Leaders in Export Excellence

World Trade Centre Toronto's 3rd Annual Celebration of Canada's Export Leaders
Celebrate excellence, make connections, and explore global opportunities—all in one unforgettable evening.

WTC-T alumni can contact wtc@bot.com for a discount code to get the member price.

Member Price: $69

Non-Member Price: $99

Presenting Partner:

People networking at a Cocktails and Connections event.

16 JUL 2026

5 - 9 PM

The Quay - 100 Queens Quay East, 3rd Floor

In Person

The World Trade Centre Toronto's 3rd Annual Leaders in Export Excellence is the gathering of Canada’s export sector. This high-energy evening celebrates bold vision, boundary-pushing innovation and the businesses propelling Canada onto the world stage.

Rub shoulders with 150+ decision-makers, innovators, and industry champions as we spotlight standout companies through an unforgettable awards ceremony — and spark new opportunities through next-level networking.

Why You'll Want to Be In THIS Room:

Power Networking: Make connections that count, with high-growth exporters, government trade reps, and industry insiders.
Spotlight Moments: See which standout companies take home top honours, and learn how they did it.
Market Intelligence: Get real-time insights into what’s driving Canada’s trade growth and global edge.
Signature Experience: Enjoy premium cocktails, skyline views, and an atmosphere designed for meaningful conversation.

This event is your opportunity to network with World Trade Centre Toronto's community of more than 1,500 export leaders.

Who Should Attend:

Business leaders looking to scale globally
Export pros ready to connect with top-tier talent
Innovators and investors with their eyes on international markets
Anyone hungry to be part of Canada’s next global success story

Why attend?

Alumni Networking: Connect with fellow Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) alumni and industry professionals across various sectors.
Awards Celebration: Celebrate outstanding achievements with the prestigious WTC-T awards, including "Exporter of the Year" and "Best Export Plan."
Exhibitor Opportunities: Showcase your business to influential leaders and decision-makers. Limited exhibitor spots are available.

Food & drink will be served during the networking portions of the event.

2026 Leaders in Export Excellence Award Nominees

The Leaders in Export Excellence Awards celebrate outstanding graduates of the Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) who are demonstrating leadership, innovation, and success in international markets. This year's nominees have distinguished themselves through exceptional export planning and export growth, helping to strengthen Canada's global trade presence.

Export Plan of the Year Nominees

The Export Plan of the Year award recognizes a TAP graduate that has demonstrated exceptional planning, strategic thinking, and readiness for international growth through the development of a comprehensive export plan.

The nominees for the 2026 award are:

G2V Optics Inc. (Edmonton, AB)
Les Invisibles (Montreal, QC)
One37 (Toronto, ON)
Sheringham Distillery (Vancouver, BC)
Wouessi Inc. (Toronto, ON)

Exporter of the Year Nominees

The Exporter of the Year award recognizes a TAP graduate that has demonstrated exceptional success in international markets through significant export growth. The award celebrates companies that have successfully translated their export strategies into measurable business results and global expansion.

The nominees are:

Layer 7 Innovations (Toronto, ON)
Nightmarket Games (Vancouver, BC)
NuMove Robotique & Vision (Montreal, QC)
Primus Workforce (Edmonton, AB)

Congratulations to all nominees for their commitment to export excellence and global growth. Winners will be announced at the 2026 Leaders in Export Excellence Awards ceremony.

Exhibitors & Partnerships

This event is your opportunity to network with World Trade Centre Toronto's community of more than 1,500 export leaders.

Interested in exhibiting or partnering with WTC-T? Contact Dalia Amer damer@bot.com for more information.

