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DCN Toronto >> Agenda

Agenda

07:30 - 09:15

Hall 3

iMasons Canada Chapter | Breakfast Briefing

This co-located Breakfast Briefing, hosted by iMasons Canada, takes place ahead of the official start of DCN Toronto and is open to all delegates.

Join industry leaders for a morning of fresh insights, candid conversation, and meaningful connection at the iMasons Canada Local Chapter | Breakfast Briefing.

Kick off the morning with networking over breakfast, before learning about the latest initiatives, milestones, and upcoming announcements shaping the data center community. The highlight of the morning is a panel discussion, diving into the trends, challenges, and opportunities defining the sector. The iMasons Breakfast Briefing wraps up with open networking – so come ready to connect, exchange ideas, and keep the conversation going.

iMasons Canada Breakfast Briefing Agenda

  • 7:30 – 8:00am | iMasons Breakfast + Networking
  • 8:15 – 8:30am | Opening Remarks from iMasons Canada Chapter
  • 8:30 – 9:00am | Panel Discussion
  • 9:00 – 9:15am | Networking

DCN Toronto begins with DCN’s Welcome Address at 09:20am

08:00 - 09:20

EXPO AREA

Registration & Welcome Breakfast

09:20 - 09:30

HALL 1

Welcome Address | DCN

Welcome to DCN Toronto 2026, beginning with an address from Data Center Nation.

09:30 - 10:10

HALL 1

Canada’s AI moment: Building the powerhouse in the North

Canada is entering a pivotal phase in the build-out of AI-ready digital infrastructure. As demand accelerates from AI workloads, cloud expansion, and network densification, the country’s data centre sector faces a defining question: is Canada ready to scale at pace? This opening panel brings together data centre operators and ecosystem leaders to examine the practical foundations of Canada’s AI ambitions, from power availability and grid resilience, to land, interconnection, regulation, and long-term planning. While Canada offers clear advantages, including renewable energy, geographic scale, and policy momentum, operators continue to navigate permitting complexity, regulatory uncertainty, and market conditions.

This discussion sets the scene for how Canada can support next-generation AI infrastructure, what constraints must be addressed, and where collaboration between operators and their partners will be essential to turn ambition into execution.

HALL 2

Powering Sovereign AI: Can Canada control its digital future?

As Canada scales AI infrastructure, sovereignty is no longer just a policy ambition – it is being defined by the commercial realities of who builds, owns, and operates the country’s digital backbone.
 
With hyperscalers driving demand, global capital funding expansion, and cross-border networks underpinning AI workloads, how much control does Canada truly retain over its digital future?
 
This session brings together data centre operators, interconnection leaders, and market experts to explore how sovereignty plays out in practice, from ownership structures and customer concentration to data flows, political support, and ecosystem dependency. Join this session to learn where can Canada assert control, where is interdependence unavoidable, and what does that mean for the long-term competitiveness of its AI economy?

10:20 - 10:55

HALL 1

Deploying 800VDC architectures for large-amperage data centers

AI is redefining the scale, speed, and risk profile of modern data centers—pushing power architectures beyond the limits of traditional AC design. This session explores how 800VDC distribution, enabled by medium voltage solid state transformers and modular power delivery, lays the foundation for gigawatt scale, AI ready facilities. Attendees will gain a forward-looking view of how direct to rack DC power can improve resilience, safety, and adaptability while accelerating the path to future-ready infrastructure.

HALL 2

From server racks to city blocks: Canada’s waste-heat revolution

As Canadian cities increasingly adopt district heating networks, data centers are finding innovative ways to reuse waste heat and reduce water consumption to benefit local communities and the environment. Canadian operators are demonstrating how heat recovery is a well-proven, reliable, readily available, and sustainable energy source for heating and colling of offices, residences, and other facilities.
 
This session explores how waste heat reuse from data centers can become a widespread, energy efficient, cost-effective solution for managing the growing thermal output and water consumption of data centers. With the need for fuel flexible clean energy production increasing and pressure on the electrical grid rising, leveraging waste heat not only supports local communities but also contributes to Canada’s climate and carbon reduction goals and fuel independence (or alternatively using the word flexibility). Join this discussion to see how Canadian data centers are turning energy waste into opportunity.

