Disruptors

The $15m Cliff: Keeping Canadian Agri-Food Startups Scaling at Home

Canada is exporting too much of its agri-food upside—IP, talent, and value-add—because growth-stage financing doesn’t fit the sector. From Ottawa, John Stackhouse speaks with RBC’s Lisa Ashton to unpack Seeding Scale—RBC’s new report on Canada’s agri-food growth-capital gap. Joined by Vive Crop CEO Darren Anderson and Emmertech Managing Partner Kyle Scott, they break down why agri-food is “different money,” why companies hit a wall around the $15M mark, and the first moves to keep more Canadian innovation scaling at home.Seeding Scale Report:https://www.rbc.com/en/thought-leadership/the-growth-project/seeding-scale-addressing-canadas-agri-food-growth-capital-gap-2/RBC Thought Leadershipwww.rbc.com/thoughtleadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Risk as Signal: A Canadian Playbook

Fresh from Davos, John Stackhouse shares field notes on how the world’s economy is reorganizing — and what that means for Canadians.He is joined by Gerald Butts, Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor at Eurasia Group, to unpack the new RBC–Eurasia Canada risk outlook: what matter most, how to separate signal from noise, and the practical playbook for where to invest, what to protect, and how to diversify.RBC / Eurasia – Risk Reportwww.rbc.com/en/thought-leadership/the-growth-project/top-risks-2026-canada/Davos ’26: Making sense of a new world orderwww.rbc.com/en/thought-leadership/the-trade-hub/davos-26-making-sense-of-a-new-world-order/RBC Thought Leadershipwww.rbc.com/thoughtleadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Climate-Led Investing: What’s Next

Season 10 begins with climate—and the release of RBC Climate Action Institute’s Climate Action 2026 report. John Stackhouse is joined by Clara Barby, Senior Partner at Just Climate, to pressure-test what’s actually scaling—and what’s getting stuck. They start with a simple filter for policy and investment: solutions that don’t require behaviour change and don’t come with a green premium. From there, Clara makes the case for Canada’s ‘land transition’ as a ripe opportunity—investing in tools and inputs that help farmers and land managers decarbonize while strengthening the systems we rely on. They also dig into why CCUS remains a complex case: carbon price, CapEx, infrastructure, and a fragmented value chain—and what it would take to unlock bankable projects. And they look at how AI-driven power demand is changing the investment lens on electrification and grid build. If you’re trying to separate climate ambition from execution, this conversation is your Season 10 starting point—and a guide to the report behind it.RBC Climate Action 2026 (report): www.rbc.com/caiUnearthing Value (report): http://bit.ly/4qJZ9TQJust Climate: https://www.justclimate.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alberta’s Next Energy Mix

With industrial power demand rising, can small modular reactors help anchor a cleaner, always‑on system that will support the incoming AI Data Centre boom? In this bonus episode of Disruptors, recorded live in Edmonton, host John Stackhouse speaks with Premier Danielle Smith about a practical path: SMRs alongside abated natural gas, hydro, and stronger interties—with Indigenous equity built in from day one. They dig into reliability needs, near‑term “bring‑your‑own‑power” models, how to finance nuclear in an energy‑only market, and what collaboration between provinces could unlock. Recorded live in Edmonton, Alberta, and convened by the SMR Forum in partnership with the Canadian Association of Small Modular Reactors (CASMR). rbc.com/en/thought-leadership/ SMR Forum: https://smr-forum.caCASMR: https://canada-smr.ca Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Building Canada: A new generation takes charge

Canada’s future won’t be decided in PDF strategies — it will be decided by what we actually build: trade corridors, clean power, AI datacentres, agtech and northern connectivity that can stand up in a more volatile world.In this episode of Disruptors: The Canada Project, John Stackhouse speaks with Daniel Debow, Chair of the Board at Build Canada, and Lucy Hargreaves, the organization’s CEO, about how a new builder mindset is taking shape across the country — and why sovereignty and competitiveness now depend on turning ideas into infrastructure at speed and scale.As global trade routes shift and geopolitical tensions rise, they explore how Canada can capitalize on its advantages — from Arctic gateways and critical minerals to Prairie food corridors and on-farm agtech — while giving the next generation real ways to step into nation-building, in business and in public service.www.buildcanada.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.