Bring your conference to
Canada’s financial capital
Bay Street, the major banks, and the country’s markets give your delegates a reason to come to Toronto before they book a flight. What turns that advantage into a hosted event is a recognized local expert, often through a chamber or professional body, to lead the bid. That expert is you.
Hosting a congress is more than winning a bid. It’s about bringing your sector’s leaders together in one place.
What lasts goes beyond the meeting: stronger connections with peers and institutions, greater recognition in your field, and the opportunity to celebrate your contribution at the Leaders Circle Recognition Celebration.
A partnership, with you at the front
You bring the standing in your sector. We bring a team that knows how international congress bids are won.
Leading a conference bid means leading the academic expertise. Depending on the association’s guidelines, you judge whether an opportunity is worth pursuing, bring your institution and your peers to the table, shape the academic theme the proposal is built on, contribute to the bid proposal, and speak for Toronto when the case is made. Leaders Circle assists with the strategy and researches the case for the city, and Destination Toronto compiles the bid proposal, coordinates letters of support from government, and more.
Once a conference is won, its ambassadors may be eligible for the Leaders Circle Research Grant, up to $50,000 for a project aligned with the conference’s focus. Beyond the grant, ambassadors join a standing network of sector leaders and are celebrated among their peers at the Leaders Circle Recognition Celebration.
Global business comes to Toronto,
led by leaders like you.
Business and professional leaders
have brought their international
conferences here
The clearest example is the 15th World Chambers Congress, coming to Toronto in 2027.
In their words
“The legacy that we’re looking at is really one of collaboration.”
In their words
“Hosting a global conference creates benefits that extend well beyond the event itself. For the host organization, it’s an opportunity to elevate its profile, strengthen international relationships, and showcase its expertise on a global stage.”
The second-largest financial centre in North America, and a growing fintech hub
For a business or finance congress, the host city is part of the credibility. It signals to delegates and sponsors that the sector takes the gathering seriously. Toronto is Canada's financial capital and one of North America's largest financial centres: the home of Bay Street, more than 272,000 people working in the sector, dozens of foreign bank head offices, and the Toronto Stock Exchange, among the largest in the world.
All five of Canada’s largest banks are headquartered here, along with several of the world’s largest pension funds, and it is a growing centre for fintech and AI in finance. Bringing your congress here connects that strength to a community of business and finance leaders who have done the same, and puts your sector, and your city, on the map. Toronto is a major international gateway, with the connections and capacity a global business delegation requires — which matters most when your delegates travel from every part of the world.
Questions business and finance leaders ask
These congresses are won through a bid, a formal case made to the association that owns the meeting. The bid needs a local leader to carry it, often through a chamber or professional body, working with a team that prepares the case for the city. In Toronto, Leaders Circle brings the strategy and guidance, Destination Toronto delivers the bid services, and you provide the standing that comes from being known in your field. There is no fee to take part.
Toronto is Canada’s financial capital and one of North America’s largest financial centres, home to Bay Street, the major banks, and a growing fintech sector. A congress here reaches the institutions and the people at the centre of the field, and brings international delegates into the city’s own financial community.
Ambassadors join a standing network of business and finance leaders across Toronto, take part in Leaders Circle workshops, and are celebrated among their peers at the Leaders Circle Recognition Celebration. For many, the standing among peers, and the connections across the sector, are what lasts.
Any leader active in the sector and connected to a professional body can lead a bid. You do not need to be the most senior name in your field, only known to your peers and willing to lead. Leaders Circle and Destination Toronto handle the process around you.