HALL 3

Powering the one mega-watt rack data center

Driven by the AI revolution, the data center construction boom is now a major economic force. This is injecting hundreds of billions of dollars directly into the economy for construction, specialized labor, and the procurement of IT hardware. This scale of investment necessitates a fundamental, strategic evolution in data center design to meet economic and technical realities. The issue faced by data center partners including hyperscale and neocloud data center operators, co-location providers, enterprise users, and technology providers is that siloed efforts produce competing design requirements that slows innovations and extends deployment timelines. To achieve economic efficiencies standardizations are needed to enable late-binding decisions, such as deploying GPUs or other AI accelerators within a given data center facility. This talk will discuss the latest open innovations being worked by the OCP Community on key data center infrastructure challenges: power, cooling, mechanical, and management telemetry

10:55 - 11:30

Coffee Break

11:30 - 12:05

HALL 1

Interruptible AI Models: Creating loads that are a benefit, not a hinderance to the electrical grid

This panel will discuss edge inference and curtailable load planning to benefit the electrical grid.

HALL 2

From traditional to transformational: Making the Enterprise data centre AI ready

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future roadmap item—it is a present day operational reality. From training large language models to running real time inference at scale, AI workloads are placing unprecedented demands on enterprise data centres that were largely designed for virtualization, predictable workloads, and incremental growth.
Today’s enterprises face a fundamental challenge: how to evolve existing data centre infrastructure—often decades in the making—into platforms capable of supporting AI at scale, without compromising reliability, sustainability, or business continuity. This is not a simple lift and shift problem. It requires rethinking power, cooling, physical design, network architecture, operations, and even organizational readiness.
In this session, we’ll explore what it truly means to make an existing enterprise data centre “AI ready.” Our panel will discuss real world constraints, trade offs, and lessons learned from early adopters, as well as practical pathways for modernizing infrastructure while balancing cost, risk, and speed to value.

HALL 3

From grid to groundbreaking: The new realities of data center development in Canada

Canada has all the ingredients to become a leader in data center growth, but expansion is no longer constrained by land or demand alone. As AI workloads drive unprecedented power requirements and higher-density builds, access to grid capacity has emerged as a major bottleneck – but is it the defining one? This session explores how developers are rethinking site selection, design, and delivery in a market where speed-to-power is as critical as speed-to-market. From Montreal’s hydro advantage to Toronto’s connectivity edge, can Canada move fast enough to stay competitive for global capital? Join industry leaders to unpack the opportunities, and the constraints, shaping the next phase of Canadian growth.

12:15 - 12:50

HALL 1

Scaling the AI Factory with full-stack, digitally orchestrated infrastructure

Explore how AI factories scale faster with repeatable, factory-assembled blocks for power, cooling, and infrastructure. Tifft Gannon will outline how digital-first, physics-driven design powered by NVIDIA Omniverse reduces on-site work, accelerates deployment, and enables future-ready capacity.

HALL 2

No room for downtime: Inside the infrastructure that keeps Canada alive

Most infrastructure teams measure uptime in nines. Anu Young’s team measures it in surgeries that can’t be cancelled, plasma that can’t be missed, and transplants that can’t wait.As Director of Infrastructure at Canadian Blood Services, Anu runs the systems behind Canada’s blood, plasma, organ matching, stem cell, and neonatal testing operations — where a maintenance window in the wrong moment can mean a hospital without supply or a viable organ without a recipient.

CBS is in the middle of a complete data centre redesign, modernizing core systems while holding the line on sovereignty, security, and the kind of resilience that doesn’t allow for “mostly working.”In this fireside chat, Anu shares how she’s approaching that redesign, how her team makes real-time tradeoffs between change and stability, and what mission-critical actually demands from infrastructure leaders in 2026.

Expect a frontline view of sovereign healthcare infrastructure — and a few moments that will change how you think about uptime.

HALL 3

The fiber fast lane: Accelerating Canada’s data center connectivity

Canada’s data center boom isn’t just about power and space: it’s about connectivity. With a robust national fiber backbone already in place, operators are focusing on upgrades to meet the high-density, AI-driven workloads of today and tomorrow. This session explores the current state of Canadian telecoms infrastructure, highlighting opportunities and challenges for data center operators: from fiber redundancy and cross-border latency, to the need for diverse routes in Western Canada. Lean how Canada’s telecom infrastructure is adapting to hyperscale demands, supporting enterprise workloads, and enabling the country to compete as a premier AI-ready data center hub.

12:50 - 14:00

Lunch

14:00 - 14:35

HALL 1

From first flow to operations: Mastering commissioning of cooling systems

Data center delivery is accelerating across Canada, but commissioning of water-based cooling systems is often under-resourced. Incomplete flushing, incorrect flow rates, and poor coordination between trades can quickly surface, driving costly rework and delaying operations. Delivering cooling systems that perform from day one requires strong on-site oversight to ensure proper cleaning, flushing, and system readiness. At the same time, the industry is shifting toward closed-loop and more efficient cooling designs, changing how water is used across the lifecycle. While these systems reduce long-term consumption, the initial clean and flush phase still generates significant volumes of wastewater, and managing that wastewater, while meeting municipal requirements and sustainability goals, is becoming a critical challenge. In practice, water strategy and commissioning are becoming closely linked, and addressing them early is essential to avoid transferring risk to operations teams and incurring unnecessary capital costs to correct water quality issues after go-live.

