of the Cohere Centre, said in a press release Wednesday.
“We are proud to align our centre with a company that represents the best of Canadian technology, and we look forward to welcoming clients under this exciting new name.”
Dave Ferris, vice-president of global public sector at Cohere, said the company is proud to partner with the facility.
“As a Canadian company building secure, enterprise-grade sovereign AI for organizations around the world, we are pleased to support a venue that brings together business, government, technology, and community in the nation’s capital,” he said in the release.
“This partnership reflects our shared commitment to Canadian innovation, collaboration, and creating spaces where important ideas and meaningful connections can thrive.”
New signage and branding will be unveiled over the next several weeks.
