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Event Details

November 13th, 2025

CIGF 2025: Canadian Leadership Through Change

From AI governance and digital rights to trade policy and cybersecurity, the forum will bring together leaders from government, civil society, academia, and the private sector for timely, forward-looking discussions on Canada’s role in shaping the future of the internet. 
Details

Agenda

Morning
Afternoon
Program
  • Registration - 8th Floor
  • Time: 8:30 A.M.
  • Location: Foyer
  • Continental breakfast
  • Time: 8:30 A.M.
  • Location: Dining area
  • Welcome to Canadian IGF 2025: Canadian Leadership Through Change
  • Time: 9:00 A.M.
  • Location: Plenary stage
  • Speaker: Vass Bednar, Managing Director, Canadian SHIELD Institute for Public Policy
  • Keynote 1: Byron Holland, President & CEO, CIRA
  • Time: 9:15 A.M.
  • Location: Plenary stage
  • Panel 1 - Canadian Digital Sovereignty: The Government of Canada’s Digital Agenda
  • Time: 9:45 A.M.
  • Location: Plenary Stage
  • Dr. Michael Geist, Law Professor, University of Ottawa
  • Vass Bednar, Managing Director, Canadian SHIELD Institute for Public Policy
  • Mira Gillis, COO, Young Digital Leaders of Canada
  • Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia, Technology, Business & Public Policy Executive
  • Duncan Cass-Beggs, Executive Director of the Global AI Risks Initiative, CIGI
  • Without digital sovereignty, can Canada’s digital policy agenda truly move forward, or will it remain shaped by the priorities of its largest trading partner? Our opening panel will serve as a broad framing conversation, introducing a range of key digital policy themes, including digital sovereignty that will be explored in greater depth during later panels.
  • Networking break
  • Time: 10:45 A.M.
  • Location: Dining area
  • Panel 2 - Cybersecurity in Canada
  • Time: 11:00 A.M.
  • Location: Plenary Stage
  • Jon Ferguson, Vice-president for Cyber & DNS, CIRA
  • Kate Robertson, Senior Research Associate at the Citizen Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
  • Brent J. Arnold, Founder, Capstan Legal
  • Andre Arbour, Director General of Telecommunications and Internet Policy, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
  • This panel examines the most pressing cyber threats facing Canadians today and discuss how the country can strengthen its defences. Panelists will explore how Canada’s cybersecurity governance must adapt to address an evolving and increasingly complex threat landscape.
  • Lunch
  • Time: 12:00 P.M.
  • Location: Dining area
Program
  • Keynote 2: Marie-Julie Desrochers, Executive Director, Coalition for the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
  • Time: 1:00 P.M.
  • Location: Plenary stage
  • Panel 3: AI Governance: the next frontier for digital policy
  • Time: 1:30 P.M.
  • Location: Plenary stage
  • Mark Schaan, Associate Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
  • Ashley Casovan, Managing Director, IAPP's Governance Center
  • Victoria Kuketz, 2025 Obama Foundation Scholar, Director of Corporate Engagement, Catalyst
  • Jaxson Khan, Senior Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto
  • This panel explores how governments can balance the drive for innovation with the need for digital protections. How should policy makers and AI programmers harness the transformative potential of AI to address complex social and economic challenges, while ensuring that its development and use remain firmly rooted in the public interest?
  • Networking break
  • Time: 2:30 P.M.
  • Location: Dining area
  • Panel 4 - Towards WSIS+20
  • Time: 2:45 P.M.
  • Location: Plenary stage
  • Charles Noir, Vice-president, Community Investment, Policy & Advocacy, CIRA
  • Dana Cramer, Founder, President, and CEO of the Young Digital Leaders of Canada
  • Isra Rosas, Director of Partnerships and Internet Development, Internet Society
  • Becky McGilley, Senior Director for Government Engagement Operations, ICANN
  • Kelly Anderson, Director for International Cyber Policy, Global Affairs Canada
  • Jenna Fung, Senior Campaigner, Open Media
  • Twenty years after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), this panel reflects on lessons learned and assess the relevance of the multistakeholder model in an era of fragmented platforms and shifting geopolitics.
  • Town hall: The Government of Canada’s Digital Agenda
  • Time: 3:45 P.M.
  • Location: Plenary Stage
  • Victoria Kuketz, 2025 Obama Foundation Scholar, Director of Corporate Engagement,Catalyst
  • Vass Bednar, Managing Director, Canadian SHIELD Institute for Public Policy
  • Where does the next generation of policy makers and influencers see potential, and risk, from what’s over the horizon? How do our issues resonate for non-expert audiences? The closing town hall session of CIGF 2025 opens the floor to new everyone in the room and online to pose follow-up questions, fresh ideas, and challenges to recommendations and themes from earlier in the day.
  • Reception
  • Time: 4:30 P.M.
  • Location: Dining area