
APRIL 8-9, 2024
THE WESTIN HARBOUR CASTLE, TORONTO, CANADA
APRIL 8-9, 2024Ā |Ā THE WESTIN HARBOUR CASTLE, TORONTO, CANADA
The Leading
Future of Work Event Series
The Future of Work Canada Event launched in 2019 with the core mission to focus on the latest trends & strategies within the Future of Work landscape including: Frontline Workers, Workplace Transformation, HR Technology, Culture, Employee Engagement, Digital Workplace, Learning & Development, Human Resources and Office Space & Design.
Created for senior executives within:
ā Human Resources
ā Internal Communication
ā Change Management
ā Talent Management
ā Digital Workplace
ā Employee Experience & Engagement
ā Business Transformation
ā Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
2023 Confirmed Speakers
Corey Daxon, President
Feldman Daxon Partners
Alana Free, Senior Vice President, People & Culture
Goodlife Fitness
Mallory O'Connor, Practice Lead of Culture and Transformation
Habanero Consulting
Amelia Hone, Work Integrated Learning, Project Coordinator
Autism CanTech!
Steven Fitzgerald, Co-founder and President
Habanero Consulting
Scott deVeber, Digital Workplace Consultant
Habanero Consulting
Shelley Peterson SVP, Total Rewards
Sun Life Financial
Tara McRae, VP, Total Rewards Canada
Sun Life Financial
Michele James, Executive Vice-President, People and Transformation
Scarborough Health Network
Karen Collins, Chief Talent Officer
BMO Financial Group
Amanda Cennon, Head of Future of Work & Employee Experience
Electronic Arts (EA)
Joe O'Connor, Director
Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence
Melissa Di Natale, Senior Manager, Future Design
ATB Financial
David Drewery, Associate Director, Work-Learn Institute
University of Waterloo
Liz Doyle Harmer, Leadership Coach
Nkuzi Change
Kristen Ruttgaizer, Chief People Officer
Igloo Software
Jason Brommet, Head of Modern Work & Security Business
Microsoft Canada
Hawley Kane, Director of Impact + Experience,
Velocity Global
Faizal Mitha, Chief Innovation Officer
HUB International
Matt Burns, Value Advisory Principal
Ceridian
Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO & Founder
TalentMap
Jeff Rosin, Managing Partner
Amrop Rosin
Jason McDowall, Executive Advisor
McLean & Company
Jade Garrido, Director of People and Culture
ContactMonkey
2023 AGENDA

Day one

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9:00AM
Chair's Welcome and Opening Remarks
Steven Fitzgerald, Co-founder and President, Habanero Consulting
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9:10AM
Panel: HRās role in creating a great āfuture-readyā organization
- How can HR help prepare their organizations for the Future of Work
- Building a Future of Work framework and aligning people strategy to ensure successful business operations.
- How can HR leaders contribute to a culture of high employee engagement and positive employee experience?
- Harnessing the full potential of employees and gaining a competitive edge.
Moderator:Ā Steven Fitzgerald, Co-founder and President, Habanero Consulting
Panellists:
Ramneet Aujla, Chief Human Resources Officer, Metrolinx
Kelly Davis, Chief People Officer, Sunwing Travel Group
Corey Daxon, Feldman Daxon Partners
Kelly Mawhinney, Partner & Toronto Career Office Business Leader, Canada, Mercer -
9:50AM
Presentation: What steps can HR leaders take to make an impact on their organizations?
- Are the traditional operating models still fit for purpose?
- How can organizations truly empower their HR Business Partners?
- Strategies for streamlining inefficiencies
- How do you push self-serve and get into the true business of HR strategic support?
Presented By:Ā Leena Verma, Vice President Human Resources, Revera
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10:20AM
Presentation: Great Employee Experience: Itās Remotely Possible
- The world needs visionary leaders who understand that the Future of Work is is about designing organizations that prioritize employee experience
- Meaningful experiences keep employees invested and fulfilled
- Experience cultivates a feeling that, like culture, is intangibleĀ
- When teams are united by purpose and trust, empowered to live and work on their terms, are exposed to diverse perspectives, they achieve more and stay longer
- This progressive session reveals how to leverage remote workās unique combination of personal agency and diverse hiring to strengthen employee experience and culture
Presented By:
Hawley Kane, Director of Impact + Experience, Velocity Global
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10:50AM
Future of Work Connects
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11:10AM
ā
Coffee Break and Networking Break
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11:40AM
Panel: Empowering the Hybrid Workforce
Understanding the three key elements of creating an impactful hybrid work strategy: mindset, culture, and technology, and how they come together to support employee wellbeing and the future of work.
