Every question typed into a chatbot, every photo saved to the cloud and every online bank payment ends up somewhere real: in a building full of humming servers, cooling systems and power lines. On October 20 and 21, the people who design, build and run those buildings meet in Mississauga for the Global Data Centre & Cloud Expo Canada, known as GDCC 2026.
The expo takes place in Hall 4 of The International Centre on Airport Road, a few minutes from Toronto Pearson airport. The organizers, Vertex Next together with Calgary-based Meeraki Media, expect more than 2,500 industry professionals, over 70 speakers and more than 80 exhibitors. They describe it as Canada's largest data centre and cloud event.
Day one opens with Canada's AI ambitions and the infrastructure needed to support them. Later sessions turn to electricity, grid capacity and investment; trust and responsible AI in business; cloud, cybersecurity and digital sovereignty, meaning who controls Canadians' data and where it is stored; and the economics of the next generation of data centres. The day closes with a keynote from NVIDIA on powering Canada's AI future.
Speakers include John Weigelt of Microsoft, Marc Mondesir of Equinix Canada, Keegan Tully of Ontario Power Generation, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner Patricia Kosseim, Ashlee Goodwill of Bell Canada, Brian Tossan of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Calista Redmond of NVIDIA, who will also appear at the Toronto Global Forum later this week.
Artificial intelligence needs enormous amounts of electricity. That is why an expo about computers features an energy company like Ontario Power Generation, and why the exhibition floor is full of power distribution, battery storage and liquid cooling. For Ontario, the race to attract data centres is also a question about the grid that heats our homes.
Conference passes are sold out, but the exhibition floor and seminars are free to attend. It is a good opportunity for students, IT specialists and small business owners in the Polish community who want to see where the technology behind everyday digital life is heading.
When: October 20–21, 2026, registration from 9:15 a.m.
Where: The International Centre, Hall 4, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga
Information: www.gdcc-expo.com
Based on information from the organizer.
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