Bright Future
In this show, Signal49 Research brings you the connections that make us stronger as individuals, as organizations, and as a country. Hear from senior-level executives from our biggest institutions and leaders from Canada and around the world. For us, leader isn’t a title, it’s a way of acting in the world. You’ll hear leaders who are working to create a bright future. Since 1954, we have provided leaders and decision-makers with the economic analysis, applied research, data, networks, and events they need to solve Canada's most complex challenges. ©Signal49 Research. All Rights Reserved.
Formerly operating as The Conference Board of Canada
Effective January 26, 2026, AERIC Inc./Signal49 Research discontinued use of ‘The Conference Board of Canada’ name, logo and branding, which had been used by AERIC Inc./Signal49 Research under license from The Conference Board, Inc. The Conference Board, Inc. and its licensees, which are not affiliated with Signal49 Research, own all right, title and interest in THE CONFERENCE BOARD name and trademarks in Canada and have the exclusive right to their use in Canada since January 26, 2026.
Episodes
41 episodes
Ep. 40: Blair Feltmate on Adapting to our Changed Climate
Climate change is one of the most vexing challenges facing our world. That the climate is changing is increasingly clear. But greenhouse gases are still spewing into the atmosphere. Temperature thresholds are being passed years earl...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 40
•
44:31
Ep. 39: Sebastien Dallaire on Public Opinion Polling
2024 has been called the year of democracy. It is estimated that more voters than ever in history will head to the polls this year. Democratic elections are happening in at least 64 countries plus the European Union—representing a combined popu...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 39
•
37:21
Ep. 38: Don Iveson on the Future of Housing
In late 2023, a dream team of former elected officials, mayors and chief planners, Indigenous leaders, designers, builders and developers, affordability advocates, and finance and insurance experts came together to create a Task Force for Housi...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 38
•
55:14
Ep. 37: Denise O’Neil Green on the Evolution of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Roles
During Black History Month in Canada, we celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Black Canadians and their communities. We highlight Black Canadians’ role in making Canada the culturally diverse, compassionate, and prosperous count...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 37
•
53:14
Ep. 36: Joshua Gans on the Economics of AI
When Joshua Gans and his co-authors released their book Prediction Machines in 2018, they were writing about a topic that seemed quite niche. At this time, machine learning was just starting out. In the last year, the speed at which artificial ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 36
•
45:40
Ep. 35: Building the Skills of the Future with Jane Goodyer and Ian Howcroft
Canada’s labour force isn’t growing fast enough to keep up with the aging population. On one hand we have a labour supply challenge. But, on the other hand the workers we do have don’t always have the skill sets that we need today, but pa...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 35
•
52:27
Ep.34: Paul Kershaw on Generational Fairness
Today’s generation feels maligned by the press and often ignored by politics. Priced out of home ownership, dealing with the growing impact of climate change, and criticized for not appreciating that life is hard and always has been—life doesn’...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 34
•
35:40
Ep. 33: Valérie Pisano on the Rise of AI and ChatGPT
OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other large language model AI have brought the long-standing promises of artificial intelligence to fruition. ChatGPT has taken the world by storm, accumulating millions of users worldwide. However, this tool a...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 33
•
40:42
Ep. 32: Lloyd Axworthy on Supporting Refugees
The history of humanity is a history of movement. Today, movements of people from one place to another are subject to severe political and social constraints.Our guest this episode has spent a good portion of his life creatin...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 32
•
35:33
Ep. 31: Tracy Bear on the Importance of Indigenous Knowledge
Professor Tracy Bear is a well-known researcher focusing on Indigenous knowledge, resilience and embedding research in true partnerships with communities. In 2021, she was appointed director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute....
