Medical equipment company opens its doors in Hamilton

In the middle of a field off Highway 6 in Waterdown is the Canadian headquarters to one of the world’s leaders in medical equipment. The city is hoping Stryker’s presence will be a beacon for further investment in the city.

You may not know them off the top of your head, but Stryker is everywhere: Hydraulic stretchers that are in every Hamilton ambulance, and surgeons at St. Joe’s just performed Canada’s first partial knee replacement with the help of a Stryker robot.

Now, one of the world’s leading medical equipment companies has opened its $100 million national headquarters in Hamilton.

“It’s a long standing relationship that we had both with the city and the clinical teams that operate and the academic institutions for that matter, McMaster and even Mohawk for that matter from what they’re doing from an education standpoint is really important.”

Over 200 operational staff from all across the region will work here. The president of Stryker Canada says Hamilton’s central location was crucial.

“The opportunity for people to live in the community we have a lot of millennials who are starting out to work in their first careers in this building.”

A week after a McMaster startup focusing on cancer therapy products received over $100 million in funding, Hamilton’s reputation as a health science hub is growing, with Stryker being the latest company to call Hamilton home, the city is hoping the trend continues.

“Like minded things tend to gravitate to one another, I haven’t seen the whole roll-out here but I would expect that other industries would be attracted to this space based on what Stryker is doing here.”

“Wherever we plant our flag we tend to attract people you can see around us there’s lots of room for development, this is a dynamic area and we look forward to being here for many many years to come.”

Such commercial growth could help Hamilton residents who live in a city that ranks in the top five across Canada for highest property tax rates

“Our non residential tax base needs to expand. That’s where the future additional tax revenues are going to come from and will help offload the pressures on the residential tax base.”

Before their new building was open in Waterdown, Stryker occupied two spaces at McMaster Innovation Park, but judging by the pace of investments in the city, it won’t be long before those vacancies are filled – if they aren’t already.