In keeping with recent tradition, IDS Toronto 2026 landed during a weekend of piercing cold temperatures (at one point dropping down to -28 degrees Celsius) and serious snowfall (Pearson International Airport measured 46 centimetres on January 25, setting a new single-day record). One international visitor to the fair told us that, after checking the forecast, her husband urged her to pack a pair of ski goggles to shield her on treks between the show and her hotel. Those who were less prepared may have arrived at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with their eyelids frozen shut — but as always, IDS had plenty of hot new attractions ready to de-thaw them.

Mind you, as much as the annual design show may convince the local industry to snap out of hibernation mode for one memorable weekend, it also delivers a great lesson in how to upgrade one’s living space for the many chilly nights still ahead. When it comes to making it through Canadian winter in the city, a pair of ski goggles might help — but really, the ultimate survival tactic is the combination of a comfortable lounge chair, a glowing lamp and some good reading material. Right on cue, new exhibitions Furniture Forecast and Illuminate showcased plenty of strong seating and lighting options, while keynote speakers Yves Behar and Fredrika Inger (IKEA’s Global Chief Product and Commercial Officer) both discussed the mood-boosting power of joyful home furniture. Take that, Blue Monday!

Of course, so much of one’s sanity — during any season, but especially during winter — depends on one’s office environment, and IDS Toronto also had wisdom to offer in this department, thanks to another feature exhibition, How We Work. Below, we tour each of these displays and round up some other memorable moments from the show’s four days of festivities.

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Select

At a time when Canada is making waves on the world stage (see: Heated Rivalry and Mark Carney’s recent speech in Davos), the focus in the IDS Toronto 2026 entrance area was, appropriately, on Canadian design and its growing impact.

First up was the new furniture brand Ourse, which debuted a confident launch collection entirely designed and manufactured in Canada. (For more on the brand, check out our recent interview with its founders.)

One booth over, Hollis+Morris set a great example for cooperation amongst middle power nations, upholstering its made-in-Toronto lighting in fabric from Holland’s ByBorre. (The two initially connected during last year’s Dutch Design Week.)

Continuing the global dialogue, Stylegarage marked its 25th anniversary with a special edition of its made-in-Canada Somerset sofa sporting a vibrant plaid fabric from England’s Paul Smith.

Rounding out the Select section, Must Société presented modern classics from the likes of Kartell and Ligne Roset alongside furnishings from its own house brand, Maison Corbeil.

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The Main Bar

Adding to the spirit of mid-winter escapism, IDS Toronto’s central watering hole effectively transported bar patrons to the hot, arid climes of Arizona’s Antelope Canyon. Designer-artist duo Yury Goncharov and Alina Tacmelova conceived of the sculptural feature as the “social rock” of the fair.

On either side of this bar, strands of rope wrapped around steel frames to form oversized petals. Each strand represented a social connection — hence the installation’s name, Field of Interaction. At the centre of these colourful clusters sat one of the duo’s fluid Embrace of the Dune armchairs, which proved to be a great perch for watching the crowds riding up to the show floor on the MTCC’s long escalators — and potentially spotting familiar faces to call out to. Field of Interaction, indeed.

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Furniture Forecast

A new initiative for IDS Toronto, Furniture Forecast presented recent launches from global manufacturers in a gallery-style setting. Designed by interior design studio Carv Projects (and built by Alta Construction), the exhibition pavilion reinterpreted the raw materials of the Canadian construction industry — namely, wood and steel — into something elevated and edgy, accented with cobalt blue curtains and matching carpeting from Mohawk.

As for the furniture itself (curated by IDS director Will Sorrell alongside Azure), several pieces hailed from Toronto studios working for international manufacturers: Paolo Ferrari’s Arche dining chair for SEM Milano (which debuted during last year’s edition of Capsule in Milan) joined Yabu Pushelberg’s Ynez one-seater sofa and Alessandro Munge’s Pesca (both for Stellar Works).

At the centre of the installation was Peaks, a playful sofa system designed by Yves Behar for Moooi and built from upholstered pyramids that can be arranged into all manner of mountainous configurations. In his Friday keynote at IDS Toronto, Behar explained that the design evolved out of his desire to create living room seating that could be a source of joy for his family during the social isolation of the pandemic.