Moderator: Jason Brommet, Head of Modern Work & Security Business, Microsoft Canada
Panellists:
Maarten Verhaar, Director of Digital Workplace and Enterprise Voice, Technology Operations, CIBC
Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research and Client Insights, TELUS Health -
12:20PM
Presentation: Creating Quality Employee Experiences: A Modern Approach to Employee-Centric Benefits
Youāve seen it yourself. The challenge for Human Resource professionals has never been greater. How do you hire, engage, and retain employees so that you can stay on top of your game? How do you leverage data to get more engagement and ROI out of your benefit spend?
Join Faizal Mitha, Chief Innovation Officer at HUB International, as he explores how the latest innovations in benefit planning can help your organization achieve its goals and keep employees engaged.
During the presentation you will learn how to:
- Go beyond benchmarking for true personalization in your planning.
- Leverage evidence-based benefit planning in your organization.
- Implement a benefit plan that addresses key challenges in the current environment.
- Support unique employee populations in a competitive job market.
- Use personalization in your benefits program to promote inclusivity.
- Promote quality employee experiences as part of a total rewards strategy.
Join us as we explore how data-driven benefit planning can help you create a meaningful value proposition - addressing key challenges and helping your organization differentiate itself for success.
Ā Presented By:Ā Faizal Mitha, Chief Innovation, HUB International
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12:50PM
š„ŖLunch Break
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1:50PM
Panel: Elevating employee experience through technology
- How can employers be intentional with their technology approach to improve the digital employee experience?
- Bridging the gap between the people function and IT to create effective digital workplaces.
- Leveraging technology for internal insights and frequent touch points with teams.
- How can employers remain competitive in their technology approach in such a fast-moving environment?
Moderator: Scott deVeber, Digital Workplace Consultant, Habanero Consulting
Panellists:
Liz Volk, Chief Human Resources Officer, Longo's
Imtiaz Ahmed, Vice President, Digital Experience & Enablement, SE Health
Jeffrey Chu, Senior Vice President, People Culture and Technology, WWF-Canada
Kristen Ruttgaizer, Chief People Officer, Igloo Software
Matt Burns, Value Advisory Principal, Ceridian -
2:30PM
Presentation: Why Coaching Works
In this session we explore this āknowing-doing gapā and the need for development that is more relevant, personalized and true ālearning in the flow of workā. We offer insights from psychology and behavioral science on what actually changes behaviour and share practical techniques that you can use to scale organizational change. Key takeaways:
- The knowing-doing gap and where we tend to over-anchor
- Insights from behavioural science and psychology on how to change behavior and create new habits
- Scalable behavior change techniques you can use in your organization
- An alternative approach to ensure your people are learning (and doing) in the flow of work
Presented By:Ā Dana Ianuzziello, RVP, Sales ā Canada, Ezra
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3:00PM
Panel: Reconsidering culture in a hybrid world
- How have employers had to change their culture strategies to reflect the new ways of working?
- How can employers protect company culture whilst empowering hybrid teams?
- Should companies be encouraging micro cultures that form around teams or should culture be determined from the top down?
- How can leaders be intentional in creating a sense of belonging for all employees?
Moderator: Mallory O'Connor, Practice Lead of Culture and Transformation, Habanero Consulting
Panellists:
Alana Free, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, Goodlife Fitness
Amanda Cennon, Head of Future of Work & Employee Experience, Electronic Arts (EA)
Hawley Kane, Director of Impact + Experience, Velocity Global
Palmer Simpson, Head of Canadian Accounts, HqOĀ
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3:40PM
ā
Coffee Break
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4:10PM
Discussion sessions:
Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in one of the following discussion groups:
Group 1: Total Flexibility Vs. Mandated hybrid Vs. full-time In Office/ on site
From strategy to execution. Now organizations have seen the effects of their chosen working model what outcomes have they seen? This session will look at different working models and discuss the pros and cons of each one. Is your model working or do you need to consider a different approach or adapt it? What do you need to support each working model?Co-Chairs:
Scott deVeber, Digital Workplace Consultant, Habanero Consulting
Paul Anthony Hamilton, Director Talent Acquisition, LCBOGroup 2: How can you move towards being a skills-based organization?
This session will look at how organizations can shift mindsets and redefine talent strategies to move away from the traditional job role hierarchy to a faster moving, dynamic matching of skills to work and how do you move to skill-based hiring?