2025 Leaders in Export Excellence Award Winners

Best Export Plan – Theresa Bailey, Starfish Synergies

Exporter of the Year – Megan Shallow, BNL Media Consulting

an event like this is really about recognizing the incredible hard work that the entrepreneurs in the room are doing I have an amazing team that are all passionate about seeing our participants succeed and this is a way for us to reconnect and making sure that we can bring other experts and other contributors in the rooms for our participants to connect with these Awards recognize international trade is really really important for Canadian smmes International Trade represents about 35% of Canada's gross domestic product and smmes are the driving force of this so these awards are really really critical for that it really helps validate what we're what we're doing and helps us stand out from many other game studios uh in Canada as we're looking at our uh International growth opportunities all of the new products we're developing we're immediately applying that Global lens to it and immediately applying some of the export relateded considerations to any of the development of new products that are intellectual property participating in the trade show means a lot to me I hope to find some potential collaborations uh build a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and just enter into a space of welcoming and some growth for my company as well I expect that the winning exporter of the Year award will provide us more credibility and visibility with global customers and hopefully get us more uh discussion regarding our technology igps as someone who who has a lot of entrepreneurs in my family I get a lot of excitement and passion when I come and meet other entrepreneurs and it it honestly gets me reenergized and charged up to go and try to do more to help these companies at EDC

Explore more

The capacity crowd at our Leaders in Export Excellence event.

Canadian Exporters Look to the Future at Leaders in Export Excellence 2025

JUL 2025

People networking on the patio at the LIEE event.

Event Recap: Leaders in Export Excellence

JUL 2024

5:00 – 6:00 PM: Registration, Networking and Exhibitor Showcase

6:00 – 6:02 PM: Opening Remarks

Giles Gherson, President & CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade

6:02 – 6:05 PM: Remarks

Chi Nguyen, Member of Parliament for Spadina-Harbourfront

6:05 – 6:10 PM: Presenting Partner Remarks

Erin Siwicky, Vice President, Commercial Banking, RBC

6:10 - 6:40 PM: Panel: A New Era of Trade: How Canadian Businesses Must Adapt to Compete
Global business is being reshaped by trade disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, AI, and digital commerce. Hear how Canadian companies are strengthening competitiveness through technology, resilience, and smarter growth strategies to succeed in an increasingly complex global marketplace.

Walid Hejazi, Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Paolo Campisi, Co-founder and Operating Partner, Foes
Moderator: Jon Worren, Vice President, World Trade Centre Toronto

6:40 – 6:45 PM: Nominee Announcement

Presenter: Fahed Jaradat, National Director of Commercial Banking Strategy for Supply Chain and Financial Services, RBC

Nominees for Export Plan of the Year

G2V Optics Inc. (Edmonton, AB)
Les Invisibles (Montreal, QC)
One37 (Toronto, ON)
Sheringham Distillery (Vancouver, BC)
Wouessi Inc. (Toronto, ON)

Nominees for Exporter of the Year

Layer 7 Innovations (Toronto, ON)
Nightmarket Games (Vancouver, BC)
NuMove Robotique & Vision (Montreal, QC)
Primus Workforce (Edmonton, AB)

6:45 – 7:15 PM: Nominees Panel

Fadwa Mohanna, CEO, One37
Ken Faier, CEO Nightmarket Games
Carl Ruscica, Co-Founder, Les Invisibles
Moderator: Jon Joel, Director of Trade and Growth Programs, World Trade Centre Toronto

7:15 – 7:20 PM: Awards Presentation

Export Plan of the Year
Exporter of the Year
Presenter: Fahed Jaradat, National Director of Commercial Banking Strategy for Supply Chain and Financial Services, RBC

7:20 – 7:25 PM: Closing Remarks

Jon Worren, Vice President, World Trade Centre Toronto

7:25 – 9:00 PM: Networking Reception and Exhibitor Showcase

Speakers

Paolo Campisi

Co-founder and Operating Partner

Foes

LinkedIn
Walid Hejazi

Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy, Rotman School of Management

University of Toronto

LinkedIn
Fahed Jaradat

National Director of Commercial Banking Strategy for Supply Chain and Financial Services

RBC

LinkedIn
Chi Nguyen

Member of Parliament for Spadina-Harbourfront

LinkedIn
Erin Siwicky

Vice President of Commercial Banking

RBC

LinkedIn

Leaders in Export Excellence

2026 Leaders in Export Excellence Award Nominees

Exhibitors & Partnerships

2025 Leaders in Export Excellence Award Winners

Explore more

Agenda

Speakers

Speakers

Tickets & Registration

Premium Exhibitors

Exhibitors