Stay tuned for a full recap of all the pieces in Furniture Forecast next week!

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Illuminate

Lighting took centre stage in Illuminate, another new exhibition-style zone of IDS Toronto that offered a focused snapshot of the industry. Julia Vandergraaf, who runs architectural lighting studio ThinkL, curated the roster, which again included a mix of local and international manufacturers.

Two intriguing sculptural favourites — the Laurent pendant by Lambert & Fils and the pipe-like Bender floor lamp by Axo Light — drew passersby into the pavilion, which again skewed industrial, using steel scaffolding to create a simple but effective shell.

Illuminate served as a welcome introduction to Giraffe, a recently launched Toronto studio that creates 3D-printed lights in customizable forms, as evidenced by the range of Ripple pendants shown here.

We still remember when Anony founder Christian Lo (pictured) was introducing one of her first prototypes at IDS Toronto. Flash forward to 2026, and her lighting design studio recently marked its 10th anniversary with several big hits under its belt and no signs of slowing down. At Illuminate, Anony showcased final production models from its U-shaped Pola collection — now ready for the spotlight after several years of development. (It’s always the simplest forms that prove the most complex — the extruded aluminum pipe perfectly conceals its inward-pointing LED strip, turning each frame into a diffuser.)

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How We Work

Another of IDS Toronto’s 2026 feature exhibitions presented a trio of conceptual work environments — one by BDP Quadrangle, one by Ste Marie and Moooi, and one by Syllable and Three H — that each examined evolving approaches to office design. Overall, the installations combined a great mix of practical and provocative ideas for 21st-century office culture — and we definitely need those ideas right now, given all the big, existential debates going on about the workplace. Just look at all the headlines this month about the Government of Ontario sending civil workers back to the office full-time, 9 to 5.

Ste Marie, for its part, played up the connection between the three “O”s in Moooi and the acronym “Out of Office.” Inspired by the idea that these days, people can work from anywhere, the design studio presented a beach vacation scene, with Moooi’s carpeting establishing a wavy pattern that continued onto the seating and walls. Old-school television sets installed on either side of the setup broadcast cheeky imagery, including one memorable visual of a businessman taking an oceanside phone call from atop Moooi’s Horse lamp, and a pair of Dear Ingo suspension lights rounded out the display.

BDP Quadrangle developed its booth around the Pomodoro time-management technique, which calls for periods of focused work to be broken up with short breaks. Inspired by its own Toronto office’s mix of heads-down workstations and lush social lounges, the studio planted a greenhouse-like sanctuary in the middle of a room that was otherwise designed for getting down to business.

“Let’s do the Time Warp, again!” Syllable charted the evolution of the office from past to present to future, with one corner of its booth dedicated to the drab cubical culture of yore (complete with a vintage Mac and a “Guide to Uninstalling Windows” book), but the rest presented a colourful, collaborative environment furnished with flexible offerings from Three H.

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Standout Booths

An IDS Toronto fixture, Montauk returned for 2026 with a sinuous, supersized configuration of its Roxanne sofa in an ultra-soft bouclé fabric with contrasting grey piping. On Friday night, Montauk also fêted its new four-storey flagship.

SDI Design’s concept for Grandeur Flooring wrapped the manufacturer’s booth in transparent sheets printed with forest imagery. Each screen ended just above the ground, placing visual emphasis on the manufacturer’s hardwood flooring. Another fun design move waited inside the booth, where a giant chess game served as a way to demonstrate checkerboard flooring in action.

Coolican & Company’s Asquith collection includes dining, coffee and side table designs, all featuring sculptural bases modelled after glacier formations. We were drawn to the black side table shown above, which featured a powder-coated top that gave it a different identity than the other, woodsier offerings.

After launching last spring in Milan, David Rockwell’s Dream collection for Roche Bobois proved to be a big hit in Toronto, too. The bright blue colours and cloud-like forms of the sofas were a strong draw for anyone needing a break from walking the sprawling show floor.

