DAAC Summit 2025 Recap
On October 14, the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (DAAC) held its annual summit at the beautiful Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt LLP offices in downtown Toronto.
This year’s event featured a morning keynote session from Dr. Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa. He discussed the various pitfalls of recently failed legislation and his vision for better government consultations surrounding digital policies (essentially calling for genuine collaboration by government amongst all stakeholders). This was followed by an insightful fireside chat featuring Joanna Fine from Osler.
The afternoon keynotes featured Chelsea Nakogee from Wabusk Data Solutions, who informed the audience on several indigenous data privacy frameworks to help move away from solely Western thinking regarding data collection and handling. She emphasized the importance of being accountable, not just compliant, and of building privacy from the ground up as a community-based framework rooted in ethics, respect, and reciprocity. Her message centred on collaboration and the principle of Two-Eyed Seeing, which blends Indigenous and Western ways of knowing to create balanced approaches to data governance.
To close the afternoon, Sarah Thompson of Glassroom, representing the not-for-profit Canadian Media Means Business (CMMB), shared groundbreaking findings on the media and advertising sector’s one-for-one contribution to Canada’s GDP. Did you know the marketing and advertising industry is larger than the automotive sector in Canada? You can explore the data yourself by downloading CMMB’s impressive report.
Throughout the day, attendees also heard from Didomi, Google, the DAA US (regarding our refreshed choice tools), Ad Standards, and, of course, news from the DAAC, including the announcement of our new training program called Privacy in Digital Media. This one-day intensive course is designed to provide participants with a clear and practical understanding of Canada’s privacy laws, their historical foundations, and how these laws intersect with today’s digital media environment. Whether you’re working in advertising, marketing, compliance, or technology, this training will equip you with the knowledge you need to navigate privacy issues confidently.
It was a day jam-packed with learning in a room full of senior marketers, publishers, lawyers, and agency heads. If you missed it, be sure to get on the list for 2026.
The DAAC is always looking for sponsors for events such as our annual summit. If you would like to partner with us, please reach out.