Co-Chairs:
Deanna Pathak, Global Head of Talent SVP, Klick
Mallory O'Connor, Practice Lead of Culture and Transformation, Habanero ConsultingGroup 3: How can you equip your leaders to be successful in a multi-choice workstyle culture?
Now that employees can work from anywhere, what tools and skills do leaders need? How are you equipping your leadership to be fully capable of navigating the new working models to make sure they are successful and deliver results?Co-Chairs:
Tabatha Cammidge, Managing Director, Strategy & Future of Work, ATB Financial
Melissa Di Natale, Senior Manager, Future Design, ATB Financial -
5:00PM
End of day one summary and closing remarks
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5:15PM - 6:15PM
Networking Drinks in the Exhibition Area
Brought to you by:Ā Ā Ā
Ā Ā Ā Ā
Day Two

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9:15AM
Chair's Welcome and Opening Remarks
Steven Fitzgerald, Co-founder and President, Habanero Consulting
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9:30AM
Presentation: Building a Future-ready workforce
- How can employers predict what capabilities and skills their future workforce will need?
- How can you move towards being a skills-based organization?
- Ensuring you have the right people and skill sets to meet your future organizational needs
- Bridging the skills gap, investing in your upskilling program, improving digital literacy
- Rethinking strategies for gaining and retaining talent.
Presented by:Ā Charlotte Mason, Vice President, Organization Effectiveness and Future Workforce, TD
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10:00AM
In conversation: Why Canadaās Shift to Purposeful Leadership Matters and How to Get There
Jeff Rosin, Managing Partner at Amrop Rosin ā a leading Executive Search firm ā will have a conversation with Katherine (Katie) Dudtschak, a purpose-driven C-suite business leader, corporate board director, advisor and community builder, on Purposeful Leadership. Drawing from their years of experience as leaders in their respective fields, Jeff and Katie will tackle why Purposeful Leadership is critical now and how to bring it to life. This session will be of great interest to anyone in a leadership role at a purpose-driven organization, or an organization that is working toward becoming more purposeful and realizing benefits for people, the planet and profits.
Presented By:
Jeff Rosin, Managing Partner, Amrop Rosin
Katie Dudtschak, Business Leader, Corporate Director, Advisor and Community Builder -
10:30AM
Presentation: Working with Gen Z: Discover the values of the next-generation talent
- What do Gen Zers value most?
- How have their values evolved over the last four years?
- How do Gen Zersā values inform their preferences for employer and job characteristics in the future of work?
Presented By:
David Drewery, Associate Director, Work-Learn Institute, University of Waterloo
Ingrid Kaffka, BA ā22, English and Political Science Graduate, University of Waterloo -
11:10AM
ā
Coffee and Networking Break
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11:40AM
Presentation: Data and Dollars: How Analytics can Re-shape Total Rewards Strategies
- How the Total Rewards questions we need to ask are changing
- How data insights influence actions and investments
- Evolving the Total Rewards conversation
Presented By:
Shelley Peterson, SVP, Total Rewards, Sun Life Financial
Tara McRae, VP, Total Rewards Canada, Sun Life Financial -
12:10PM
Presentation: How Employee Engagement is Changing in Todayās Organizations
Every organization strives to design a more productive, meaningful, and engaging culture.Ā Itās a complex problem. As we look to the future, we see increasing complexity as leaders, manager and HR professionals try to steer through our post-pandemic world compounded by the ever-changing nature of work. Join us as we share what we learned surveying a wide range of Canadian organizations over the past two years.
- Hear how engagement has changed
- Learn about how the key drivers of engagement have changed and why
- Learn how to maintain or re-engage employees in the face of these changes
Presented By:
Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO & Founder, TalentMap
Keith Lykins, Ph.D., Senior Executive Consultant & Practice Leader, TalentMap -
12:25PM
Presentation: Meaningful Connections by Design
We work to earn a living, but we stay at an organization for the sense of purpose and connection we feel to the people we work with and the work we do together. If thereās one word that encompases economic trends such as the Great Resignation or Quiet Quitting, itās disconnection. Ā In a time where the average employee tenure is less than 3 years, we need to ask ourselves, how exactly can leaders work to foster more connections between their employees?
Everytime a group or team gathers is an opportunity to reinforce your culture, foster trust, and create a deeper sense of purpose. In this session youāll learn the 5 keys to connection at work and how you can weave these connections within the entire employee lifecycle to retain your team and create a thriving workplace.