Atriani’s blend of earth tones with sci-fi lighting had us excited for Dune: Part Three. The sweeping silhouette of the Formosa armchair and shapely forms of the Ottagono coffee table collection continued the dynamic between organic and geometric expressions.

Volvo’s Scandi-inspired stand offered a quietly immersive pause amid the bustle of the show. Here, the brand spotlighted the newly refreshed XC60 alongside the all-electric EX30 Cross Country, underscoring a shared commitment to design, sustainability and innovation. Anchored by a signature Swedish Fika station — complete with coffee service and lounge seating for conversation — the space invited visitors to slow down and connect, reinforcing Volvo’s human-centred approach to mobility.

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Studio North and Prototype

Introducing — and incubating — emerging talent and smaller, independent design-build studios is the focus of these areas of the show, which foreground experimentation, material research and hands-on fabrication. At Studio North and Prototype, visitors encountered limited-edition furniture and one-off objects that blurred the line between workshop and exhibition floor, offering a glimpse into the next wave of Canadian design thinking.

In the ultimate testament to IDS Toronto’s role as a launching pad, three designers who had previously exhibited in the show’s Prototype section — Cruz Ali, Mark Khoury and Eric Kirwin — were back and ready for the major leagues. After connecting at a past edition of the fair and sensing complementary styles, they teamed up to launch Studio Drum — a full-service design-build operation. Their joint endeavour’s booth demonstrated their capabilities in action. A couple standouts included a metal mesh room divider, a series of mirrors with brushed borders, and a steel-topped coffee table with cut inlays that tease the marble legs underneath. But these are as much proof-of-concepts as final pieces — the studio is eager to take on custom commissions, too.

Similarly, after years of providing standout contributions to IDS Toronto’s Prototype section, designer Alison Postma was also back with a Studio North booth and ready to showcase the full range of their work. A chair with a series of raised circular accents along the edges of its seat demonstrated the soothing merits of tactile embellishments, while another seat skewed ultra-minimal, with an austere — but still surprisingly comfortable — silhouette. Also on display was Postma’s curved wall mount for a ceramic vase designed by Danica Drago, who also contributed the ceramic mustard squeeze affixed to Postma’s charming hot dog decor.

Good Friend Furniture lived up to its name with gently curved furniture that has a warm, convivial quality. In particular, the studio’s lounge chair, upholstered in waxed canvas, had already gained a nice patina that made it feel more inviting than precious. But the craftsmanship was top-notch too — Hamilton-based designer Joel Galenkamp is a Sheridan College grad, and his work reflected the program’s high calibre.

Rounding out the mix was a strong showcase of design concepts in the Prototype exhibition. Shu Wang’s bloom chair riffed on the idea of a flower, with a steel frame that allows the felt shell to be positioned in a variety of configurations. When up, it supports privacy and focus, whereas when down, it transforms the design into a comfortable lounge chair.

A bookmark-shaped nightstand by Daniel Roe with a pitched base for storing books open to your current reading spot (shown at right) was another clever concept, and went on to win the show’s Best Prototype award.

Otherwise, some of Prototype’s brightest designs were also some of its best. William Ukoh’s bright blue Toriwam chair had a totemic, dignified presence, while the Shell stool by Maxwell Sims balances simple construction (it’s composed of just three parts — two legs and a seat, assembled with four bolts) with strong personality and felt 100 per cent ready to be put into production. Someone license this! With any luck, come IDS Toronto 2027, we’ll be back here reporting on its commercial launch.

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Announcing the 2026 BDA Winners!

On the Khayeri main stage, we unveiled the winners of Designlines Magazine’s BDAs, celebrating projects and practitioners advancing Canadian design in distinct ways — from the saturated interiors of Holt Renfrew, ON3, courtesy of Studio Paolo Ferrari and Gensler, to a series of planters designed by Fox Whyte Landscape Architecture & Design for fellow landscape architects.

The celebration brought finalists and industry peers together for a moment of well-earned recognition before the festivities continued at the central bar, designed by Yury Goncharov and Alina Tacmelova, where we toasted the recipients in a setting that felt, fittingly, like a built manifesto for the awards themselves.