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CANADA’S DEMOCRACY SUMMIT

Join us for the 8th Annual DemocracyXChange
in April 2027.

DXC connects, celebrates and equips people who are taking action to strengthen democracy. Co-produced by OCAD University, The Open Democracy Project and the Dais at TMU, Canada’s premier democracy summit offers three days of dynamic programming that includes inspiring keynote speakers, thought‑provoking expert panels, and hands‑on participatory workshops; created to both examine and tackle today’s most urgent civic issues.

Featured News

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Report
DemocracyXChange 2026 Final Report

The DXC26 Final Report provides an overview of the seventh annual summit that brought together more than 950 leaders, innovators, artists, policymakers, researchers, and community changemakers to gather in Toronto for three sold-out days of dialogue and action. Explore the key themes, stats, highlights and takeaways from Canada's largest democracy summit

DXC26 By The Numbers

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Integrity of Information

How and where people get their sources of information continues to evolve. We’ll examine the latest tools that people are turning to, the ongoing policy debates and the chaos that ensues in this quickly moving space.

2026 THEME

Side By Side

Building an economy that serves democracy

DXC26 invites changemakers to reimagine the role of the economy in strengthening democracy.  When people see the economy working for them, confidence in democracy grows. In this defining moment, we'll explore how we can work together to secure economic sovereignty, grow opportunity and deepen civic trust in Canada and beyond. 

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Democracy Futures Workshop

 

Unbound: Canada’s Sovereignty and
Democracy Futures
 

How might Canada respond to shifting threats to our cultural, economic, and digital independence?

 

This interactive facilitated workshop brought participants together in small groups to identify emerging vulnerabilities across the four critical domains of sovereignty, cultural, economic, digital, and territorial. Using foresight tools and collaborative design methods, participants had the opportunity to translate insights into strategic proposals to strengthen democratic resilience in Canada. From diagnosing today’s pressures to imagining tomorrow's possibilities, participants crafted a Civic Sovereignty Charter for 2035 and developed provocative “design jailbreak” prompts that challenge assumptions and open new pathways for action. 

 

Read the complete Democracy Futures Workshop 2026 Report.

Emerging Leaders

Making the Future

 

Young Canadians are responding to rising living costs, digital disruption, and declining trust in institutions with creativity, courage, and collective action.

 

The Emerging Leaders: Making the Future workshop brought together emerging leaders from Generations A to Z to explore how current challenges are reshaping democracy – and to examine how youth are building new pathways for leadership, participation, and impact.

At a time when democratic systems are being tested across the globe, DemocracyXChange is a vital space to confront urgent civic challenges through dialogue, creativity and collective action. By bringing together civil society and business leaders, artists and policymakers to rethink how our economy serves democracy, we aren’t just imagining our futures, we are actively redesigning our democracy.

Ana Serrano

OCAD University President and Vice-Chancellor

Partners

Platinum
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Gold
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Silver
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Bronze
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Venue
Great Lakes Brewpub
Université de l'Ontario français
Community
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Media
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DXC+ Regional Events
Global Centre for Pluralism
Cultural Policy Hub at OCAD University
Bridge Building Group
Groundforce Digital
Canadian International Council - Vancouver Branch
Critical Alternatives
Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at UBC
Vancouver Public Library
CityHive
Women Transforming Cities

Presented by

DemocracyXChange is a collaboration between:
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Connecting, celebrating and equipping people who are taking action to strengthen democracy and civil society.

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© 2026 Open Democracy Project

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