We will explore why connection in the workplace is more important than ever and what you can do to accelerate trust, rapport and psychological safety. Letās make that group of 300 feel like a gathering of 30.Ā
Presented By: Jade Garrido, Director of People and Culture, ContactMonkey
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12:40PM
Panel: Advancing DEI priorities
- Balancing DEI objectives with short term staffing needs
- What challenges does hybrid working present for maintaining equity in the workplace?
- Strategies for advancing under-represented talent
- Are your recruitment programs fit for advancing your DEI goals?
- The importance of a good employee value proposition to attract and retain diverse talent
Moderator: Sandeep Tatla, Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Fasken
Panellists:
Amelia Hone, Work Integrated Learning, Project Coordinator, Autism CanTech!
Michele James, Executive Vice-President, People and Transformation, Scarborough Health Network
Karen Collins, Chief Talent Officer, BMO Financial Group
Steve Yan, Director, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, BDC -
1:20PM
š„ŖLunch Break
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2:20PM
Presentation: Creating connection with a dispersed workforce
- How can you maintain employee connection whilst still offering flexible working or that transcends locations, geographies, time zones and cultures?
- Connecting employees to purpose and driving engagement
- Generating authentic connections and capturing those āwater-coolerā moments remotely
- Creating a sense of community and belonging for all employees
Presented by:
Amanda Cennon, Head of Future of Work & Employee Experience, Electronic Arts (EA)
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2:50PM
Presentation: Leading HR into the future of work
We willĀ explore the trends that will influence HR in 2023 and beyond as determined by over 1000 Human Resources and business professionals from varied industries and geographies.Ā What we know is that HRās role has become larger, more important, and more challenging than ever. Closing skill gaps and making space for DEI continue to be demanding, while HR departments also grapple with digitization and curating the employee experience in a rapidly changing world.Ā Ā Join this session to learn more and prepare for the evolving workplace.Ā
Presented By:Ā Jason McDowall, Executive Advisor, McLean & CompanyĀ
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3:20PM
Presentation: Working Smarter, Working Shorter: how reducing hours can improve performance as well as quality of life
In thispresentation, director and co-founder of the Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence Joe O'Connor will discuss the historic and present-day context to work time reduction, what is motivating leaders and driving the momentum behind the global push for a shorter working week, what the trends and data are telling us from recent global four-day week trials, how organizations manage to pull off working less without sacrificing productivity or revenue, and what this all means for the future of work.
Presented By:
Joe O'Connor, Director, Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence
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4:00PM
Panel: Leadership development in the new era
- Changing paradigms to a more human leadership style, what capabilities do future leaders need?
- How do you enable good leadership with a constantly changing and dispersed workforce?
- Developing strategic capabilities, behaviours, and frameworks.
- Growing a diverse leadership succession pipeline
- What critical challenges do leaders of today and tomorrow face and how can they be equipped to deal with them?
Moderator: Liz Doyle Harmer, Leadership CoachLeadership Coach, Nkuzi Change
Panellists:
Suzannah Kelly, Vice President, Global Talent Management, Apotex
Kim Ellis, Vice President, Leadership Development & Culture, goeasy Ltd
Lisa Tomlin, Senior Behavioural Scientist, CoachHub -
4:40PM
End of Day Two
PARTNERS
































Prices & packges

Prices & packges
2 DAY PASS
- Two Day Conference Ticket
- Coffee-break & Networing
- Lunch & Networking
- Access To All Session Across The Two Days
- Access To All Session Post Event via the FoW HUB
VENUE
Get to the venue
AIRPORT- TORONTO PEARSON INTERNATIONAL
Turn right on Airport Rd/Regional Rd 7 to exit the airport, Turn left on the ON-427 S ramp, merge and follow south to the Gardiner Expwy. Exit left and follow the Gardiner Expwy east to York/Bay St via Lower Simcoe St. Merge on to Harbour Street, turn right on York Street, left on Queens Quay and right in to the hotel.
PARKING
Off-site parking, fee: 40 CAD daily
Valet parking, fee: 55 CAD daily
Parking spaces subject to availability, height restrictions apply,
ADDRESS
1 Harbour Square
Toronto, Ontario M5J 1A6 Canada

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THE WESTIN HARBOUR CASTLE, TORONTO, CANADA
Book with a discounted room rate*
*All discounted room rates will expiry on February 23rd so please ensure your booking is confirmed prior to this date.