HALL 2

Developing talent for Canada’s evolving data center industry

Canada’s data center boom is fuelling unprecedented demand for skilled talent, from electrical engineers and sustainability specialists to construction crews and AI infrastructure architects. Yet, with competition from other sectors and regions, the talent pipeline is under strain. This session examines how the private and public sectors are collaborating to bridge the skills gap, create pathways for technical training, and attract the next generation of data center professionals. As AI, sustainability, and automation reshape operations, what will the future Canadian workforce need to look like, and who’s preparing them for it?

HALL 3

From East to the West: Positioning Canada for the next wave of data centre growth

As global demand for compute accelerates, Canada is emerging as a strategically important data centre market, but the benefits, tradeoffs, and pathways to growth vary significantly by region. This panel explores how Western Canada can position itself within the next phase of data centre development, set against broader global data centre trends, hyperscaler investment preferences, and the growing importance of sovereign compute. Industry leaders will explore what really drives data centre investment decisions in Canada, from power and land economics to sustainability, talent availability, and policy, and examine how these choices shape long-term regional competitiveness.

14:45 - 15:20

HALL 1

Scaling for AI: Is modular cooling the long-awaited breakthrough?

As AI workloads redefine data center design, the ability to scale quickly and efficiently has become critical. Modular cooling is emerging as a key enabler, reshaping how infrastructure is designed, deployed, and expanded to meet rapidly shifting demand. However, operators still face major hurdles, including supply chain delays and increasing power and water constraints. At the same time, they must meet stricter ESG requirements while ensuring reliability, redundancy, and predictable performance at scale. Join this session as it brings together industry perspectives to explore whether modular, pre-engineered cooling systems can deliver on the promise of faster, scalable, AI-ready infrastructure – and redefine how data centers will be built in the future.

HALL 2

Canada: The new frontier for global investment & data center growth

Canada’s data center market has never been more attractive to investors. Valued at US$5.4 billion in 2024, the sector is projected to more than double to US$12.3 billion by 2030, achieving a CAGR of 14.5%. Growth is being driven by rapid cloud adoption, a massive 5G rollout, and rising demand for AI-ready infrastructure. With supportive government policies, affordable renewable energy, and a naturally cool climate, Canada is emerging as a prime destination for investors seeking stable, long-term partnerships with data center operators. Yet, with challenges such as foreign ownership restrictions, and navigating Canada’s regulatory landscape, this session is your guide to overcoming the hurdles to successful investment in Canadian data centers.

HALL 3

When hydropower dries up: Navigating the next energy challenge

Canada faces a defining question: what will power the future of its digital infrastructure?
 
Hydropower remains the backbone of Canada’s clean energy mix, generating about 60% of national electricity, yet new dam projects face growing environmental and community resistance. With limited room for expansion, attention is shifting to hydrogen, small modular reactors (SMRs), and advanced grid solutions to meet surging demand.
 
This session examines the trade-offs and opportunities in Canada’s evolving energy mix. Will tomorrow’s data centers run on hydro, hydrogen, or nuclear? And if the AI boom slows, can the industry use that pause to advance renewable innovation and meet Canada’s climate and conservation goals? Join this session to explore how Canada can balance sustainability, reliability, and growth while protecting the natural splendor of the Great White North.

15:25 - 16:00

HALL 1

Containerized liquid cooling solutions for Canada’s data centers

Containerized liquid cooling is emerging as a practical solution for Canada’s evolving data center landscape, where rising compute density meets strict energy and climate demands. This session explores the key challenges facing data centers, while highlighting the opportunities that containerized liquid systems can unlock.

HALL 2

From colocation to hyperscalers: North America's AI-driven construction boom

AI infrastructure is rapidly reshaping data center construction across North America, from colocation providers to hyperscalers building at unprecedented scale. As demand for high-density compute accelerates, operators and developers are rethinking how data centers are designed, engineered, and constructed to support next-generation AI workloads. This session focuses on the construction and delivery strategies enabling that shift: power densification within new builds and retrofits, the integration of liquid and hybrid cooling into facility design, and construction approaches that enable rapid, scalable capacity expansion across diverse environments. From campus development and energy procurement through to fibre architecture and build-out execution, this panel will explore how operators and developers are aligning design, engineering, and construction models to meet the demands of AI-driven growth.

16:00 - 17:00

Networking Drinks Reception

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