The forum saw investors, senior IR leaders and C-suite executives explore new opportunities for the IR role to evolve
The Canadian capital markets have undergone a significant degree of change in the past 12 months. As IROs gathered for the IR Impact Forum – Canada 2026, held at the Lumi Experience on April 2, many factors loomed large for the profession: volatile markets, the expanding influence of AI on investment decisions and the advent of 24-hour trading and tokenized securities all promised to change the day-to-day work of IROs.
For the 100-or-so IROs in attendance, the event provided an opportunity for professionals to discuss how to reevaluate their strategies, deliver greater clarity, anticipate concerns and engage with investors more meaningfully in such a landscape.
Below, we have collected four of the key themes in the day’s discussions that will likely further impact Canadian IROs as we proceed into 2026.
Understanding the 24-hour trading market
One early session turned to the prospect of 24-hour trading in Canada and what a more ‘always-on’ market could mean for the IR function.
Amin Mousavian, vice president of investor relations and interim chief risk officer at TMX Group, defined the shift as the ’evolution of the market’ that will ‘create additional opportunities,’ but noted that it was ‘not going to change things overnight.’
He pointed to the US as a reference point, where trading in extended hours only represents about 10 percent of the overall volume, he compared an always-on market to gyms which are ‘open 24/7 but not everybody shows up in the middle of the night to bench press.’
‘I don’t necessarily think everyone needs to stay up 24/7 in the next year or two to be able to manage, but it needs to be something that’s on your radar and in your mind,’ he added.
He emphasized the importance of a measured approach, suggesting there is limited advantage in being first to move. Instead, he explained that ‘as investor relations officers, I think you need to continue to monitor the space. As it develops you should see some use cases, and you should figure out what works for you, then figure out how do you take part as it becomes used more widely.’
The IR role and its continued expansion
In a panel titled ‘Understanding the evolving role of IR’, speakers reflected on how the IR function is continuing to expand beyond its traditional remit.
Matthew Pallotta, head of investor relations at Celestica, pointed to the increasing importance of internal coordination. ‘There is much more of a focus on coordination and outside of that, advising management from a strategic, IR perspective,’ he said. ‘Rather than just being an external pathway for information, we’re bringing information back to management from the market. That is one of the biggest evolutions I’ve seen over the last several years.’
Adam Borgatti, senior vice president, corporate development and investor relations at Aecon Group, said this had manifested at his company through his increased responsibilities, taking on corporate development and strategy in addition to an IR brief.
‘I think the immediacy of news and the 24-hour news cycle, everything is converging around communications and the necessity to have that coordinated,’ he added. ‘What used to be just finance, IR, communications have become strategy, government or indigenous, for example.’
David Ocampo, head of investor relations at ATS Corporation, is a recent convert to the profession from the sell side and observed that the IR role ‘has evolved quite dramatically’ since his time spent as an analyst. ‘It is more strategically oriented, not just focused on investor interactions,’ he added. ‘You’re constantly pulled into strategy, corporate development and really valued as the external voice.’
Across the discussion, a key message was clear: the IR role is not just about communications, but strategic influence. As Ocampo said: ‘The role sits at the intersection of markets and corporate decisions…I think it’s IR in title, but not IR in what you’re actually doing on the day-to-day job.’
IROs are more than storytellers
Later in the morning, a panel titled ‘Communicating the value of IR to the C-suite’ turned the focus inward, exploring how the function is perceived at the highest levels of listed companies. The discussion featured Nathalie Megann, president and CEO of the Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI) and Gord Nelson, CFO at Cineplex Entertainment, both of whom are valued judges of the IR Impact Awards.
Both agreed that IR is increasingly positioned beyond an internal advisory function. ‘The investor relations person now has really morphed into a critical strategic advisor, or as I like to call them, capital market intelligence agents, or capital market strategists,’ said Megann.
‘We know that investor relations is about connections, relationships but in a business context it’s really about framing the intel to your C-suite so that you understand what the business implications are, how you should be tweaking your strategy and how you go about engaging the market.’
She added: ‘You’re seeing IROs work very closely with their CEOs on framing the equity story and managing the market expectations… What we see is a change in how IROs are delivering real value to the C-suite.’
Nelson said this manifested at Cineplex through a change in the IR team’s focus. ‘We transitioned IR from a communications function into a kind of corporate development function, moving from that storytelling role to a translation role,’ he explained. ‘The translation role is understanding the strategy of the organization, having those connections with the investors and creating a two-way conversation between the board, the C-suite and the investors.’
As Nelson noted, this evolution is ultimately about impact, describing it as a way ‘to ultimately optimize the enterprise value and avoid surprises.’
AI is your new team member
AI is here to stay. The challenge now is incorporating AI effectively into existing workflows to maximize efficiency and sharpen insight, even as adoption remains uneven across the function.
Emily Duncan, manager of investor relations at Maple Leaf Foods, pointed to the growing influence of AI in shaping how IR output is interpreted by the market. ‘We have to take into account that AI is now the first reader of our content,’ she said. ‘Before an investor will even read the content, it has already gone through AI. The key messages are already being extracted.’
Felipe de Souza, senior director, treasury and investor relations at George Weston, agreed with humor. ‘Resistance is futile,’ he joked. ‘Whether you are regularly, occasionally or barely thinking about AI, the underlying thought that I think everybody should come to terms with is that it doesn’t need your use to move on.’
Understanding the nature of the tool is critical to using it effectively – and not destructively – he added. ‘AI keeps getting referenced as a tool,’ said de Souza. ‘So, to keep in that mindset, you can think of it as a hammer. You can build a home, or it can smash your thumb. AI is the same. It can help you build your story, amplify it, but only if you know how it works when you’re using it, and how it’s working for those in your key audience that are using it to look at your company.’
