IEEE Canada Blockchain Forum 2026 (4th edition)
This event addresses the latest and upcoming innovations in the Payments space, where the Canadian dollar (CAD) and other assets are digitalized/tokenised, moving on digital rails (blockchain networks / distributed ledgers such as Base, Ethereum, or Solana), and Agentic AI is able to buy and pay on its own (e.g. via x402 protocol) and even orchestrate the entire customer journey in e-commerce, energy, transportation and many other industries!
The IEEE Blockchain Forum is returning for the fourth time as part of Toronto Tech Week. The goal of this compact one-day event is to congregate BUIDLers, researchers, academics, and engineers building blockchain protocols, infrastructure, and decentralized software applications.
Expect deep thought leadership, executive talks and panels, and academic presentations. We're talking about long-term engineering trends and innovation. You won't find marketing narratives, token launches, or promotions.
Note: The 2025 edition of the forum counted with 200 participants and speakers from JP Morgan, the Bank of Canada, Mastercard, the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance, EY, Starknet, among others.
Photography and Video in Progress
Please be aware that photography and/or videography will be taking place at this event. By entering the premises, you consent to your likeness and/or voice being used for promotional, archival, and marketing purposes across our IEEE website, social media, and related publications. If you prefer not to be photographed, please approach the photographer to let them know.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
-
Add Event to Calendar
- Ontario Investment and Trade Centre
- 250 Yonge Street, 35th Floor
- Toronto, Ontario
- Canada M5B 2L7
- Contact Event Hosts
-
We're an official partner of Toronto Tech Week, a citywide celebration of the people building what’s next. From May 26–29, 2026, founders, investors, and builders come together for hundreds of community-led events across Toronto, connecting tens of thousands of people around Canadian tech. Torontotechweek.com
- Co-sponsored by Government of Ontario, Invest Hong Kong (Canada), Moody's Ratings, Compass360 Consulting, Limina Counsel, OVHcloud, Goat Network, Tetra Digital Group, and Community Partner Superteam Canada
- Starts 09 March 2026 04:00 AM UTC
- Ends 25 May 2026 01:00 PM UTC
- Admission fee ?
Agenda
Consult the full program available online for the details on Room 2 (for Academics and Engineers).
Room 1: Main Theatre Room - for the Thought Leaders
On the wake of Bill C-15 and the rapid digitisation of Canada's financial system, Canadian innovation leaders will give us a glimpse of what's to come this year and next.
9 am – Registration
9:30 am - Welcome and introduction - Conference Chair Marc Lijour, Secretary of the IEEE Blockchain Technical Community
9:40 am - Opening Keynote by Alex McDougall, CEO of The FUTR Corporation: The Missing Layer: Why Agentic Commerce Needs a Consumer Data Protocol
10 am - Short Keynote by Sheereen Khan, Founder and CEO of Regulativity: An update on the Canadian regulatory landscape
10:10 am - Panel #1 - Stablecoins: A New Era of Payments in Canada
- Felipe Priuli, Program Director for CAD Digital (CADD)
- Kesem Frank, CEO of Canada Stablecorp (QCAD)
- Kevin Zhang, Founder and CEO of LOON
Moderator: Evan Thomas
11 am - Short Keynote by Hilary Carter, SVP Research at The Linux Foundation: What's the Role of Open Source for Canadian Sovereignty?
11:10 am - Panel #2 - Sovereignty by Design
- Ali Abou Daya, CEO of Transactix Financial Inc.
- Thomas You, Associate Partner at Maverix Private Equity
- Gaëlle Martin-Cocher, IEEE Canada
Moderator: Marc Lijour
=== NOON: LUNCH BREAK (food will be served in the Boardroom) ===
1 pm - Short Keynote by Christopher Chen, Head of InvestHK Canada: Opportunities within the Hong Kong Fintech/Web3 eco-system
1:10 pm - Panel #3 - How does Canada compete on the global stage?
- Rajeev Bamra, Global Head of Strategy, Digital Economy at Moody's Ratings
- Stuart Davis, President of Surpass Insights Inc.
- Torstein Braaten, Chief Compliance at Stablecorp
Moderator: Rondev Bhattacharya
2 pm - Short Keynote by Bernice Cheung, VP, Financial Services & Cultural Markets Research at Environics Research Group: The State of FinTech Adoption and the rise of Self-Driving Money
2:10 pm - Panel #4 - Gaining Momentum from Innovation to Adoption
- Nisrine Labcir, Innovation Lead at Interac
- James Emerson, Senior Manager in KPMG’s Digital Asset Center of Excellence
- Adam Cai, CEO at Virgo Group
Moderator: Asad Saeed
== SNACK BREAK ==
3:30 pm - Short Keynote by Eyal Sivan, Principal Consultant / Podcast Host at Mr. Open Banking: Open Banking and AI - A Perfect Match
3:40 pm - Panel #5 - The New Frontier of Trust in Agentic AI & Blockchain
- Michelle Beyo, CEO of FINAVATOR
- Carlos Andres Delgado, FINAVATOR
- Diana Oreto, Blockchain & Digital Assets Expert
Moderator: Michelle Beyo
4:30 pm - Networking
Many thanks to our sponsors: the Government of Ontario (sponsoring the location), as well as
Invest Hong Kong (Canada), Moody's Ratings, Compass360 Consulting, GOAT Network,
Limina Counsel, OVHcloud, and Tetra Digital Group!
Special thanks to our Community Partner Superteam!
Find future IEEE Blockchain events in Toronto on the Blockchain Toronto events (calendar).
IEEE is the largest tech non-profit organisation in the world with 500,000 members in 190 countries. The IEEE Blockchain Technical Community counts with 15,000 members and 90+ local groups on every continent. Our community of academics, engineers, and industry leaders is organising events, publishing tech briefs (and a journal soon!), and advancing the applications of blockchain for the benefit of humanity.