This report is authored in a personal capacity and does not contain any confidential or privileged information. We appreciate Nrth's generous support in enabling our attendance.
Executive Summary
We cover the first 48 hours of an innovation event occurring Sep 22 to Sep 24, 2026.
Main outcome:
Intros to Dell (50 + 80 MW, GB300 NVL72, BC), Columbia Data Vault (20 MW, H100/H200 HGX, ON), and startup founders/execs operating in Canada.
Primary update: Change in planned activities scheduled for Sep 24, 2026.
Before: Nrth Day 3, Socratica Kickoff F26 in Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario.
After: Limitless 2026 and Nuclear Generating Station in Pickering, Ontario.
Target Audience
We aim to write in a register comfortable to readers from backgrounds in industry or government. Our expectation is that the bulk of the elements discussed in this work will be familiar to attendees. Anyone is welcome to share or respond to this piece.
Goals
What do you want to achieve in general?
Our top strategic priority is to advance security research on inference-only compute verification. This is a prerequisite for agreements to pace frontier AI development.
What does going to this event have to do with that?
Nrth features an impressive speaker list: This year's lineup includes Sudip Roy, Mike Shaver, Michael Buhr, Mark Schaan, Jaxson Khan, Elissa Strome, Vass Bednar, Mark Robbins, Sarah LaRose, John Weigelt, Vic Fedeli, and Lucy Hargreaves. It's possible to request 20-min meeting slots with other attendees via the official event app[1].
Why publish this report?
Nrth charges between CAD 375 to CAD 1500 for tickets. We received a subsidized general pass, which is provided to everyone that expresses interest in volunteering for Nrth during registration. Unfortunately, there were no remaining shifts available for assignment upon our arrival on site, but Nrth still honored the subsidized rate. Organizing an event for thousands of attendees incurs a significant burden. In the interest of fairness, we are happy to contribute a brief report sharing our findings.
Description of Event
Nrth is a professional networking event (originally known as Elevate Festival) that has run annually[2] since 2017. A rebranding was announced at this year's opening night.
Nrth caters to a diverse range of profiles, with a focus on Canada's technology and governance ecosystem. This year's programming included tracks on "Sovereign Growth", composed of fireside chats, lightning talks, and panels with leading thinkers in the space.
Location(s)
Nrth 2026 was split between 1 Front St. East and 27 Front St. East in Toronto, Ontario.
Getting there
Starting from the GO Platforms on Union Station, walk towards the Bay Concourse Exit, take the escalators down, go past Shake Shack and Sephora, climb the stairs on the right side leading outdoors, walk for 3-5 minutes, on the ground will be a digital display board shaped like a scalene triangle, above it see "Meridian Hall" in blue on the building's wall.
Weather conditions are normal for late September in the Great Lakes region, with clear skies or scattered and passing clouds, and calm East-North-East winds at 9 to 25 km/hr.
Map of venue
Here is an interactive widget created by GPT-6 Astra. Click on "0, 1, 2" for different floors.
Timeline
Speaker registration
The window for speaker applications closed ~3-4 months in advance of the event itself. Initially, the deadline was June 7, but this was extended by one week to June 16, 2026.
Volunteer registration
On August 24, we received an invitation to the Volunteer Hub for Elevate Festival. There was a virtual training session on September 8, which we attended in parallel with an event at Schwartz Reiman Institute hosted by Jacob Tsimmerman and David Duvenaud.
In a follow up message, we were sent a square aspect ratio welcome video from Nrth CEO Lisa Zarzeczny, and a vertical aspect ratio video about volunteer lounge access.[3]
Event Recap
Day 1: 14:00 to 21:00 on Sep 22
14:00 30 min call with Mark Kagach (follow-up discussion from last week)
14:40 20 minute call with Daniel Parshall (response to distress signal, context)
16:30 Badge pick up, submit app bug report (profile picture does not upload)
17:00 Discussion with Dell (summary email confirming details lands at 17:23)
17:30 Patrol grounds at relaxed walk, search for known friendly contacts.
18:00 Setup next to main stage, bring laptops online, unable to find outlets.
