2026 Smart Growth Symposium

Table talks are intimate roundtable sessions that explore opportunities to drive innovation and sustainability across sectors with fellow industry and academic experts. This is a chance to share insights, spark ideas, and help shape Ontario’s path to growth and resilience.

As Ontario navigates economic uncertainty alongside the transition to a low-carbon future, finance will be critical to enabling smart, resilient growth. 

With the rise of green taxonomies, sustainable finance instruments, and data-driven investment approaches, capital markets need to evolve to invest in climate resiliency and sustainable innovation. 

This panel explores how Ontario can mobilize private and public investments and incentives and pre-existing assets to catalyze opportunities for growth, and ensure Ontario remains competitive in the global green economy. 

Ontario’s infrastructure systems are central to building a resilient and competitive economy, essential to supporting growth in AI, energy, and advanced technologies amid rising global and security pressures. From scaling data centres and modernizing the electricity grid to advancing clean energy and dual-use innovations across defence and industry, the province is investing in the foundations of future prosperity. This session will explore how strategic infrastructure investments and policy can strengthen domestic capacity, enhance productivity, secure critical systems, and position Ontario’s economy for long-term growth.

MP Jennifer McKelvie, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, and Dr. Shoshanna Saxe, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Infrastructure at the University of Toronto, will discuss how housing and infrastructure drive growth and community development, and examine federal priorities to accelerate homebuilding, support growing communities, strengthen infrastructure, and build a more sustainable, competitive economy.

From planning to delivery, Infrastructure Ontario will share how building and expanding the infrastructure that powers Ontario’s growth, from transit-oriented communities to housing, is essential to creating more sustainable, connected, and livable communities.

Ontario’s agrifood sector is central to building a sustainable and resilient economy, and essential to safeguarding food security in times of economic, climate, and land-use pressures. Supporting the vision of the province’s Grow Ontario strategy, the sector is harnessing agritech solutions such as AI, robotics, and data-driven farming, while strengthening farm-to-table connections and supporting farms for the future. This session will explore how sustainable innovation can bolster productivity, reduce emissions, and strengthen Ontario’s agrifood sector for generations to come.

As cities evolve to meet future needs, Toronto’s Port Lands redevelopment represents one of North America’s most ambitious urban transformations. This keynote explores the reimagining of 300 hectares of waterfront, where flood protection, ecological restoration, and community connectivity converge to create a resilient, vibrant model for urban living. Hear from Waterfront Toronto on how mixed-use development, sustainability, and people-centred design are redefining what it means to engineer for the future.