Canada’s flagship advanced manufacturing conference, N3 Summit, is taking place in Toronto on March 31 and April 1st at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The event will gather manufacturers, technology leaders, policymakers, and investors to explore where Canadian manufacturing is headed and how to compete globally.
“The industry needs to not just believe, but see that the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence customers can match the speed of innovation.”
Federal priorities such as the Defence Investment Agency and a national push for innovation in homebuilding have highlighted the need to retain advanced manufacturing capabilities in Canada.
The two-day summit is organized by Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), a not-for-profit focused on strengthening and growing Canada’s advanced manufacturing sector. The event aims to provide a clear picture of the next phase of Canadian manufacturing and how leaders can play a role in shaping it.
“Attendees can expect to learn about some of the best solutions that are out there,” said Jayson Myers, CEO of NGen. “We’re inviting officials to come in and talk about the future of defence procurement. We’re going to talk about innovation in homebuilding, how to break into new markets, and we’ll explore new international opportunities Canadian companies can take advantage of.”
The event will spotlight projects supported by NGen, highlighting the innovations already emerging from Canada today, alongside speakers from across policy, business, and the investment community.
Investing in defence technology
Speaking on day two of the summit, Glenn R. Cowan is the founder and Managing Partner of ONE9, Canada’s first and only dedicated national security tech investment and innovation platform.
He will join a panel of defence innovation leaders to discuss how Canada can strengthen its ability to build and sustain domestic defence capabilities.
“The industry needs to not just believe, but see that the Canadian Armed Forces and Department of National Defence customers can match the speed of innovation and start buying the disruptive technologies coming out of our bold startups,” said Cowan. “This will help the companies building today, but it will also encourage the founders of tomorrow to commercialize their ideas, believing that there will ultimately be an agile and responsive customer.”
Cowan served for many years as a Squadron Commander in Canada’s Joint Task Force 2, giving him operational expertise and a unique perspective for identifying innovative technologies.
Since launching ONE9’s venture capital business over a decade ago, he and his team have been investing in disruptive national security technologies, with a focus on dual-use innovations that serve both military and commercial markets. Through its ONE9 Capability Labs, the firm also provides hands-on support to help portfolio and client companies develop and scale their ideas.
“N3 brings together the people thinking seriously about Canada’s advanced manufacturing and industrial future,” said Cowan. “Those conversations are increasingly tied to national security, supply chains, and economic resilience. The success of many of our startups will be directly related to their ability to scale manufacturing. It’s an important forum, and I’m glad to contribute to the discussion.”
See Cowan on the main stage at the N3 Summit on April 1 for the panel, Building Industrial Capabilities to Meet Canada’s Defence Requirements. Also on the main stage at 2:15 p.m. that day, NGen CEO Jayson Myers and the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, will unpack Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy and how it will shape opportunities for advanced manufacturers and industrial technology providers across the country.
Building the future of home construction
Oliver David Kreig wants to take the century-old idea of prefabricated (prefab) housing and build a lot of homes across the country.
As the President of Intelligent City, a tech-enabled company building multi-family housing with prefabricated components, Kreig believes that industrialized construction is the key to solving housing shortages and reducing construction costs.
“I think the industry is missing experience and what it means to manufacture components of a building and then putting them together on site,” said Kreig. “We can build housing faster and at a much higher quality simply by putting things into a factory.”
Intelligent City combines off-site manufacturing with automation and AI to design and produce building components at scale. It makes parts of a building in a factory, then ships and assembles them on-site.
As a relatively new industry in Canada, Kreig believes the government has a bigger role to play in helping it scale and deliver more housing. From aligning building codes across provinces to creating incentives for adoption, he sees a clear opportunity to help move things forward.
“My point is that the government has a role to play,” he said. “We are building an industry from scratch, especially here in Canada, in terms of manufacturing prefab. The government needs to incentivize the use of new technologies. Just like with EV credits, they can support the buildout of infrastructure, the reduction of upfront costs, and drive adoption.”
Hear more from Kreig on the main stage at the N3 Summit on April 1 for the panel, Advanced Manufacturing for Industrial Homebuilding.
“Housing is an incredibly important issue that we have in Canada, but it’s not just about creating more housing,” said Kreig. “It’s also a story about Canadian-made technologies. We have the resources in Canada to basically go from the tree to the city. We have the trees, and we can harvest them sustainably. We have the mills, mass timber, timber companies, and now we have prefab. We can make this an all-Canadian supply chain for housing.”
PRESENTED BY
Visit the N3 Summit website for the full speaker lineup, exhibitor roster, and to purchase tickets.
All images courtesy NGen.