Thank you to all who made this event possible. Of course, the competitions themselves are the “main thing,” but it’s wonderful to have an opportunity set aside specifically to recognize and celebrate the ingenuity, passion and plain old hard work of these young innovators. The tools at their disposal are more advanced than ever before – this generation of problem solvers gets to play with cooler stuff than my generation did in the 1990s! Remote-controlled mini-helicopters with A.I. vision was only in my Batman comic books back then. These kids are basically Batman to me! Although, at their age, perhaps we have to still call them all “Robin”…

I had the privilege to participate as a judge in the GenZ CanHack 2026 competition in August, and I was so inspired to see how the teams tackled waste management problems. Real problems that cities and private companies are trying to solve. There are concepts at the City of Toronto Solid Waste Management Services Division, where I work, that are very similar to what this year’s teams have put forward. We have a pilot project for litter bin sensors. Our only real drone use case was to monitor waste piles at transfer stations and estimate their size. That might be where the kids are really leading the pros.

Another area where we saw lots of practical application combined with engineering excellence from the competitors was in the use of A.I. Clearly, A.I. is the transformative technology of this generation, and young people are seamlessly adopting it in stride. The most common use we saw across the teams was image processing or item classification → this is definitely an important application for the waste management industry → sorting of waste streams and management of contamination.

From my many years in IT and tech, I also noticed another area where our competitors demonstrated mastery in a technical domain, one that perhaps is more indirect and behind the scenes, but is, to me, the key to making any technical solution actually work. I mean yes, the robotics, in and of themselves, are impressive. Yes, the A.I. capabilities being leveraged are multiplying the problem-solving capacity of a solution, but… what I noticed was what an amazing set of SYSTEM INTEGRATORS I saw. Integration is the “behind-the-scenes” skill I was referring to. Integration is what makes a solution actually work. Without it, you just have a set of loose parts. You can’t have a solution, and you can’t solve problems, without integration. Anyone who’s worked professionally in IT or technology project delivery understands how critical integration is, and it’s not really something that gets taught in a very direct manner, versus other tech skills, like coding, where there are a million classes your kids can take for that. Have you ever seen a program offered called “System Integration for Kids?” No, not by such a name. But you have all heard of such a program, because it’s this one. This year’s competitors may not have realized it, but this hackathon was essentially “System Integration for Kids."

However, whether we’re talking about robotics, A.I., coding, designing, building or even my favorite, integrating, there are other dimensions to a person’s skills, knowledge and aptitudes beyond the purely technical. Yes, in this sort of context, the technology is the main thing, but there are many non-technical traits and attributes I saw from our competitors that can really act as a force multiplier on those baseline technical capabilities. I’m talking about things like curiosity and determination. I’m talking about things like teamwork and communication.

The most brilliant coder, who sits alone in a corner, will not achieve as much as a good coder who works positively with a good team. The smartest person who cannot communicate their ideas will not build solutions as good as ones coming from “regular smart” people who can communicate their ideas effectively, to different audiences.

The greatest engineer, who is also lazy and unmotivated, will always be outperformed in the end by the relatively less brilliant engineer who works hard.

What I loved about this hackathon and the great teams that participated was that all of these other skills had to be brought to the table alongside technical capabilities. Yes, let’s do some coding and play with robots, but we also have to do it as a team, we have to work very hard, and as part of the competition, we must present our solutions and share our ideas. The valuable experiences gained by our young innovators have been multi-dimensional. These kids aren’t just better at one technical skill or another; they’re better at organizing information, they’re better at dealing with complex situations with a small group of their peers.

...and that’s why parents like me will look at experiences like this, and tell the kids involved: “You’re all winners.” When I was a kid, I would hear stuff like that from my parents, or other adults, and kind of roll my eyes, but as I’ve gotten older and been able to learn from many experiences along the way, I’ve come to realize that sentiments like “You’re all winners” may feel a bit trite or cliché, but… they’re true. If you participated in this hackathon, you are a winner. Even if your team came last. You gained something from it. You have more tools in your toolbelt now. You have one more coin dropped into your own personal piggy bank of life experience. Keep exploring and innovating. Keep challenging yourselves. Keep dropping coins in your personal piggy bank. When you’re as old as me, you ought to have a lot in there.

We need this generation of young technology innovators to be ready to wield the technology of tomorrow, to help Canada solve the problems of tomorrow.

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I think this room is full of people who are up to that challenge. I want to conclude by formally applauding and congratulating all the competitors. Well done, all! Thank you.

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