Research and Innovation Symposium 2024 About

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Thank you to everyone who joined us virtually for yesterday’s event. We look forward to welcoming you back online at 9:00 AM sharp today.

This free, bilingual event gathers (both in-person and virtually) public servants from all levels of government in Canada, as well as key actors in the private sector, academia, and non-profit organizations working on research and policies focusing on housing, infrastructure, and communities.  

Bringing together individuals across industries and disciplines, our aim at Infrastructure Canada is to spark innovation and policy opportunities through the sharing of forward-thinking research and ideas. This is Infrastructure Canada’s first Research and Innovation Symposium where we seek to unpack the central theme of “Exploring Innovations in Housing and Public Infrastructure” with an event program structured around 3 core pillars:  

1. Building better, with sessions focused on innovation in building materials and the construction industry. What are the areas of opportunity for innovative materials, building codes and production processes that can spur the development of affordable and resilient housing and public infrastructure?
2. Designing better, with sessions focused on innovative data collection on community needs, multi-stakeholder dialogue and novel partnerships connecting on the ground needs with policy. What tools are needed to better understand community housing and infrastructure needs? How can novel partnerships better facilitate integrated planning?
3. Financing better, with panels focused on innovation in policies supporting affordable housing, and financing housing and public infrastructure in the long run. What opportunities exist if we unpack the capital stack? Where can collaborative finance practices spur opportunities to retrofit and maintain assets or build the next generation of infrastructure?

Research is key for equipping decision-makers at all levels and across spheres with robust knowledge, state-of-the-art tools, and best practices. Sharing knowledge enables decisions that are informed by evidence and supports robust infrastructure policies across Canada. Each pillar will feature two plenary panel sessions, enabling the exchange of ideas between leading experts in each respective pillar. Complementing these discussions, each pillar will also have a block of three concurrent workshop sessions, allowing attendees to grapple with specific policies, projects and practices being conducted across Canada. Finally, three keynote addresses from high-profile academics and practitioners complement the event’s agenda, prompting us to think outside the box on housing, infrastructure and community issues. We hope you can join us for this one-of-a-kind event.

Register for Virtual Attendance Now