Waterloo Security Dialogue

CIGI hosted the second annual Waterloo Security Dialogue (WSD) on June 10–11. As leaders convened for this important event, we recognized the critical need for ongoing, cross-jurisdictional collaboration to address the most pressing challenges in Canadian cybersecurity.

Last year’s dialogue laid an excellent foundation by exploring the state of cybersecurity in Canada. This year, we aimed to dive deeper into addressing some of the most cross-cutting challenges our nation faces. Our vision for cybersecurity extends beyond protection — it is about safeguarding Canadians’ safety and way of life, and strengthening the nation’s prosperity, competitiveness and security. Achieving this vision requires a coalition of public and private sector partners, all committed to continuous improvement in communication, best practices and collaboration.

This year’s dialogue focused on three foundational themes:

• Information sharing: clarifying what should be shared, with whom and when; building trusted relationships within and among industry and governments; and implementing legal frameworks that expressly support effective, timely information sharing.
• Skills development: generating more cybersecurity talent to fill urgent gaps, particularly in enabling the design and defence of secure systems.
• Regional cybersecurity hubs: considering a national blueprint for public-private collaboration, starting with pilots in regional hubs.

By concentrating on these key areas, we hope to develop recommendations that will set strong cornerstones for the evolving national cybersecurity agenda, ultimately accelerating — and fortifying — the success of future initiatives.

Through the WSD, CIGI is committed to enhancing Canada’s national cybersecurity resilience by fostering connections among leaders and experts and promoting collaboration across the nation.