Two days before the opening of IDS Toronto, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a rousing address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Combined with global fever for the hit gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry, his remarks reintroduced Canada — a so-called “middle power” nation — as a major force on the world stage. Since tariffs and sovereignty threats kicked off last year, pride for homegrown goods has been rising steadily, but the country has also been busy forging connections with a broader network of international partners. Reflecting that, IDS hosted a strong showing of locals — including Ourse, Coolican & Company, Hollis+Morris, Studio Drum and William Ukoh — but also Moooi, visiting from the Netherlands to launch its Peaks sofa.

In the days that followed, the DesignTO festival of off-site events continued to offer signs of a country hitting its creative stride. Mark Khoury and Devansh Shah translated “the act of a greeting” (the theme of group exhibition “Nice to Meet You!”) into Touch Point — a friendly sconce that starts to glow as its hanging puck approaches the magnetic dock above. At 8×7, gallery owner Jamie Wolfond courted industrial designer peers from near and far to contribute conceptual riffs on tape that had both playfulness and intellectual rigour. And at the Drake Hotel, Myles Burry and Kate Golding collaborated on a series of mirrors celebrating their shared connection to Newfoundland. The collection name, Drawed’ Through, is a regional expression for someone who looks particularly well put together.

Over the next couple of weeks, Canadians channelled their patriotism into the Olympics, where we lost two incredibly hard-fought gold medal hockey games, both in overtime. For so long, we have been known internationally as a place that dominates at hockey. Thanks to players like Marie-Philip Poulin and Sidney Crosby (not to mention Shane Hollander), that remains unequivocally true, top prize or not — but now, the world is starting to recognize the country’s other merits, too. Here are our Toronto design week gold medalists.

Ply sculptural colour studies by Rotterdam’s Earnest Studio, from the group show “Tape.”

Asquith table by Coolican & Company, inspired by Group of Seven iceberg paintings.

Knit lighting by Hollis+Morris, wrapped in textiles from Amsterdam’s Byborre.

Toriwam lounge chair by William Ukoh.

Abbey dining chair by Thom Fougere for Ourse.

Touch Point sconce by Mark Khoury and Devansh Shah.

Drawed’ Through mirrors by Myles Burry and Kate Golding.

Beta mirrors by new design-build studio Drum.

Peaks, a modular Moooi sofa that Yves Béhar originally developed as a pandemic-era playzone for his family.