Toast Summit is evolving with the moment

At last year’s Toast Summit, CEO April Hicke got to stand up and say that the firm had put more than $25 million into the hands of women since it was founded in 2022. 

It was one of her favourite moments from the event.

This year, as the Summit returns to Calgary on Oct. 1, Toast will lean further into the realities of women building a career in tech.

The company also released its Talent Marketplace out of beta this week. The AI-powered platform is built to scale the company’s talent placement service, and dismantle the systemic barriers in tech recruitment that lead to fewer women getting hired into tech roles.

This follows the recent release of a new gender equity report by Toast Institute, the company’s non-profit arm, on sponsorship, career advancement, and why women leave tech. 

Toast isn’t reinventing the Summit this year. As Hicke told me when we caught up at Nrth Festival (formerly Elevate), the day will feature “the same toastiness that everyone has grown to love and expect.” 

(The ‘Men in Tech’ panel, anyone?) 

The event is helping women in tech respond to their evolving place in the ecosystem, from AI reshaping work to who gets hired, sponsored, and promoted.

Women are doing the work, but the payoff looks different

Toast Institute’s 2026 Gender Equity Report surveyed 734 working professionals (51% women, 47% men, 1% non-binary) in Canada’s tech industry, with roles ranging from intern to executive.

Among respondents, 25% of women said they believed they had to leave their organization to advance, compared with 11% of men. Only 35% of women reported having a senior leader actively advocating for their career, compared with 51% of men.

The difference is especially pronounced in the middle of a career. At the senior level, 33% of women reported having an active sponsor, compared with 51% of men. At manager or lead level, the figures were 37% and 60%, respectively.

The report also found that women with an active sponsor were more than twice as likely to say they were confident they could advance in their organization. 

The report’s conclusion isn’t complicated. Getting women actual jobs in the tech sector is just the first step. 

How they progress through the ranks heavily relies on who advocates for them, what work they get trusted with, and whether they can see a realistic path forward. 

The findings give this year’s Summit a specific problem to put on the table.

A new way for employers to find women in tech

On the same week as the Summit, Toast released its Talent Marketplace out of beta. It’s a self-serve sourcing platform for employers looking for women in tech. 

Companies describe the person they are looking for in plain English, receive ranked matches, and initially review candidates through anonymized profiles. Toast says the pool currently includes more than 15,000 women, with 65% in technical roles.

CIOs and CTOs may not wholly own recruiting, but they do own the consequences of who gets hired onto their organizations, who receives responsibility, and who eventually moves into leadership.

“If we’re building digital tools for everybody, the teams that are building those tools need to reflect the community that they’re serving,” said Hicke, “so ensuring that they have diversity in their candidates is imperative.”

The Summit’s agenda tugs at that thread. 

Journalist, podcaster, filmmaker, and author Liz Plank will lead a conversation about ambition and the pressure on women to put themselves last. I mean, the title of the chat is “The Courage to be Called Selfish,” so you just know it’s going to be good. 

Women are taught to be selfless, so we have to stop apologizing for our ambition. 

(It’s 2026, ffs)

Hicke says Plank is someone she has wanted to bring to Summit for years.

“She’s been my hero for a really long time,” she says. “I think she brings a really unique perspective, being a Canadian living in the U.S. right now.”

The Summit has also expanded some of its programming, with both their ‘How Women Are Navigating AI’ and ‘Women Doing Cool $h!t’ panels having concurrent discussions, giving attendees more choice and more stories from women on the frontlines.  

Between hosting the Summit, studying where careers plateau, and building a tool meant to get more women in front of employers, Toast is playing an important role. 

When I asked her what’s the one thing about Canada’s innovation story that drives her nuts, Hicke didn’t even have to take a beat.

“It’s still a tech bro culture.”

If you’re in charge of hiring tech roles and have recently said “we can’t find women,” that’s a you problem. 

(Google is free, my guy. The tools and talent are out there.)

Final shots

• The Toast Institute’s new report moves the conversation beyond representation alone, showing differences in sponsorship, and whether women believe they need to leave to advance their careers.
• The company’s new talent marketplace gives employers direct access to a pool of more than 15,000 women in tech, while the Summit keeps the broader career conversation in the room.
• Working on both ends of the career conversation, Toast is helping employers find women in tech, while using the Summit to talk about what they are navigating once they’re in the room.