One of Canada’s most recent digital movements started with a simple question: What if a handful of people stopped waiting for the government to fix things and started building the country they wanted to live in?
That question turned into Build Canada, a growing network of volunteers, projects and open-source tools that is now expanding nationwide with a call for thousands of Canadians to get involved.
Announced at Toronto Tech Week, Build Canada said it will open source all of its projects, scale its operations across the country, and formally named Lucy Hargreaves its first CEO.
“This is going to be a full-time thing for me,” said Hargreaves. “And most importantly, we have an incredible team who is also stepping up along with me.”
Build Canada started with a small group of volunteers who decided to stop waiting for permission. They used AI tools, wrote policy memos, and built prototypes to test how a handful of people could help push the country toward smarter government and stronger growth. Now the experiment is turning into a national movement.
One of those early volunteers was Daniel Debow, a Toronto-based entrepreneur who helped lead the group as it grew. From the start, Debow argued that real change would only happen if more Canadians took responsibility for shaping the country’s future.
“We cannot just complain and then ask government to fix things for us,” said Debow. “We need to get off our heels and get engaged in our country’s governments at every level. We need builders who care, who bring what they know about the world to help build a better country.”
Debow bluntly told the crowd that “the cavalry isn’t coming.”
If Canadians want better policies, smarter government, and more prosperity, it’s going to take more people rolling up their sleeves and getting involved — whether that means coding, communications, policy, or public service.
A side project that snowballed into a national agenda
What began as a handful of policy experiments quickly picked up speed.
It only launched earlier this year, but in a matter of months, the Build Canada team shipped more than 30 policy memos, an AI-powered promise tracker, and an open government objectives and key results (OKR) dashboard. They used AI to distill complex policy ideas and track accountability across federal initiatives.
And it didn’t take long for that momentum to build.
“The thesis we had was correct,” said Debow. “A small group of people armed with the best tools that we have available, highly focused and motivated, can make a dent, can change the conversation.”
The traction surprised even the organizers. The policy tools sparked public interest and drew attention from both major federal parties. A new Build Canada Cabinet Committee was formed, and volunteers came from across industries and provinces.
People even wanted merch.
“The movement, the momentum, and really the message resonated,” said Hargreaves. “People wanted merch. Entrepreneurs from many industries, not just the tech sector, reached out offering resources and support. Public servants even reached out saying, ‘You’re onto something. You guys have to keep going with this.’”
Turning a toolkit into a movement
Now, Build Canada is formalizing that momentum into a national builder network. Its plan includes:
- Open sourcing all their existing tools for others to use and adapt
- Funding new community-led projects across the country
- Launching a national “Build Chain” of local communities and events
- Connecting technologists, policy thinkers, and everyday Canadians through a shared platform
- Sharing policy playbooks and success stories between provinces
Whether you’re a developer in Victoria, a designer in Saskatoon, or a policy wonk in Halifax, Build Canada is betting there are plenty of people across the country who want to do more than just complain and are ready to get involved.
“What if thousands of smart, technical, creative people were volunteering and building projects not just at the federal level, but at local levels, municipal levels, provincial levels?” said Hargreaves. “What would that look like?”
A mindset, not a membership
The underlying philosophy is that being a “builder” is more a mindset than anything. And it’s one that Hargreaves and Debow argue is core to being Canadian.
“What would it mean if being Canadian, part of our national ethos, part of our national story, part of our national identity, was that being Canadian means being a builder?” asked Debow. “We get things done.”
It might sound like an ideological shift, but it’s more so an attempt to make participation in civic life feel tangible and rewarding, he said. Especially for those used to moving fast in the private sector but frustrated by the pace of public systems.
“There are networks of people and builders out there who yearn for the message,” said Debow. “They want to be part of a movement.”
With Hargreaves now formally taking the helm, Build Canada is shifting from a rapid prototyping team to a long-term national initiative.
They see their role as sparking momentum, not deciding direction.
“The people who build Canada, we don’t have all the answers,” says Debow. “We do not want to control this movement. We want to light the fire under the movement and give you energy to make it happen.”
That means no gatekeeping, no committees to wait on, and no polished plans that never see action. Just builders helping builders, sharing what works, and pushing for change.