18:31 Receive urgent call, immediately pack gear and depart venue to handle.
19:38 Issue resolved using authorized physical access control.
20:00 Resupply inventory and conduct debrief.
20:30 Requisition brown dress shoes, dark green comfort suit pants and blazer, concealer, powder, hand cream, and three-in-one hair styler for project use.
Day 2: 08:00 to 17:00 on Sep 23
10:15 First agenda item.
14:40 Last agenda item.
15:00 CDV intro.
15:30 Encounter ally, diplomacy.
16:00 Grip-and-grin.
16:30 Religious observance.
17:00 Discharged.
17:30 Close loops.
19:30 Return to main residence.
20:00 Physical training.
Challenges
We suffered a catastrophic intelligence failure during a humanitarian aid engagement with a lost civilian in West Corridor. Our unit opened communications by asking this old lady, "Oh, do you need directions to the hall?". She swiftly countered, "Oh, do you know all the halls around here?". Our attempt to mount a defense by responding in the negative was interrupted, "Lillian Hall? You know that hall?", and she turned and walked away as we were stunned. Later investigation revealed that "Lillian Hall" refers to a broadway actress in an American drama television film. Dominance had instantly been established.
Cultural Relevance
Published in commemoration of the battle of Lillian Hall.
This report is authored in a personal capacity and does not contain any confidential or privileged information. We appreciate Nrth's generous support in enabling our attendance.
Executive Summary
Target Audience
Goals
What do you want to achieve in general?
What does going to this event have to do with that?
Why publish this report?
Description of Event
Nrth is a professional networking event (originally known as Elevate Festival) that has run annually[2] since 2017. A rebranding was announced at this year's opening night.
Nrth caters to a diverse range of profiles, with a focus on Canada's technology and governance ecosystem. This year's programming included tracks on "Sovereign Growth", composed of fireside chats, lightning talks, and panels with leading thinkers in the space.
Location(s)
Nrth 2026 was split between 1 Front St. East and 27 Front St. East in Toronto, Ontario.
Getting there
Starting from the GO Platforms on Union Station, walk towards the Bay Concourse Exit, take the escalators down, go past Shake Shack and Sephora, climb the stairs on the right side leading outdoors, walk for 3-5 minutes, on the ground will be a digital display board shaped like a scalene triangle, above it see "Meridian Hall" in blue on the building's wall.
Weather conditions are normal for late September in the Great Lakes region, with clear skies or scattered and passing clouds, and calm East-North-East winds at 9 to 25 km/hr.
Map of venue
Here is an interactive widget created by GPT-6 Astra. Click on "0, 1, 2" for different floors.
Timeline
Speaker registration
The window for speaker applications closed ~3-4 months in advance of the event itself. Initially, the deadline was June 7, but this was extended by one week to June 16, 2026.
Volunteer registration
On August 24, we received an invitation to the Volunteer Hub for Elevate Festival. There was a virtual training session on September 8, which we attended in parallel with an event at Schwartz Reiman Institute hosted by Jacob Tsimmerman and David Duvenaud.
In a follow up message, we were sent a square aspect ratio welcome video from Nrth CEO Lisa Zarzeczny, and a vertical aspect ratio video about volunteer lounge access.[3]
Event Recap
Challenges
We suffered a catastrophic intelligence failure during a humanitarian aid engagement with a lost civilian in West Corridor. Our unit opened communications by asking this old lady, "Oh, do you need directions to the hall?". She swiftly countered, "Oh, do you know all the halls around here?". Our attempt to mount a defense by responding in the negative was interrupted, "Lillian Hall? You know that hall?", and she turned and walked away as we were stunned. Later investigation revealed that "Lillian Hall" refers to a broadway actress in an American drama television film. Dominance had instantly been established.
Cultural Relevance
Published in commemoration of the battle of Lillian Hall.
Participants of previous EAG events may be familiar with a similar mechanism in Swapcard.
It might be every Fall. Astronomical Fall began with autumn equinox on September 22, 2026.
Footnote removed as its word count had grown beyond the full length of the rest of the report.