For Gregory Quesnel, technology isn't new to his business.

"A lot of the content that we're generating ends up on, you know, Google Plus, Facebook, Snapchat and such," said the small business owner.

But when it comes to Facebook, Quesnel is relatively new. He owns an IT and media production company and is one of 400 small business owners who attended Facebook's ‘Boost your Business’ event to learn more about the platform.

"Honestly, i was scrolling through Facebook on my phone. I saw an ad for the event and I hadn't heard anything about it,” said Quesnel, who owns 360vid.ca.

“So I decided to investigate a little bit further; it looked interesting. I recently helped one of my clients launch their own Facebook page."

The Boost your Business showed attendees how to reach certain demographics, decrease spending, and even engage with clients through photos and videos. It is part of a cross-Canada Facebook information tour.

"Having a presence on Facebook is just a really easy way to be able to have an online presence and be able to connect with customers, not just locally, but really around the country and around the world," said Kevin Chan, head of public policy for Facebook Canada.

This presence was brought to life by representatives from three local businesses — Leopold’s Tavern, Tangerine: The Food Bar and Hillberg & Berk — which have thrived because of Facebook. Suzanne Barber of Hillberg & Berk shared how it has helped the company she works for.

"Because we're engaging with our audiences there,that's where they're seeing us; that's where they know us,” said Barber, a digital media strategist at Hillberg & Berk. “It allows us to be a little more human with our interaction.”

Aside from learning how Facebook can help one boost their business, attendees also learned what to be aware of when using online platforms.

"It's important to consider whether appropriate measures of encryption are put in place,” said

Brent Homan, director general of PIPEDA, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

“It's important to ensure that only those individuals that have a reason to access that information, can access that information."

The power of online tools can now be seen in over 50 million small business pages from around the world.

"We wouldn't be the company we are today without Facebook," said Barber.