1.5 PDUs (Power Skills: 0.5; Business Acumen: 1)

Securing Canada's Advantage in Artificial Intelligence

Canada is at a critical juncture to secure its advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) by strengthening its digital infrastructure, especially data centres. These facilities are fundamental to AI adoption, economic growth, and national security. Without robust data centres and reliable power, Canada risks falling behind in the global digital economy and missing out on the productivity gains that AI can deliver.

Chronic underinvestment in utility infrastructure, combined with rapidly increasing AI workloads, has created severe power constraints. A single AI query can consume significantly more electricity than traditional digital tasks, making urgent improvements to the power grid and related infrastructure essential. The expansion of renewable energy is underway, but must accelerate to meet surging demand. Innovative solutions such as optimizing data centre cooling, redistributing excess heat to communities, and using predictive analytics for smart power planning are needed.

Regulatory challenges and outdated infrastructure further complicate the expansion of critical data centre capacity. If these issues are not addressed, growing power demands could disrupt the foundation of Canada’s digital transformation.

The concept of AI sovereignty will be explored, emphasizing that Canada must balance domestic and international capabilities to ensure critical data remains subject to Canadian laws. The location and movement of data are central to data resiliency, security, and sovereignty.

About the Speaker

Marc Mondesir, Managing Director, Canada / Directeur General, Canada, Equinix

Marc is an energetic tech executive with experience in digital transformation and delivering business impact. He has been in the IT/XaaS space for over 25 years and loves helping leaders and businesses succeed. 

His knack is identifying opportunities, bringing them to market and delivering growth by galvanizing diverse teams... with authenticity, passion, and strategy.

He aims to do good in this world through (inclusive) growth, leadership and culture.

Location | Join the Meeting

Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Virtual room opens: 6:15 p.m.

Live Streaming Zoom

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• Free to all!

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