Canada's premier annual democracy summit, DemocracyXChange (DXC) 2026, returns to Toronto from April 16 to 18 for its seventh edition.
This year's theme, Side by Side: Building an Economy That Serves Democracy, opens a dialogue on how leaders and practitioners can rethink the economy's role in supporting democracy, while exploring ways to work together to secure economic sovereignty, expand opportunity, and deepen civic trust in Canada and beyond.
The three-day summit will open with a keynote by acclaimed author, journalist and activist Cory Doctorow , and will feature addresses from Canadian business leader and social entrepreneur Zita Cobb, MIT Institute Professor and Nobel Prize laureate Daron Acemoglu, and one of Canada's leading experts in public engagement and deliberative democracy, Peter MacLeod.
On opening night, April 16, H.E. Geneviève Tuts, Ambassador of the European Union to Canada, will offer introductory remarks welcoming guests and marking the continued partnership between the European Union and DemocracyXChange.
She will also introduce the Opening Night artist exhibition, Utopia Rewired: Creative Visions for Democratic Futures, which brings emerging artists from across Canada and EU countries into the conversation using creative practice to imagine how democracy, culture, and the economy can be re-envisioned together.
Co-presented by OCAD University, The Open Democracy Project and the Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University, the summit is designed to connect, celebrate and equip people taking action to strengthen democracy.
Participants include leaders and changemakers from public institutions, media, labour, Indigenous governance, technology, academia, business and beyond.
