Photo: Mennonite Buggy by Lucy Izon

Waterloo, Ontario - Just 75 minutes west of Toronto via the Trans Canada Highway, exit at Waterloo and you’ll be entering Mennonite country. Don’t be surprised by horse and buggy traffic on country roads, but don’t let this mislead you, you’re also entering Silicon Valley North. Thanks to the University of Waterloo, this has become the home of high tech innovation, including the phenomenally popular Blackberry. The cutting-edge hand-held wireless device was created by Waterloo-based Research In Motion (RIM), a company founded in 1984 University of Waterloo engineering student Mike Lazaridis (President and co-CEO) and University of Windsor Engineering student Douglas Fregin (VP Operations). RIM was the first wireless technology developer in North America.

Where: Waterloo, with its two universites, sits beside the larger city of Kitchener, and very close to Cambridge. The city is also home to the Perimeter Institute, Nuvtion and McAfee Inc., and it was recognized as one of the top seven Intelligent communities in the world in 2006 and 2007. It has a farmer's market, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, and a 500-acre RIM Park with a golf course and sporting facilities. There's also a children's museum and a Busker Carnival is held in August. The city nudges up against the Grand River and is surrounded by rolling countryside where signs sometimes beacon visitors to pull in and purchase food and quilts from local farmers. Waterloo is just a few minutes south of the popular town of St. Jacobs, which is also known for it's Mennonite heritage and huge farmer's market, and 15 km from Elmira.

More Southwestern Ontario 'Cool': Niagara Falls froze l 10,000 butterflies l Napoleon's brother's honeymoon l North America's first oil well l Icewine l Uncle Tom's Cabin l The Tipping Point l world's most lilacs l world's first long distance phone call l Hockey Legend Wayne Gretzky l one of North America's largest POW WOW's l Johnny Cash proposal

Click on the Canada Cool Map below and discover destinations nation wide that make Canada Cool