A group of alumni from the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia is launching a new Canadian social media platform they say will provide a "homegrown alternative to U.S.-dominated" sites.

Co-founder and CEO of Northsocial.ca, Colin Schmidt, says in a news release that the goal is to provide a place for Canadians to communicate and connect without the influence of "big-tech algorithms that are out of our control."

The release from the university says the platform is built with Canadian technology and private data is stored on Canadian servers. 

The website is live, with an app on the way, and they say they plan to add groups, a built-in marketplace and gaming features.

It includes a vertical scroll of posts, similar to Facebook or X, that allow users to comment and react, but there are some distinctive Canadian flares, including a profile icon depicting a person in a toque and checkered shirt, a public forum icon of a honking Canada goose and a private messages icon showing maple leaves inside speech bubbles.

Schmidt says the biggest challenge is building a user base, which is now their focus.

The release says it only had a few hundred users in the first eight months, but has grown "tenfold in the past six weeks."

“Social media platforms look simple to the user, but they’re anything but,” Schmidt says in the release. 

“One user may have 100 posts in their feed, and one of those posts may have a million comments or likes. That creates unique technical obstacles our team has had to overcome.” 

The platform is owned by Zynim Media Inc., a Chilliwack-based company.