From Boardrooms to City Streets: 5 Lessons Canada Taught Me (That I Didn’t Expect)

As part of the connectUS program exploring “Designing Tomorrow - How Innovation Shapes Sustainable Urban Life and Conscious Living”, our journey across Toronto, Ottawa, and Québec City has been more than a study trip.

Each city brought a different perspective - Toronto with its global pace, Ottawa with its institutional complexity, and Québec City with its strong sense of history and identity. Together, they offered something more valuable than knowledge: perspective.

Here are five takeaways that stayed with me.

1. Culture eats strategy for breakfast

One of the most powerful lessons so far has been the importance of cultural literacy. Strategies, frameworks, and business models may look perfect on paper - but their success ultimately depends on people, context, and culture.

Whether in conversations with institutions, companies, or universities, it became clear that understanding how people think, communicate, and make decisions is just as important as what is being built.

For anyone building an international career, cultural awareness is not a “nice to have” - it is a core skill. It shapes trust, collaboration, and ultimately impact.

2. Leadership begins with humility

An experience that stood out on a deeply human level was our visit to the Swiss Ambassador’s residence. What could have been a purely formal diplomatic interaction turned into something far more meaningful.

We were welcomed not just into a space, but into a mindset - one of openness, curiosity, and genuine exchange.

It was a reminder that leadership is not only about position or protocol, but about humility. About opening doors - literally and figuratively - and creating space for dialogue.

Sometimes, the most impactful leadership is humble, personal, and deeply human.

3. Cities are complex systems—andwe are still learning how to design them

Urban development in Canada revealed a reality that is often underestimated: cities are not just physical spaces, but complex systems shaped by governance, scale, and human behaviour. In Ottawa, for example, layers of municipal and federal responsibility make planning inherently complex. Add to that the scale - cities as large as London, yet far less dense - and the challenge becomes even more nuanced.

At the same time, one question kept surfacing: “Are we truly waking up to the climate crisis, or are we still reacting only when it becomes unavoidable?”

Urban design and sustainability are no longer separate conversations. They are deeply interconnected - and the urgency to align them is growing.

4. Architecture is not just design- it is storytelling

I’ll admit: as someone coming from a business and tech background, I expected architecture to be the least engaging part of the program.

It turned out to be one of the most fascinating.

Architecture is not just about buildings - it is about culture, history, materials, and human needs. From gothic and medieval influences to modern housing challenges in Canada, every structure tells a story.

And increasingly, it also reflects pressing questions:

• How do we build sustainably?
• How do we design for communities, not just individuals?
• How do we address housing affordability without losing identity?

Architecture sits at the intersection of past, present, and future - and that makes it incredibly powerful.

5. Resilience and inclusivity are ongoing processes

One of the more subtle, yet important reflections has been around inclusivity and group dynamics. Even within a highly structured and collaborative environment, navigating different perspectives, expectations, and ways of working is not always easy. It requires patience, openness, and continuous effort.

This applies not only to our delegation, but also to broader systems - whether social, institutional, or cultural.

Resilience is not built overnight.

Inclusivity is not achieved once and for all.

Both are ongoing processes that require awareness, empathy, and a willingness to adapt.

And finally

If there is one thread connecting all these experiences, it is this: innovation is not only about technology or systems - it is about people.

From urban design to diplomacy, from architecture to cultural exchange, the most meaningful insights came from conversations, openness, and shared experiences.

And perhaps that is what designing tomorrow really means - not just building better systems but becoming more conscious participants in the world we are shaping.

About Pragati

‍Pragati Siddhanti is a lecturer and Deputy Head at FHNW, with a background in computer science and business information systems.She brings experience across program and project management, ERP, business process management, digital marketing, and cyber security awareness, shaped by leadership roles at Accenture, IBM, and global organizations like Unilever, J&J, and SAP Labs.