Canada's Productivity Initiative: Toronto
The Productivity Challenge: Adoption and Infrastructure for
AI-Powered Growth
Desautels Hall | February 12, 2026
Toronto
About the Session
Improving Canada’s economic productivity is essential to ensuring long-term prosperity, but doing so requires coordinated policies that support innovation, technology adoption and competitiveness across the economy. Business leaders, public policy experts and government officials convened in Toronto on Thursday, February 12, 2026, to assess where Canada stands in its productivity challenge and highlight opportunities for innovation and technology, including AI, to strengthen economic performance.
Insights from the Session
This half-day public session was the final session of Canada’s Productivity Initiative led by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, with this event hosted in collaboration with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
This conference hosted professionals from across business sectors, government, and the wider public sector to explore the key factors shaping Canada’s productivity performance, including technology adoption, regulatory burden, competitiveness issues and the broader economic conditions facing businesses nationwide.
The session featured a fireside chat with Carolyn Rogers, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada and The Honourable Bill Morneau, along with panel discussions bringing together experts from business, academia and government to explore how innovation and technology can strengthen productivity.
Desautels Hall
2nd Floor, South Building, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
"The limited availability of venture capital and senior leadership talent prevents local startups from scaling effectively, prompting young companies and promising talent to relocate to markets like the United States... This brain drain weakens Canada’s innovation pipeline and diminishes its global competitiveness."
Excerpt
Canada's Productivity Summit: What We Heard Report
Canada’s Productivity Initiative: Toronto is presented by the School of Public Policy in partnership with the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Featured Speakers
Carolyn Rogers
Senior Deputy Governor
Bank of Canada
The Honourable Evan Solomon
Minister of Artificial Intelligence & Innovation
Government of Canada
Glenda Crisp
President & CEO
Vector Institute
Theo Argitis
Senior Vice President, Policy
Business Council of Canada
The Honourable Bill Morneau
Former Minister of Finance
Rotman School Executive-in-Residence
Cameron Shuler
Vice President, Industry and Innovation & Chief Commercialization Officer
Vector Institute
Alex LaPlante
Vice President, Cash Management Technology Canada
RBC
Laura Money
Executive Vice President & Chief Information and Technology Innovation Officer
Sun Life
Martha Hall Findlay
Director & James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair
School of Public Policy
University of Calgary
Susan Christoffersen
Dean
Rotman School of Management
Rossitsa Stoyanova
Chief Investment Officer
Investment Management Corporation of Ontario
Toronto Session
Innovation, AI & Technology
February 12, 2026
8:00 am - 12:30 pm ET (Eastern Time)
Speakers
- Susan Christoffersen, Dean, Rotman School of Management
- Karim Bardeesy, Member of Parliament for Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry
- Ted Hewitt, President, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
- Martha Fall Findlay, Director and James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary
Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers, Bank of Canada
In Conversation with The Honourable Bill Morneau, Former Minister of Finance; Rotman School Executive-in-Residence
Speakers
- Dev Saxena, Senior Advisor, OpenAI
- Rossitsa Stoyanova, Chief Investment Officer, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario
- Lief Williams, Managing Director, Infrastructure, Brookfield
Moderator
- The Honourable Bill Morneau, Former Minister of Finance; Rotman School Executive-in-Residence
Speakers
- Alex LaPlante, Vice President, Cash Management Technology Canada, RBC
- Laura Money, Executive Vice-President, Chief Information and Technology Innovation Officer, Sun Life
- Cameron Schuler, Vice President, Industry Innovation and Chief Commercialization Officer, Vector Institute
The Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation
Glenda Crisp, President & CEO, Vector Institute
In Conversation with: Dr. Susan Black, President and Chief Executive Officer, Signal49
The Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation
Sonia Sennik, CEO, Creative Destruction Lab
"By integrating entrepreneurial training into university curricula with partnerships among academia, industry and government, Canada could cultivate a new generation of innovators prepared to drive economic growth."
Excerpt
Canada's Productivity Summit: What We Heard Report
Contact Us
If you have any further questions, please contact our team and one of our members will get back to you as soon as possible.
General Event Info
productivity@ucalgary.ca
Media Inquiries
Gord Der Stepanian
gord.derstepanian@ucalgary.ca