Elevate, a Toronto-based non-profit known for running one of Canada’s largest technology and innovation festivals, has rebranded as Nrth as it expands beyond its annual event to provide year-round support for founders and business leaders.
The new identity was unveiled by co-founder and CEO Lisa Zarzeczny during the opening night of the festival, with both the organisation and event adopting the Nrth name. The gathering has therefore become the inaugural Nrth Festival.
From 2027, Nrth plans to introduce more regular events, new channels connecting Canadian businesses with buyers and investors, programmes to help executives adopt emerging technologies, and research into the companies, tools and trends shaping the Canadian economy.
The rebrand reflects a change in what the organisation believes Canadian businesses need from the technology ecosystem. Since launching in 2017, Elevate has focused on giving Canadian innovators a platform to showcase their work internationally. Over nine years, the organisation said it attracted more than 89,000 attendees and featured hundreds of Canadian businesses.
Nrth said the challenges facing companies have shifted as technology develops at a faster pace and AI changes competition, operations and business models. Startups also increasingly need to convert innovation into customers and commercial growth, alongside securing investment.
Under the new model, Nrth aims to help founders and executives understand these changes, prioritise opportunities and connect with the people who can help them grow.
For founders, this could include securing a major customer, meeting an investor or gaining advice from experienced business leaders. For executives, the organisation aims to provide insight into how technologies such as AI are affecting their industries and opportunities to identify Canadian technology that can address specific business needs.
The organisation’s flagship festival will continue under the Nrth name. This year’s event is taking place in Toronto from 22 to 24 September 2026, bringing together more than 10,000 attendees and hundreds of speakers across programme tracks covering AI, FinTech, tech sovereignty and other technology themes.
Nrth enters its next phase with founding sponsors TD Bank Group, Moneris Solutions Corporation and Interac Corp., whose continued support the organisation credits with helping enable the transition to its new model.
Nrth co-founder and CEO Lisa Zarzeczny said, “Elevate was created to lift Canadian innovation into view. But visibility alone isn’t enough anymore. Nrth is about direction and expanding the role we can play for this community.”
Nrth board member Arlene Dickinson added, “Canada is at an important moment. The challenges we’ve been talking about for years, from scaling Canadian companies to improving our productivity and competitiveness, are only becoming more urgent. We have to get better at turning the innovation we create here into stronger Canadian companies and a stronger economy. That takes more than good ideas. It takes bringing the right people together and acting with greater urgency.”
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