February 23, 2026 | By Coutney Shea, Stephanie Verge and Angrea Yui. Illustrations by Ryan Shook | Toronto Life
Coming up with one truly great idea is impressive. Turning that impressive idea into a real-world innovation requires not only the spark of inspiration but also a relentless drive to conduct research, build prototypes, test functionalities and refine processes—over and over again.
It’s the kind of single-minded commitment that’s on display across the city and all along the Toronto-Waterloo corridor, where solutions to problems big and small are being cooked up in university classrooms, hospital labs and start-up meeting rooms. Life-saving transplant technology, reusable 3D-printed soil, wearable robotics for kids with physical disabilities and gum that cleans your teeth are just a few of the breakthroughs in the pages ahead. What do they all have in common? The power to change lives for the better.
Smart City: 20 mind-blowing Toronto inventions that are changing the world
A mini drill that retrofits old buildings with green energy
Buildings are the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in Toronto, accounting for more than half of the city’s total emissions. The culprits: fossil fuels, such as gas, used for heating and cooling. Replacing them with geothermal energy can reduce a building’s carbon footprint by up to 70 per cent, but for that to happen, a 10-metre drill rig must dig boreholes to create pathways for heat exchange before construction. Working to change that is Thermacity, a local construction technology company. In 2023, it started developing a miniaturized driller small enough to fit into existing buildings—a significant step toward retrofitting older building stock.
Just two metres tall, the compact tool can drill boreholes from the lowest level of a parking garage. It uses a self-correcting remotely monitored system, which means it doesn’t require constant supervision by an operator, making it more efficient. The resulting geothermal energy can be coupled with a building’s wind and solar capabilities, unlocking the possibility for city-wide decarbonization.
Patents are pending for both the drill and its steering system, but Thermacity has already completed engineering studies for Toronto Western Hospital and Exhibition Place, along with more than 70 other properties across Canada, including office spaces, condo buildings, community centres and data centres.