The Empire Club of Canada
Hybrid
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Canada stands at the threshold of a new economic era. For decades, high-speed rail has been a dream deferred—an aspiration studied, debated, and shelved. Now, with Alto’s bold new plan to connect Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières, and Québec City, that dream is finally becoming reality.
Beneath the tracks lies a national opportunity to modernize production, source Canadian-made materials, and mobilize the workforce of tomorrow. High-speed rail is more than a transportation project. It represents a once-in-a-century investment that aligns perfectly with Canada’s current focus on building at home: strengthening infrastructure, advancing clean technology, supporting evolving interprovincial trade and preparing for a sustainable, competitive future. By directly linking major cities across provincial borders, Alto will enable faster movement of goods, talent, and ideas, laying the groundwork for a more competitive and deeply integrated Canadian marketplace.
This transformative network will connect 44 percent of Canada’s population and support more than 50,000 Canadian jobs during construction. The project is estimated to deliver structuring changes to the Canadian economy worth $24.5 billion annually—about 1.1 percent of Canada’s GDP every year. The ripple effects will touch nearly every sector of the economy.
On Thursday January 22nd, 2026 the Empire Club of Canada will invite Martin Imbleau, President and CEO of ALTO for a keynote speech entitled It’s About Time followed by a fireside chat with Sean Speer, Co-Founder and Editor-at-Large of the Hub
Sean Speer will also feature this conversation for Hub Podcasts on a future episode.
Businesses attending this Empire Club event will gain insight on how to catalyze growth from future participation in this generational project—from infrastructure and technology innovation to regional development, workforce training, and cross-sector collaboration.
Martin Imbleau brings a wealth of experience in developing and implementing major infrastructure projects.
Prior to joining Alto, Martin was President and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority.
Previously, he was Vice-President of Corporate Strategies and Business Development at Hydro-Québec. He has also held senior vice-president positions at Énergir, where he was responsible for business development, renewable energy, community relations, corporate strategy and operations.
Martin holds a Master of Law degree from Université de Montréal and a Bachelor of Law from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). He was called to the Barreau du Québec in 1997. He continues to champion international human rights through the publication of several books on international law, human rights, freedom of expression, genocide and transitional justice.
Martin chairs the Board of Directors of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies at UQAM.
Sean Speer is the co-founder and editor at large of The Hub (www.thehub.ca), an online news and commentary site on Canadian policy and politics. He is also a senior fellow at Carleton University’s Riddell Graduate Program for Political Management, the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and the Public Policy Forum. Sean previously served as a senior advisor to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
