The World Congress for the International Board on Books for Young People is coming to Canada.

For the first time since Canada founded a national chapter of the charitable organization in 1980, IBBY Canada is stepping into the role of host for the 40th IBBY World Congress. From Aug. 4 to 6, 2026, children’s publishing professionals from around the world will come together in Ottawa for the in-person event. 

“We’re honoured and humbled,” says IBBY Canada president Patti McIntosh. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to highlight the importance of children’s books and the mission of IBBY in bringing books and children together, and the important ways that children’s books can build bridges.”

The theme for the Congress, “listening to each other’s voices,” was developed by McIntosh in collaboration with Lesley Clement and Josiane Polidori, co-chairs of the scientific committee, along with a few others. “We wanted this to be a Congress based both on research and on practice,” says Polidori. “While also linked to the people that distribute and disseminate books for young people.” 

The keynote speakers – Evelyn Arizpe, Hasmig Chahinian, Khodi Dill, Fikile Nxumalo, David A. Robertson, and Sydney Smith – will address six intersectional topics (disability; BIPOC; migrants, immigrants, refugees, citizenship; mental health; gender, sex, sexuality; and sustainability) in their presentations, as will  the presentations and round tables born out of the call for papers.

“For the keynote speakers, we really wanted to focus on people who in their work, in their research, in their books, and in their life embody one or more of the intersectional topics,” Polidori says. “We wanted to have Canadian representation along with speakers from different continents, different generations, and different points of view.”

The scientific committee selected Robertson (who along with Josée Bisaillon has been nominated by IBBY Canada for the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Awards) as embodying the Indigenous point of view. Chahinian is a francophone born in Lebanon of Armenian descent; Chahinian founded Editions Kotot, a publishing house specializing in Armenian language children’s books, and was selected as the speaker who embodies the point of view of migration and refugees. Nxumalo, who is conducting research in South Africa and teaches in Toronto at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, uses storytelling to create awareness of sustainability and the needs of the land. Dill, an author, educator, emcee, and spoken-word artist, will discuss the underrepresented literary forms of spoken word and hip-hip for young people. And as it’s tradition for the current winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award to be a keynote speaker, Smith, the first Canadian to ever win the award, will share how he approaches his work.

The 550 delegates expected will be able to attend exhibitions and workshops, as well as the unveiling of the first IBBY-UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages. The collection, which aims to protect linguistic diversity, is an IBBY project launched with an international call for children’s books being published in this space. Submissions are open until Dec. 15. “It really resonates with our interest in language reclamation,” says McIntosh. “And we are holding an exhibition of all 175 books in From Sea to Sea to Sea: Celebrating Indigenous Picture Books, a Canadian project at Carleton University.” From Sea to Sea to Sea was launched in 2016 in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and adds 25 of the best Indigenous books every two years. 

IBBY Canada has also launched a writing contest that will bring together voices of Indigenous children aged eight to 12. Robertson and writer and educator Nancy Cooper are set to judge the contest, which is accepting submissions until Jan. 26, 2026. The winner will travel to Ottawa, and have the opportunity to read their story at a gala evening celebrating Indigenous voices.

“The Indigenous pieces of the programming are particularly exciting,” McIntosh says. “And with registration from China, Germany, France, Hungary, Iran, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, the United States, and, of course, Canada, we really have the sense of the world gathering.”