Year Ahead 2026

Academics, practitioners, and experts will meet for the annual Year Ahead Conference in downtown Ottawa. Panelists from across Canada, the United States, and parts of Europe will meet to discuss looming threats, future challenges, and Canada’s changing position in the world.

Please note, we will be providing headsets for translation to French upon request.

Introduction and Welcome (0830)

Operations (0900-1015)

• The NATO Field School: Its Method and Impact with Dr. Alex Moens

• Untangling Continental Defence with Dr. Andrea Charron

• The Quest for strategic and industrial autonomy (and its limits) with Dr. Stéphane Roussel

Security: Security cooperation and Canada under a period of uncertainty (1030-1145)

• Awkward Allies: NATO Skepticism after Trump with Dr. Srdjan Vucetic

• Non-treaty security and defence cooperation: Exploring updated and extended data with Maxime Philaire

• Considering 5% military spending & NATO: Signaling Canadian credibility with Dr. Anessa Kimball

Lunch (1145-1300)

Keynote Speaker: Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (1300-1345)

Civil-Military Relations (1345-1515)

• TBD

Military Personnel: Evolving Military Personnel Priorities (1530-1645)

• Reserves with Dr. Irina Goldenberg

• Diversity and the Armed Forces with Dr. Stéfanie von Hlatky

• Military to Civilian Transition with Dr. Linna Tam-Seto

• Military and Society with Dr. Joakim Berndtsson