A Season to Remember: Celebrating Community at R+T Park

There’s something special about event season at the David Johnston Research + Technology Park.

From Beer Gardens and soccer to Pride celebrations, an intern social, a founders walk and BioBlitz, 2026 gave us plenty of opportunities to step away from our desks, get outside and connect with the people who make R+T Park such a vibrant place to work. It was a season that reminded us R+T Park is more than a place to work. It’s a community.

Kicking off summer together

The season started May 28 with the first R+T Park Beer Garden, bringing the community together for an afternoon of local beer from Block 3 Brewing, food from Los Rolling Tacos and plenty of conversation in the sunshine.

In June, the Beer Garden returned as a Charity Beer Garden and soccer watch party. Together, the R+T Park community raised a record $1,716 for #Farwell4Hire, supporting Mike Farwell’s fundraising efforts for cystic fibrosis research. June was also an opportunity to celebrate Pride across the Park. Accelerator Centre, EY, OpenText and TextNow were among the organizations creating opportunities to celebrate, learn and build more inclusive workplaces, reinforcing that belonging matters year-round.

Competition and connection

The competitive spirit extended well beyond the Tech Cup this season. Our R+T Park recreational leagues brought together more than 250 players for beach volleyball, drop-in soccer and disc golf, giving people from across the Park a chance to get active, meet their neighbours and enjoy some friendly competition throughout the season.

July also brought one of our biggest sporting events with the second annual R+T Park Tech Cup at the University of Waterloo’s Warrior Field.  Teams from OpenText Waterloo, OpenText Richmond Hill and SAP Waterloo competed for the trophy, with OpenText Waterloo earning a 6-0 championship victory and taking home the Tech Cup for the second consecutive year.

Later that month, we brought the Beer Garden back with R+T Park’s first intern social, creating a dedicated space for co-op students and interns to meet, share experiences and build connections beyond their own workplaces.

Taking networking outside

In August, networking moved out of the meeting room and onto the trail. On August 13, Accelerator Centre hosted another Founders Walk & Talk, sponsored by R+T Park. The concept was simple: no presentations and no pitches. Just fresh air, meaningful conversation and a chance for founders and innovators to connect with people who understand the entrepreneurial journey. It was another reminder that some of the best connections happen when we create space for them to develop naturally.

Ending the season on a wild note

As summer turned to fall, R+T Park teamed up with the University of Waterloo’s Sustainability Office for their fourth annual BioBlitz. From September 21 to 25, community members explored R+T Park and campus, using iNaturalist to identify and document the plants, animals, insects and fungi living around us. It was a fitting way to wrap up a season spent enjoying our outdoor spaces and discovering more about our community, including some of our smallest neighbours.

More than a calendar of events

Looking back, the 2026 event season wasn’t really about Beer Gardens, soccer games or how many species we could find. It was about connection. The colleague you meet over lunch. The competitor you shake hands with after a Tech Cup match. The intern who meets someone from another company. The founder who exchanges an idea while out for a walk. The community that gathers to support a cause. Those moments are what transform a collection of workplaces into a community.

Thank you to everyone who attended, competed, walked, sponsored, organized and helped make our 2026 event season one to remember. We can’t wait to see what brings us together next.