56 • OCTOBER 2026 • Community | PPPC Communiqué Catalyst 2027 Heads To Québec City PPPC’s flagship leadership and learning event continues its coast-to-coast journey next May. By Margaret Williamson Batuszkin PROMOTIONAL PRODUCT PROFESSIONALS OF CANADA is taking its flagship leadership and learning event to Québec City in 2027, bringing Catalyst: Leading Change to one of Canada’s most distinctive destinations and placing the country’s bilingual branded merchandise community at the centre of the experience. Catalyst 2027 will take place May 16-18 at Le Capitole Hôtel in Québec City, continuing the event’s coastto-coast journey after launching in Victoria, British Columbia, in 2025 and heading east to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, earlier this year. For PPPC, Québec City is more than a backdrop. As Canada’s national bilingual association for the branded merchandise industry, bringing Catalyst to the heart of French-speaking Canada represents an opportunity to further connect the communities PPPC serves and create an experience that reflects the industry’s national identity. Québec’s capital city has a reputation for innovation, creativity and solid business. Its historic district is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it one of the top destinations in Canada. That combination of history and forward thinking aligns naturally with Catalyst’s purpose. Launched in 2025, Catalyst was created to give Canadian branded merchandise leaders a dedicated environment to step outside the day-to-day demands of business and focus on the issues shaping what comes next. Its inaugural edition welcomed 65 industry leaders and was subsequently recognized by PPAI as one of the “Coolest Events in Merch.” Rather than following a traditional conference model, Catalyst centres on leadership development, future-focused education, candid industry conversations and meaningful peer-to-peer connection. The 2027 program will continue that mandate with practical insights around innovation, leadership and technology, alongside networking designed to encourage collaboration between suppliers, distributors and other industry leaders. The timing is significant. Canada’s branded merchandise market reached an estimated $2.03 billion CAD in distributor sales in 2025, according to the latest Canadian Sales Volume Study conducted collaboratively by PPAI and PPPC. The research provides a new benchmark for the size and importance of the Canadian marketplace. As the industry grows and navigates rapid shifts in technology, workforce expectations, client demands and the broader economy, Catalyst is intended to create space for leaders to tackle those changes together. And taking that conversation across Canada matters. From the West Coast to the Atlantic and now into Québec, Catalyst reflects an industry that is national in scope, bilingual in character and strengthened by the different perspectives within it. In 2027, Québec City will provide the stage for the next chapter, bringing Canada’s branded merchandise leaders together not simply to talk about change but to help shape and lead it. Batuszkin is marketing and communications manager at PPPC. Catalyst 2026 platinum sponsor Canadian Solutions for Business’s Nick Bogias, director of onboarding, joins Larry Zavadil, founder and chairman of CSB and American Solutions for Business.
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