The inaugural edition of Hello Canada will examine four central themes, each instrumental to redefining the nation’s role as a primary architect of the 22nd century.
On the eve of the main program, the full assembly of Hello Canada will gather for The Dominion Ball – a black-tie masquerade of ideas, influence, and ambition. A luminous celebration of Canadian culinary excellence, the evening will unfold over a multi-course dining experience, paired with the finest in Canadian wine, spirits, and culture, where fateful encounters will inflame catalytic exchanges, and unexpected alliances will be quietly forged – destined to reverberate long after the final glass is raised.
The Dominion Ball is not simply an evening of revelry – it is the overture to a new national conversation. The night will open with a welcoming address from one of Canada’s most recognizable indigenous business leaders, setting the tone for the celebration ahead. Afterward, a roundtable exchange hosted by a leading Canadian media personality will confront a question that sits at the heart of the gathering:
Who will write the story of Canada’s future?
As the conversations of Hello Canada unfold, the stakes will be set – not through passive reflection, but through the act of deliberate creation. For too long, the country’s identity has been shaped by what it is not rather than by what it seeks to become. Yet, beneath the surface of this uncertainty lies a deeper story – a nation built upon the resilience of its Indigenous peoples, the ingenuity of its immigrants, and a diversity that is unmatched on the global stage.
In a world where influence is projected through cultural and intellectual dominance, Canada must ask itself: will it remain an observer, or will it at last claim its place as an architect of the future – one unapologetically its own?
I. THE CONCRETE WORLD – AN ARCHITECTURE OF A LOST FUTURE
Once, cities were built to inspire – to cultivate ambition, foster belonging, and serve as living testaments to human potential.
Today, they are systems strained to the breaking point – landscapes where new world towers mask eroding foundations, and growth is too often mistaken for vitality.
Across Canada, the consequences of political inertia, degraded infrastructure, housing scarcity, fragmented transit, and deferred innovation have converged into a national crisis of competitiveness, health, and belonging. Our cities are becoming unlivable precisely when the world’s brightest talent, capital, and ideas are searching for new homes.
If the 20th century was the era of extraction and expansion, the 21st demands something far more difficult: renewal. To prosper, Canada must treat its cities not as artifacts to be maintained, but as living systems to be reimagined – engines of human creativity, health, and opportunity.
This is not a question of incremental reform; it is the act of reconstructing the national imagination – to synthesize digital innovation, urban design, and civic purpose into a new architecture of global relevance.
A future will be built either way. The only question is whether we will inhabit it – or inherit it.
II. GENERATION A(I) – ARCHITECTS OF DISCOVERY, CONSUMERS OF WEALTH
Canada has produced some of the most groundbreaking artificial intelligence research of the 21st century, yet it remains a nation of discovery, not commercialization. Our universities have shaped the foundations of deep learning, reinforcement learning, and generative intelligence, yet the economic value of these innovations is too often realized elsewhere – monetized by foreign technology giants while Canadian-built enterprises struggle to scale.
As the U.S. accelerates AI investment and India and China race to fortify their own AI superpower status, Canada stands at a crossroads. Will we assert our place in the global AI economy, forging new pathways for commercialization, or continue as a silent engine of talent and innovation fueling others’ prosperity? The answer lies in bridging the gap between research and scale – between invention and industry dominance.
The choice is clear: will Canada finally transform its AI leadership into economic power, or watch as another generational opportunity slips away?
III. NOW: ZERO – CYBERSECURITY IN THE AGE OF ASYMMETRIC WARFARE
The battlegrounds of dominion are no longer land, sea, or sky – they are invisible landscapes, shifting in the slipstream of binary code. Artificial intelligence has unleashed an era of cyber warfare where financial markets, infrastructure, and even public trust are manipulated at an unprecedented scale. Security is no longer a passive defense; it is an instrument of dominance. Those who command the digital realm will dictate the architecture of global power, while those who fail to adapt will not merely fall behind – they will be systematically erased from relevance.
For decades, Canada has relied on foreign-built fortresses for digital defense, assuming stability in an era of escalating volatility. But cybersecurity is not just about defense – it is the new frontier of economic and geopolitical influence. Nations that master digital resilience will not only secure their infrastructure but also control the industries of the future. Will Canada seize this moment to build and export a sovereign cybersecurity economy, or will it remain dependent on safeguards designed by others?
IV. CURRENCY AND CONSEQUENCE – REWRITING THE RULES OF ECONOMIC POWER
For decades, Canada’s prosperity was built on the assumption that globalization was both inevitable and irreversible. Open markets, stable trade relationships, and the free flow of goods, capital, and labour defined the post-war economic order – one in which Canada flourished as a trusted middle power. But that world is dissolving.
As economic nationalism eclipses free-market ideology, supply chains have become instruments of coercion, tariffs weapons of control, and financial systems battlefields of influence. The United States is prioritizing self-interest over alliances, China is constructing parallel trade and currency networks, and the dominance of the U.S. dollar faces its first credible challenge in a century.
Meanwhile, a quieter revolution is unfolding at home. Open banking, embedded finance, decentralized infrastructure, and regulatory innovation are no longer peripheral concepts – they are reshaping the competitive frontier. Canada has the talent, the institutions, and the trust to lead – but risks being left behind if it cannot accelerate its response.
This is no longer a conversation about monetary policy. It is a call to redesign the financial architecture of the country. How do we modernize legacy systems without eroding public confidence? Can traditional banks co-create new models of trust and exchange with emerging fintechs? What role should government play in laying the digital foundations of the next economy?
In a world where financial systems are being weaponized and innovation moves faster than regulation, Canada’s choice is stark: redefine relevance – or risk being defined by others.