The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University

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The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University

Canada’s platform for bold policies and better leaders.

07/16/2026

This weekend, 30 young leaders from across Canada joined us for the Anti-Racist Youth Lab, in partnership with the .

Over three days, they learned from experts and each other, then closed the program by pitching innovative policy solutions.

New connections were made. Horizons were expanded. People built each other up. Thank you to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, our speakers, and the young leaders who made it happen.

06/11/2026

Are Canadians willing to adopt AI? Do we have the credible data we need to inform our public policy? And is our safety net ready to support the workforce when we do?

Swipe to see our take on the real challenges facing Canada’s AI strategy.

05/20/2026

Last week, the Dais hosted the first Canadian screenings of the acclaimed documentary, Your Attention Please in Toronto and Ottawa, in partnership with Sick Kids Child Health Accelerator.

We were joined by members of the documentary team, Sara Robin, Kristin Bride, Joni Siani, and Alysse Houliston to share this film with those who are passionate about youth mental health and protecting children and teens from online harms. The rooms were filled with young leaders, parents, educators, and decisionmakers who are keen to amplify these vital conversations in our digital age.

Following each film, we held panel discussions with the audience to dive deeper into the themes of the film: online harms, advocacy and community building, and democratic decision making.

Dr. Alene Toulany, incoming Head of Adolescent Medicine from SickKids, emphasized the need for youth voices to be heard in conversations around designing solutions for safer online environments.

One of our 2026 Heads Up Youth Champions, Suki Huang, spoke to her experience navigating social media as a current high school student and how there are cycles we often fall into.

In Ottawa, we were joined by Sasha Banka, a high school student and Vote16 Canada advocate who highlighted the need for supporting youth in understanding how to build healthy relationships with technology.

Sara Robin, Your Attention Please’s director and co-producer, spoke to the importance of shifting our perspectives to realize the benefits and joys that can come from going offline.

Through our Heads Up initiative, we are working to inform and support students, parents, educators and policymakers in fostering healthier tech habits. A key part of this campaign involves working directly with young leaders across Canada through our Youth Champions program to understand the ‘why’ behind the phone policies in each province, and equip them with tools to engage their peers in leading positive action in their communities.

A special thanks to the Your Attention Please team for collaborating with us to amplify our goal to reclaim focus, learning and real connection by going phone free at school, from bell to bell.

04/24/2026

As Ontario’s education minister, Paul Calandra is shaking up school governance and changing course in the classroom. What do these shifts mean for students, parents, and educators?

Join our Democracy Forum on Thursday, May 7, where co-hosts Martin Regg Cohn, Toronto Star columnist and Dais Senior Fellow, and Kristin Rushowy, Toronto Star education writer, will sit down with the minister for a conversation on what these changes mean for Ontario’s education system.

Tickets are free, with advance registration required.
Register at the link in bio.

03/26/2026

“Many creative professionals face risks from the diffusion of generative AI, because workers outside of the creative sector often use these tools to replace them outright.”

Our Manager of Economic Research Viet Vu testified in the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications on the opportunities and challenges of artificial
intelligence (AI) in the information and communication technology sector, highlighting findings from our latest report The Art in Artificial Intelligence.

Check out the full report for more insights on the impact of generative AI on the creative sector - and our recommendations for a path forward balancing innovation and protections for creators (link in bio!)

03/24/2026

Generative AI is transforming Canada’s creative sector, bringing new opportunities, but also real risks to jobs, compensation, and intellectual property.

In our new report, The Art in Artificial Intelligence, we explore the implications of generative AI on workers in the creative sector, analyzing where it is complementing creative work, and where “good enough” AI outputs may be disrupting demand for entry-level and freelance roles.

This report is part of the portfolio of work by the which is funded by the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program.

For more insights, check out the report at the link in bio!

03/05/2026

Since we launched the RAISE program in late 2025, over 500 frontline nonprofit workers and leaders have joined us in future-proofing their skills, without compromising on mission.

On March 12, get the best of both of our courses, condensed into a one-day session. Dive into the critical dos and don’ts concerning AI privacy, laws, and ethics, and hear real-world case studies from peers already leading the way.

Learn more and register at the link in bio!

02/24/2026

What happened to liberal democracy?

Nobel Prize–winning MIT economist Daron Acemoglu will join DemocracyXChange on April 18 to explore the tension between economic growth, emerging technologies, and democratic health.

Drawing on his forthcoming book What Happened to Liberal Democracy? and his bestselling work Power and Progress, Acemoglu will examine how the direction of innovation shapes the distribution of power, and why shared prosperity is not an automatic outcome of technological advancement.

Learn more and purchase tickets at the link in bio 🎟️🎟️🎟️

02/12/2026

Phone-free school policies have been announced in every province for nearly 18 months. And school communities are still asking the same thing: what does “phone-free” actually look like in practice?

Join us for The Lunchroom: Making Phone-Free Schools Work, a lunch & learn webinar series. You’ll hear from education leaders across Canada who are implementing phone-free schools about what’s working, what’s not, and what they’ve learned along the way.

Our first session kicks off on February 25 (1–2 p.m. ET). Presented in partnership with and

Register now at the link in bio!

02/05/2026

While nearly all financial sector workers are exposed to generative AI on the job, our research shows that most impacts are likely to enhance work, not eliminate roles.
That said, in a highly regulated, high-trust sector, generative AI also introduces real risks.

Our latest report, Banking on AI, finds that it is best deployed where:

> consequences of error are lower
> human oversight is built in
> productivity gains outweigh governance costs

For financial services, responsible adoption means aligning AI use with workforce realities, regulatory obligations, and customer trust.

This report is part of the portfolio of work funded by .

Explore more of our findings in the full report at the link in bio!

Address

20 Dundas Street West. Suite 921
Toronto, ON
M5G2C2

Telephone

416-979-5000 Ext. 543494

Website

https://dais.ca/

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