Canadian AI Journalism Network - Quarterly Forum
Event Details
📍 Location: Toronto Star @ The Well, 8 Spadina Avenue
🗓️ Date: October 21, 2026
🕕 Doors Open: 5:30pm
🕕 Event: 6:00pm - 8:00pm
💬 Format: Evening session with three 20 minute presentations, Q&A and networking.
🍔 Light food and refreshments will be provided.
Note that the event has a capacity of 50 that we expect will be met. Request to register for event does not guarantee entry. Waitlist will be created.
Speakers
Nora Young, technology journalist, broadcaster, author, and speaker.
Reflects on the technology waves she has reported on and how they compare with the current AI moment.
Craig Silverman, investigative journalist and co-founder of Indicator.
Shares how he uses AI in his reporting and showcases his newly built open source tools for AI-assisted investigations.
Grant Ellis, Executive Editor, The Toronto Star, with Kate Allen, AI Reporting Lead, and Nathan Pilla, AI Tools and Data Lead.
How The Star is leaning into AI-augmented reporting, from its AI reporting team and tools to Vote Compass, plus a deeper look at the lessons from their Strong Mayors investigation.
About the Event
Join peers from across the media industry for a gathering of the Canadian AI Journalism Network (CAIJN) — a collaborative space for exploring how artificial intelligence is reshaping journalism in Canada. This evening will bring together editors, reporters, technologists, researchers, and media leaders to spark conversation, share ideas, and set the foundation for a national community of practice.
We’ll explore real-world applications of AI in journalism, discuss emerging challenges, and imagine how Canadian newsrooms can lead responsibly and creatively in this rapidly changing field. Expect sharp insights, honest dialogue, and a chance to connect with others shaping the future of Canadian media.
Speaker Biographies
Nora Young
Nora is a technology journalist, broadcaster, author, and speaker. Her work focuses on the social impacts of new technologies. Nora just concluded a two year stint as Senior Technology Reporter with CBC National News, where she focused on the latest developments in artificial intelligence.
She created and hosted Spark, an award-winning technology show, which ran for 17 seasons across the country on CBC Radio, and internationally as a podcast.
Nora’s book, The Virtual Self, explores the explosion of our personal data, and the link between Big Data and current technological change. She is a speaker and interviewer on issues related to AI, data ethics, and technological trends.
An active volunteer, she is currently on the Board of Directors of Farm Radio International, which supports rural broadcasters in many countries in Africa, through interactive digital tech to amplify rural voices, and good ol’ radio. FRI works towards communication for development, and communications justice.
Her favourite technology is her bicycle.
Craig Silverman
Craig Silverman is an award-winning journalist and author and a leading expert on online disinformation and digital investigations. He is the cofounder of Indicator (https://indicator.media/), an independent publication dedicated to exposing digital deception and equipping professionals with the knowledge, skills, and tools to investigate it. Prior to Indicator, he was a national reporter for ProPublica covering voting, platforms, disinformation, and online manipulation. Craig previously served as the founding editor of BuzzFeed Canada and the media editor of BuzzFeed News, where he pioneered coverage of digital disinformation and media manipulation.
Grant Ellis
Grant leads all innovation and AI initiatives in The Star newsroom and works with other Torstar departments to help develop the parent company's overall AI strategy. He also partners with editor-in-chief Nicole MacIntyre on content strategy and newsroom leadership, and oversees the visual departments and other newsroom sections. He was previously general manager of BNN Bloomberg and managing editor of the Financial Post.
Kate Allen
A longtime enterprise reporter with a knack for data and geekier topics, Kate leads AI reporter enablement at The Star. She works with journalists one-on-one and in groups to build innovative techniques into their reporting. She also leads the AI reporting group and writes a regular internal newsletter sharing wins from around the newsroom. Kate won the 2017 National Newspaper Award for explanatory work and was nominated for the 2024 NNA for beat reporting for her coverage of climate change.
Nathan Pilla
A veteran visual journalist and graphic designer, Nathan has become The Star's resident AI inventor. He builds AI tools, integrates data sources and leads training so journalists can connect fast-moving technology to their stories. His creations include Beat Monkey, a news monitoring tool; the scraping system behind the giant Vote Compass project; and a document sorting tool for the Strong Mayors investigation. Nathan has won many awards for design and visual presentation, including the 2025 NNA for digital storytelling.
About the Network
The Canadian AI Journalism Network (CAIJN) is an industry network committed to fostering the responsible use and development of AI technologies in journalism across Canada. By facilitating open knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer conversations, we aim to cultivate Canadian excellence in AI journalism. Ultimately, our goal is to empower media consumers with more relevant, trustworthy, and innovative journalistic services.
Founded by Nikita Roy and Rignam Wangkhang, CAIJN brings together leaders and practitioners from across the media landscape to shape the future of AI in Canadian journalism.