Impact Talks - Confederation 2.0: Designing a Future-Ready Canada

Vass Bednar, Managing Director, Canadian SHIELD Institute

Ryan Clarke, Executive Director, Advocacy, Noviscend, Inc.

Gaétan Houle, Enterprise CISO, Fortinet

Impact Talks is an immersive experience that brings bold ideas, powerful stories, and meaningful connections together to explore what’s next for Canada.

This year’s theme, Confederation 2.0: Designing a Future-Ready Canada, reimagines our country as an interconnected network — where healthcare, finance, technology, and infrastructure work across boundaries instead of within silos. By weaving provinces, sectors, and systems together, we can build a more resilient, prosperous, and collaborative nation.

At Impact Talks, you’ll:

● Engage with bold ideas that challenge how Canada works today.

● Hear from leaders offering fresh perspectives on what it takes to build systems that work across boundaries.

● Join conversations in roundtables and receptions that invite every participant to contribute.

● Be part of a community that leaves inspired and ready to turn insight into action.

It’s a gathering for people who care about our collective future — who want to think beyond silos, collaborate across sectors, and help shape what comes next.

Vass Bednar is recognized as one of Canada's sharpest policy minds. She co-founded McMaster University's Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program in 2020 and is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Vass is co-author of The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians and writes for The Globe and Mail's Report on Business, focusing on policies, technologies, and corporate forces shaping Canadian lives and economic futures.

Ryan Clarke is a healthcare strategist and founder of Advocacy Solutions, where he helps organizations and patients navigate complex systems through advocacy, policy, and innovation. His perspective on turning advocacy into a practical skill for achieving interoperability and better health outcomes aligns directly with Impact Talks’ mission to spotlight ideas shaping a more connected, future-ready Canada.

Gaétan Houle is a seasoned executive with deep expertise in cybersecurity, risk management, and national infrastructure resilience, having advised governments and leading corporations on securing Canada’s digital future. His ability to connect emerging threats with actionable strategies makes him an ideal Impact Talks voice on safeguarding the systems that underpin our economy and society.

This event is available to attend in-person only.

Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email [[email protected]] no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

• The event will be hosted in Desautels Hall at the Rotman School of Management (105 Saint George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6).
• Early Bird pricing ends Thursday, November 13 at 11:59 pm.

• Refunds will only be issued for cancellations received in writing NO LATER than 24 hours prior to the event. Please email [email protected] for processing.

Questions: [email protected]

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