Generation1.ca is inviting participants, partners, and sponsors to join Tastes of Tomorrow – our “powered by foresight” Festival of Global Identities on Friday, 7 August 2026. Building on our established annual showcase of the best in data insights and storytelling about global cultures and multicultural immigrant identities, this summer’s edition uses future-focused data, demographic projections, and innovation trends to imagine what belonging – and eating – will look like over the next decade.
In a Canada that is projected to be 29–34% immigrant by 2041, and where more than one in four food-and-beverage workers are immigrants and over half of food businesses with paid staff are immigrant-owned, Tastes of Tomorrow treats immigrant talent and taste as core economic infrastructure, not a side theme. At a time when festivals already generate over $1B in GDP and around 30,000 full-time equivalent jobs nationally, centering immigrant-owned food, stories, and identities shows what future-ready prosperity really looks like.
But this is not just a Canadian story—it is a North American one. In the United States, immigrants are equally foundational to how the food and restaurant economy actually works: Over one in five US restaurant and foodservice workers were born outside the country, forming the backbone of daily operations; close to 40% of all US restaurant owners are immigrants, making immigrant entrepreneurship a major driver of new concepts, neighbourhood revitalization, and job creation; US food spending reached nearly $3 trillion in 2023, with food-away-from-home (restaurants, markets, festivals) growing by 12% and accounting for nearly 60% of all food spending—showing how Americans increasingly experience culture through taste. Major food events like Smorgasburg (NYC, LA, Miami) drew 2 million visitors in 2023 and supported roughly 100 small vendors, many immigrant-led, functioning as low-barrier testbeds where global cuisines become mainstream.
Generation1.ca’s Tastes of Tomorrow connects all these North American realities—high-growth immigrant economies, rising festival culture, and multicultural taste leadership—into one future-focused festival. This summer showcase reunites global immigrants, industry leaders, creatives, researchers, policymakers, food influencers, and culinary innovators to explore what belonging tastes like in a world of many flavours. Sponsor activations become living labs for sustainability, hyper-regional cuisines, inclusive hiring, AI-powered experiences, and new product concepts. Partners receive insights into multicultural audiences, emerging taste trends, and global consumer behaviour shaping the next decade.
Rooted in Generation1.ca’s decade of work as a community hub and seismic node for cultural intelligence and immigrant inclusion, Tastes of Tomorrow amplifies the storytelling, insight, and creative energy our ecosystem is known for—this time through food, flavour, and shared cultural experience as a strategic lens for future-ready prosperity. Our 2026 festival reunites global immigrants, industry leaders, creatives, researchers, policymakers, food influencers, and culinary innovators to explore what belonging tastes like in a world of many flavours—while also acting as a living lab. Sponsor and partner activations become testbeds for sustainability, hyper-regional cuisines, inclusive hiring, AI-powered experiences, and new product concepts, generating post-event insights on multicultural audiences, emerging tastes, and content formats that will shape the next decade of food, work, and culture.
Rooted in Generation1.ca’s decade of work as a community hub and seismic node for cultural intelligence and immigrant inclusion, Tastes of Tomorrow intensifies the storytelling, insight, and community energy our partners know so well—now expressed through food, flavours, and shared cultural experiences that point to the futures we are building together.
Interested in participating, speaking or taking advantage of opportunities at this highly anticipated summer showcase? Email Arundati@generation1.ca.
All sponsor tiers will benefit from:
- High-impact visibility across digital, media, and on-site festival materials
- Co-branding and custom features across programming, exhibits, and culinary activations
- Networking with ~100+ business leaders, retailers, consumers, CPG companies, policymakers
- Opportunities for on-site activations, branded experiences, and curated cultural integrations
- Post-event insights, photos, stories, media coverage that extend well beyond the festival day
- Participation and visibility across our Spring and Fall 2026 Career Fairs and Case Competitions
Sponsorship Tiers are Named Below with Custom Unique Benefits based on tier of support
- Pathfinder – $500 – Gain entry-level visibility across festival materials and be recognized as a supporter of multicultural belonging and community storytelling.
- Inclusion Sponsor – $2,000 – Above + Enjoy elevated branding plus invitations and engagement opportunities with diverse attendees, leaders, and creatives (and inclusion in our event handbook).
- Transformation Catalyst – $4,000 – Above + Benefit from stronger co-branding, priority activation options, and inclusion in select programming, speaking and storytelling features.
- Legacy Futures Partner – $6,500 – Above + Receive premium visibility, deeper integration into festival content, and enhanced access to business, policy, and cultural leaders.
- Global Horizons Sponsor – $10,000 – Above + Step into a strategic leadership role with elevated festival-wide visibility, expanded activation opportunities, curated programming features, and deeper access to multicultural creators, innovators, and civic leaders.
- Cultural Vanguard (Premier Tier) – $12,000 – Above + Gain top-tier recognition with spotlighted features, major activation opportunities, preferred speaking or segment slots, and maximum brand presence across the festival.
- Festival Founding Sponsor – $15,000 – Above + Enjoy unparalleled brand leadership with headline visibility, premium media integration, major on-site activations, and priority access to all festival programming, storytelling, and engagement opportunities.
With past support from sponsoring partners such as Remitly, Vividata, Securian Canada, Bank of Canada, ESOMAR, Humber Polytechnic, Algonquin College, TLN Media, and others, Generation1.ca continues to create and deliver high-impact, high-engagement, data-informed experiences and stories that champion immigrant excellence and the organizations advancing diverse talent, consumer, and citizen pipelines in a post-digital and multicultural world. Join us for this—and help pave what tomorrow tastes like — sweet, savoury or spicy!
What has past success looked like?
Feedback from last year’s event is hyperlinked including member testimonials!
