Canada’s early-stage startup funding is in a sustained decline, RBCx finds

New data from RBCx indicates that Canada has seen a “sustained decline” in early-stage technology startup funding since the start of 2025, including a particularly rough Q1. RBCx recently tracked the fundraising activity of over 700 Canadian-headquartered pre-seed and seed companies across a two-year period. It found that 61 startups closed nearly $190 million CAD during the first quarter of 2026—a 40 percent drop year-over-year by both metrics.