•
Season 1
•
Episode 31
•
36:00
Ep. 30: Nicholas André G. Johnson on Being Princeton’s First Black Valedictorian
In May 2020, in the depths of the pandemic, Canadian Nicholas André G. Johnson broke new ground as Princeton’s first Black valedictorian. In over 274 years, no other Black student had been recognized in this way by the institution, making Nicho...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 30
•
31:55
Ep. 29: Marnie Howlett on Ukraine as a Borderland
The war in Ukraine brought the country and its people to the forefront of international attention. Every day more and more people are seeking to help Ukrainians to end the war and to recover from the damage that is being inflicted.Dr. Ma...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 29
•
36:50
Ep. 28: Jane Boulden on How the War in Ukraine is Disrupting the Rules-Based International Order
The ongoing war in Ukraine has shaken the foundation of international relations. In many ways this war feels like déjà vu—a land war in Europe, a larger power attempting to overtake another smaller country for its own gains. But in ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 28
•
41:58
Ep. 27: The Economic impact of the war in Ukraine, with Pedro Antunes, Ted Mallett and Sohaib Shahid.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves around the world and Canada is not immune. Join the Conference Board of Canada’s economic forecasting team as they discuss how this conflict will impact Canadian producers, government, and c...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 27
•
35:57
Ep. 26: Rupen Seoni on how data shapes the world
Decisions about our communities are made based on data. That data comes from many places, but these days, a lot of it comes from what we do and the decisions we make. Over the course of the pandemic, our actions changed dramatically. Having loc...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 26
•
22:57
Ep. 25: The Hon. Murray Sinclair on why we need truth for reconciliation
More than five years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final report, progress on the 94 calls to action has been slow. But are Canadians starting to finally understand the truth of how Indigenous Peoples have been treated...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 25
•
42:40
Ep. 24: Partnering to overhaul workplace technology, with Amélie Lecompte and Mark Lambert
What do you do when your technology trips you up more than it helps you out? In 2014, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation found itself with a collection of legacy technologies that were getting in employees’ way and limiting the organiz...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 24
•
23:55
Ep. 23: Does disclosure improve diversity? Dr. Susan Black and Rob Davis
“Comply or explain” disclosure requirements were intended to improve women’s representation at the top of Canada’s major organizations. Five years later, the ratio of women on corporate boards has improved, but is it thanks to the disclosure re...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 23
•
32:51
Ep. 22: Tareq Hadhad on starting over in Canada
Refugees bring very few “things” with them when they arrive in Canada, but they don’t arrive empty-handed. They bring experiences, perspective, passion, and fresh ideas. When Tareq Hadhad left war-torn Syria and settled in Nova Scot...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 22
•
38:35
Ep. 21: Sasha Tregebov on nudging our way to recovery
Policies need to make sense with how people and businesses already operate. Otherwise, they won’t work. Knowing how people make decisions can help policies make sense to the people they’re supposed to support. A misplaced nudge can sometimes fe...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 21
•
32:09
Ep. 20: Dr. Jiaying Zhao on behavioural sustainability
Environmental sustainability is one of the most pressing concerns of our time. And while this is something most of us can agree on, turning that consensus into action is more difficult. If we want to make progress on our climate targets, we nee...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 20
•
29:29
Ep. 19: Shaun Brown on Canada’s new privacy regulations
Using data to make decisions—either by a person or by a machine—has become a big part of our lives over the past couple of decades. Our lawmakers have tried to keep up, but innovation will likely always outpace bureaucracy. And, in a world wher...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 19
•
33:04
Ep. 18: Margaret MacMillan on war and remembrance
November 11 is a time of reflection. A time to remember the struggles and sacrifice that have gone into building this country. Margaret MacMillan, bestselling author and professor of history, reminds us in her new book, War: How Conflict Sh...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 18
•
29:52
Ep. 17: John Stackhouse on the potential of Canadian expats
As a journalist in the ‘90s, John Stackhouse spent many years living overseas meeting and interviewing interesting people. Many of them were his fellow Canadians. He discovered that expats are keen to help their home country. When he returned, ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 17
•
40:21
Ep. 16: Dr. Susy Hota on getting through the second wave
How can we keep the second wave from turning into a second lockdown? Viruses spread when people spend time in close quarters, so lockdowns are good at slowing their transmission. But they come with a cost—a reality we know well, an...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 16
•
31:00