Powering Canada's AI future: Sustainable data centres, clean energy and competitive growth

As investment in artificial intelligence accelerates, Canada faces a critical opportunity to build the digital infrastructure needed to support growth while advancing climate, social and economic objectives. Data centres, clean energy systems, grid modernization, and climate technologies will all play an increasingly important role in determining Canada's ability to compete in the global AI economy.

Join Quinn+Partners and the Institute for Sustainable Finance during Canada Climate Week Xchange for a timely discussion bringing together investors, infrastructure developers, policymakers, and sustainability practitioners to explore how Canada can responsibly enable digital infrastructure domestically and develop innovative AI-powered climate solutions for the world. The conversation will examine emerging opportunities and challenges associated with sustainable data centre development, clean power deployment and the role of cleantech innovation, venture capital, and climate solutions financing to drive meaningful social and environmental outcomes.

Drawing on perspectives from industry, finance, policy and sustainability, panelists will discuss lessons from leading global markets, evolving expectations for responsible growth, and the actions needed to attract investment, accelerate innovation and strengthen Canada's long-term competitiveness.

Light refreshments will be served.

This event is now sold out. For a waiting list or for more information please contact David Watson at david.watson@queensu.ca

Moderator

Yrjö Koskinen

Director of Research, Institute for Sustainable Finance

Yrjö is Director of Research with the Institute for Sustainable Finance at Smith School of Business, Queen's University and BMO Professor of Sustainable and Transition Finance at the Haskayne School of Business. He served as the Associate Dean of Research and Business Impact from 2017 to 2022 at Haskayne. He has previously been a faculty member at Stockholm School of Economics, Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds an MSc degree in Economics from the University of Helsinki, and a PhD in Management (Finance) from INSEAD. Prior to his academic career, Yrjö worked as a financial journalist, asset manager and as an economist at the Bank of Finland.

Panel Discussion

Shivani Chotalia

Founding Partner, CleanAI Initiative

Shivani is a founding partner of the CleanAI Initiative where she is enabling the commercialization and scaling of AI solutions to our global climate challenge. Previously, Shivani developed energy storage infrastructure with NRStor where she led innovative projects, including the first commercial flywheel facility in Canada, the first commercial fuel-free compressed air energy storage facility in the world, and Canada’s largest battery project (1000MWh) through a 50/50 partnership with the local Indigenous Nation. Shivani has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Energy category, Corporate Knights 30 Under 30, and Canada Clean50 as an Emerging Leader. She also serves as a Board Member of Environmental Defence Canada and a co-founder of Bold Realities – a platform for dialogue regarding the role of corporate Canada in reconciliation.

Tim Robinson

Senior Manager, Quinn + Partners

As a Senior Manager, Tim co-leads Q+P’s GRESB Infrastructure service offering, which currently supports over 50 individual fund and asset submissions. Tim works with clients in a range of sectors, including financial services, pensions, and infrastructure investment. He has worked with a range of infrastructure types to help measure and communicate their ESG management activities and performance, and identify improvement opportunities. Tim has contributed to sustainability disclosures for multiple Canadian S&P/TSX 60 companies, and, since 2019, to the annual climate report for one of Canada’s largest banks.

Angela Adam

Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, eStruxture

Angela Adam is the Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Government Affairs at eStruxture Data Centers, the largest Canadian data centre platform. A strategic and data-driven executive, Angela leads national go-to-market initiatives and plays a key role in positioning eStruxture as a trusted partner to enterprises, cloud providers, and the growing AI ecosystem. Angela is a vocal advocate for Canada’s digital infrastructure sector and the critical role it plays in enabling national innovation, economic resilience, and data sovereignty. She is committed to contributing to the development of a clear and future-ready regulatory framework for AI in Canada. Bringing a pragmatic business lens to public policy conversations, Angela is focused on advancing sustainable infrastructure development and strengthening Canada’s position as a global leader in secure and scalable digital growth.  

Susan Thompson

Managing Director and Head of Global Sustainable Finance & Advisory, TD Securities

Susan is a Managing Director and Head of Global Sustainable Finance & Advisory at TD Securities. Susan is responsible for leading TDS’ strategy and implementation of ESG integration within TD Securities and leads a team that provides advisory services on sustainability-related strategies and sustainable finance products to clients. Prior to her current role, Susan worked in TD Securities Global Markets where she advised clients across a range of fixed income products. Susan has served on the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Principles Advisory Council, the ICMA Sustainability-Linked Bonds and Climate Transition Finance working groups, the Sustainable Finance Action Council Taxonomy Technical Expert Group, the Canadian Fixed Income Forum’s Sustainable Finance Virtual Network, and the TD Bank Group Sustainable Finance Center of Excellence. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and an MBA from Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.