Canada’s priority sectors need more than investment. They need the people, ideas, and partnerships to deliver.
One month after the Prime Minister’s Investment Summit, the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) and RBC, will bring together BHER members and select leaders from business, higher education, and government to focus on the next question in Canada’s economic agenda: what will it take to deliver?
The discussion will draw on BHER’s Leadership Tables in AI, energy, national security and health, alongside broader opportunities emerging from Canada’s investment agenda. Our goal is practical: identify the partnerships, commitments, and next steps needed to deliver on Canada’s economic ambition.
Program Highlights
- Welcome from Val Walker, CEO, BHER
- Opening Remarks and Setting the Stage by Dave McKay, CEO, RBC
- A Global Company Perspective on Accessing Big Tech Platforms
Moderated by John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President, Office of the CEO, RBC
- Jai Haridas, VP & GM, Regulated and Sovereign Cloud, Google, USA
- John Watson, Group President, Business Markets, AI Fabric, Bell Cyber and Ateko, Bell
- Industry-specific Breakout Groups Discussions
- AI: Talent Readiness and Digital Innovation
Led by Martin Basiri, Founder & CEO, Passage - Energy: Workforce Capacity and Industrial Innovation
Led by Heather Chalmers, President & CEO, GE Vernova Canada - National Security: Defence, Space, and Dual-Use Technology
Led by Goldy Hyder, President & CEO, Business Council of Canada - Health: Talent, Delivery Systems, and Life Sciences
Led by Melanie Woodin, President, University of Toronto
- AI: Talent Readiness and Digital Innovation
- What We Heard and What Happens Next
Moderated by Val Walker, CEO, BHER
- A Moderated Discussion with the Working Session Chairs and Broader Group
- Aligning Government Perspectives with Leslie Church, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Jobs and Families, and Karim Bardeesy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry
- Networking Reception