You’ve said visibility alone isn’t enough anymore. What changed in Canada’s innovation landscape over the past nine years that made you realize the mission itself had to evolve, not just the name?
Lisa Zarzeczny: There is a greater sense of urgency within Canada’s innovation ecosystem than there was even a year ago. Canada has proven that we can produce incredible talent, research, and companies. The bigger question now is how we turn those advantages into globally competitive businesses that scale from within Canada.
Conversations around AI, access to capital, productivity, commercialization and technological sovereignty have moved much closer to the centre of the national conversation. That makes the role of convening founders, investors, policymakers and industry leaders even more important.
We’re realistic that a festival alone doesn’t solve Canada’s innovation challenges. What Nrth can do is bring together people who might otherwise operate in separate parts of the ecosystem and create opportunities for relationships, investment and collaboration. The festival has always been the flagship moment for that, but increasingly we’re thinking about how we can create that value throughout the year.
Rebranding a well-known event live on its own opening night is a bold move. What does that choice say about the kind of leadership you think Canada’s innovation community needs right now?
Lisa Zarzeczny: Canada is at an inflection point. AI is accelerating, competition for capital and talent is intensifying, and questions of economic and technological sovereignty have become more urgent.
The ecosystem has moved beyond asking how Canadian technology can gain attention. The question now is how we build and retain globally competitive companies here.
After nearly a decade of convening the ecosystem, Nrth has the relationships, experience and credibility to take on a larger role.
“Nrth” suggests direction rather than a destination. Where do you want Nrth to point Canadian founders and business leaders over the next decade?
Lisa Zarzeczny: Nrth is rooted in Canada. It reflects our belief that Canadian founders should be able to build globally competitive companies from here.
Canadian companies should not have to treat relocation, the loss of their intellectual property, or an early acquisition by a foreign company as the default path to success.
The name gives us room to represent something broader than a festival while retaining a distinctly Canadian identity.
Nrth is moving from an annual festival to a year-round presence. Why do you believe the future of building an innovation community lies in ongoing connection rather than one big moment each year?
Lisa Zarzeczny: The festival remains our flagship gathering, but the challenges facing Canadian founders do not begin and end during one week of the year.
A founder raising capital, commercializing technology, entering a new market, or trying to retain intellectual property in Canada needs support throughout the year.
Elevate proved that we could bring the right people together. Nrth is about using that network even more intentionally to create measurable outcomes for Canadian companies.
We are not moving away from convening; we are connecting it more directly to investment, commercialization, and company growth.
When the word “Elevate” is gone from the stage for good, what part of its original spirit do you most want Nrth to carry forward, and what are you ready to leave behind?
Lisa Zarzeczny: Elevate has defined nearly a decade of my career. I worked on the very first festival while I was at MaRS, joined the organization as a co-founder, and eventually became its CEO. So retiring the Elevate name is emotional because of everything our team and this community built around it.
What I want Nrth to carry forward is the ambition that has always been at the heart of Elevate: the belief that Canada can build globally important companies, that innovation can fundamentally change our economy for the better, and that bringing the right people together can accelerate what’s possible. That belief in the power of community has been part of Elevate from day one, and it will be just as central to Nrth.
What I’m ready to leave behind is the idea that our job is simply to put a spotlight on Canadian innovation. That was incredibly important when we started in 2017, but the needs of the ecosystem have changed.
The best way to honour Elevate isn’t to preserve it exactly as it was. It’s to take everything we’ve learned, everything we’ve built, and apply it to what Canada needs now. Nrth carries that same spirit forward, but with a bigger ambition for the role we can play.
Also read: Seven Italian startups bring innovation to Nrth Toronto.
