Agenda

DAY ONE | October 7, 2026

8:30–9:00 | Registration and Breakfast

9:00–9:30 | Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:30–10:15 | FIRESIDE CHAT: Unlocking the Modern Methods of Construction Pipeline

Ana Bailão (Chief Executive Officer, Build Canada Homes) in conversation with Jennifer Keesmaat (Chief Executive Officer, Collecdev Markee)

How Build Canada Homes can aggregate demand, forge partnerships and create the predictable project pipeline needed to move modern methods of construction into the mainstream.

Q&A to follow.

11:00–11:45 | PANEL ONE: The Public Housing Dividend

Moderator - Kim Brand (Vice President and Global Head of Sustainability, Scotiabank); Sean Baird (Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation); Anca Drexler (Chief Investment Officer, Building Ontario Fund); Dr. Andrew Boozary (Primary care physician, policy practitioner, researcher, founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network)

What do we gain when we invest in public and affordable housing — not just in terms of homes built, but across our health system, communities, and economy?

Bringing together leaders in housing delivery, finance and health, this panel will explore the broader public dividend created by building and sustaining affordable housing at scale: healthier and more stable lives, stronger communities, reduced pressure on other public systems, and the predictable demand needed to build greater housing-delivery capacity across Canada.

11:45am–12:45pm | Lunch

12:45–1:00 | Afternoon Opening

Fred Cassano, (Partner, Real Estate, PwC)

1:00–1:30 | RICK HANSEN: Built for Everyone, From the Outset: Accessibility, Adaptability, and Modern Construction

Rick Hansen (‘Man in Motion’ and six-time Paralympic medalist; Founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation)

How modern construction can embed universal design and adaptability from the outset, making inclusive, adaptable housing standard.

Q&A to follow.

1:50–2:00 | (CASE STUDY) BUILDING FOR OUTCOMES: Why Housing Performance Matters 

Brent Gilmour (Chief Commercial Officer, Canada Green Building Council)

Building Canada Strong requires homes built to perform. This session will show how proven approaches to building performance strengthen affordability, quality, health, resilience, and long-term value, and how governments and industry can make these outcomes repeatable at scale across housing investments.

2:15–3:00 | PANEL TWO: Affordable Housing as Economic Infrastructure

OPENING REMARKS: Clare Barnett, (Director of Economic Development, City of Toronto)

Moderator - Lisa Helps (Executive Lead, BC Builds; Former Mayor, City of Victoria); Teresa Goldstein (Chief Planner and Director of Community Planning for the City of Calgary); Hugh Clark (Executive Director, Housing Development Office, City of Toronto); Yves Cheung (Chief Development Officer, Toronto Community Housing Corporation)

Housing is essential infrastructure for a growing economy. When workers cannot afford to live in the communities where jobs are being created, the consequences reach well beyond housing — affecting labour markets, productivity, investment and the ability of cities to grow.

Bringing together leaders working at the intersection of housing, economic development and city-building, this panel will examine what changes when we treat affordable housing as essential economic infrastructure. What role should governments, housing providers and the private sector each play? How can housing investment be better aligned with economic growth, major employment centres and the infrastructure investments already shaping Canada’s cities?

3:00–3:15 | Day One Closing Reflections

3:30–5:45 | WITHIN REACH Workshop (select participants)