Connect North American Investment in Digital Infrastructure & AI

As AI accelerates data growth and compute demand, Canada faces increasing scrutiny over its reliance on foreign-controlled cloud infrastructure. With many Canadian businesses and government agencies dependent on U.S.-based providers—and subject to extraterritorial data laws such as the CLOUD Act and FISA—concerns around data security, access, and national sovereignty are intensifying. This session will explore whether Canada can pursue a sovereign cloud strategy, how realistic it is to reduce reliance on dominant providers, and what steps can be taken now to protect sensitive public and private data. Panelists will also examine how AI workloads are amplifying these challenges and highlight opportunities for Canadian cloud providers and investors to build secure, domestically anchored alternatives within the realities of Canada–U.S. ties.

• Steven Slavens (Moderator)
  Torys
• Robert Michon
  MicroLogic
• Roger Strukhoff
  International Data Center Authority (IDCA)

This session features a candid conversation with a seasoned digital infrastructure entrepreneur whose career has been shaped by both hard-earned challenges and notable successes. Through personal reflections, the speaker will share lessons learned from ventures that didn’t go as planned, the factors behind early wins, and the best—and worst—advice that influenced key decisions along the way. The discussion will also explore leadership in high-growth, high-risk environments, including how to build strong teams, evaluate partners and talent, and foster collaboration. Set against today’s macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop, the session will offer perspective on whether the industry should proceed with caution or conviction, while highlighting near-term risks and the most compelling growth opportunities ahead in areas such as energy, data sovereignty, and digital infrastructure expansion.

This roundtable brings together a diverse group of investors—including family offices, high-net-worth individuals, middle-market funds, and institutional capital such as pension funds—to examine how they are navigating digital infrastructure investing amid ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. Panelists will share perspectives on the current capital raising and investment environment, including the availability of new sources of equity and debt, evolving hyperscale development trends, and the state of M&A activity in 2025. The discussion will explore how firms are positioning their portfolios—whether buying, selling, or holding—how growth compares to prior years, and whether the sector remains resilient to shifting capital markets, interest rates, inflation, and policy actions. Looking ahead, investors will discuss geographic expansion strategies, near-term challenges, and the most compelling opportunities expected over the next six months.

• Ariana Batori
  Stonepeak
• Benjamin Desmarais
  Novacap
• Stuart Murray
  BlackRock
• Dr. Christopher Stief
  Data Center Partners

As AI workloads grow in scale, intensity, and complexity, they are placing unprecedented demands on digital infrastructure that was never designed for sustained, high-density compute. This session explores how AI-driven workloads are challenging performance, reliability, and scalability while dramatically increasing power consumption and reshaping energy procurement and storage strategies. Speakers will examine how organizations are rethinking energy sources, sustainability practices, and on-site or grid-level storage to manage peak demand and ensure operational resilience. The discussion will also address the growing importance of data sovereignty, as enterprises and governments seek to balance regulatory compliance with the need to efficiently train and deploy AI models across jurisdictions. Panelists will consider how collaboration among technologists, policymakers, and industry leaders will be essential to building resilient, energy-efficient, and compliant digital infrastructure capable of supporting the next wave of AI innovation.

• Janie Dugas (Moderator)
  Vantage Data Centers
• John Hawkins
  IBM
• Bernard Oegema
  Siemens Canada
• Josh Price
  Capstone

Greater Montreal has emerged as a leading hub for digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, supported by a diverse and resilient economy spanning technology, aerospace, gaming, biotechnology, and advanced research. This session will explore how the region’s strong academic institutions, including McGill University, Université de Montréal, and Mila, are driving world-class AI research and fostering deep collaboration between academia, startups, and established enterprises. Panelists will examine why Montreal is uniquely positioned to attract data centers and cloud infrastructure, from its cool climate and access to low-cost, renewable hydroelectric power to its competitive operating environment. The discussion will also highlight how Quebec’s coordinated strategy—through incentives, tax credits, workforce development, and innovation funding—is successfully attracting global AI talent and investment, reinforcing Greater Montreal’s role as a premier destination for next-generation digital infrastructure and AI-driven growth.

• Mark Maclean
  Montreal International

As digital infrastructure and AI workloads drive unprecedented energy demand, this session examines how engineers, energy developers, and investors are reimagining power generation and storage to support scalable, resilient, and increasingly carbon-neutral operations. The discussion will explore whether solar and wind technologies can reliably meet data center requirements, how hydropower—particularly in Quebec—continues to anchor sustainable energy strategies, and where green hydrogen may play a future role in balancing load and decarbonizing operations. Panelists will dive into the rapid evolution of advanced energy storage, including lithium-ion solutions, assessing their impact on reliability, cost efficiency, and peak demand management, while considering Quebec’s unique position in the lithium value chain. Together, these perspectives will highlight how innovation, investment, and regional advantages are shaping the next generation of energy procurement and storage for digital infrastructure.

• Michel Chartier (Moderator)
  WSP in Canada
• Roger Caldwell
  Firm Clean Power Corporation
• Anthony Gordon
  AVAIO Capital
• Eugene Holubnyak
  School of Energy Resources, University of Wyoming
• Dr. Thomas Triplet
  BluWave-ai

Canadian pension funds are increasingly positioning digital infrastructure as a core component of long-term portfolio strategy, reflecting its essential role in a technology-driven global economy. This session will examine how leading institutions such as CPPIB and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are deploying billions of dollars into assets including data centers, fiber networks, and global digital platforms, often through partnerships with private equity and infrastructure managers. Panelists will discuss what has been learned from landmark collaborations, assess the risk-return profile and diversification benefits of digital infrastructure within pension portfolios, and explore whether allocations to digital and energy transition assets are converging. The conversation will also look ahead to how pension fund strategies may evolve, the resilience these investments offer amid market volatility, and the opportunities for other institutional investors to follow similar paths.

• Michael Borron (Moderator)
  Cushman & Wakefield
• Michael Neuman
  CDPQ Real Estate

As global data demand accelerates, digital infrastructure and data centers are undergoing a fundamental transformation in how they are designed, built, and operated. This session explores the latest innovations in architecture, engineering, and construction that are redefining data center performance, resilience, and sustainability, from modular and scalable designs to next-generation cooling, automation, and AI-enabled planning tools such as digital twins. Speakers will examine how sustainable materials, energy-efficient systems, cybersecurity-by-design, and edge computing requirements are influencing modern facilities, while highlighting emerging trends that will shape the next wave of data center development, and the strategies organizations must adopt to stay ahead.

• Paul Pinholster
  Gordon Incorporated
• Adrian Sluga
  Bird Construction