
MARCH 27-28, 2023
THE WESTIN HARBOUR CASTLE, TORONTO, CANADA
MARCH 27-28, 2023 |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
Amelia Hone, Work Integrated Learning, Project Coordinator
Autism CanTech!
Steven Fitzgerald, Co-founder and President
Habanero Consulting
Mallory O'Connor, Practice Lead of Culture and Transformation
Habanero Consulting
Scott deVeber, Digital Workplace Consultant
Habanero Consulting
Michele James, Executive Vice-President, People and Transformation
Scarborough Health Network
Shelley Peterson SVP, Total Rewards
Sun Life Financial
Karen Collins, Chief Talent Officer
BMO Financial Group
Jason Byrne, VP of HR
Farm Boy
Tara McRae, VP, Total Rewards Canada
Sun Life Financial
Amanda Cennon, Head of Future of Work & Employee Experience
Electronic Arts (EA)
Melissa Di Natale, Senior Manager, Future Design
ATB Financial
Joe O'Connor, Director
Work Time Reduction Center of Excellence
Mo Chahdi, Global Head of Contingent Talent Solutions,
Dell Technologies
David Drewery, Associate Director, Work-Learn Institute
University of Waterloo
Kristen Ruttgaizer, Chief People Officer
Igloo Software
Sarah Fern, Chief People Officer
Velocity Global
Jason Brommet, Head of Modern Work & Security Business
Microsoft Canada
Liz Doyle Harmer, Leadership Coach
Nkuzi Change
Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO & Founder
TalentMap
Faizal Mitha, Chief Innovation Officer
HUB International
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
Panelists:
Ramneet Aujla, Chief Human Resources Officer, Metrolinx
Kelly Davis, Chief People Officer, Sunwing Travel Group
Corey Daxon, Feldman Daxton Partner
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
-
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:
Sarah Fern, Chief People Officer, Velocity Global
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10:50AM
Future of Work Connects
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11:10AM
ā
Coffee Break and Networking Break
-
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
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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 Officer, 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
Panelists:
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 -
2:30PM
Presentation: The Metaverse and the world of work
- How can the metaverse be used affectively within organizations?
- What opportunities does it bring? A look at teamwork and collaboration in the metaverse
- What potential challenges do you need to think about?
- Is your organization ready for this new virtual world? Does it need to be?
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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
Panelists:
Jennifer Lennox, Vice President, People and Culture, AutoCanada
Alana Free, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, Goodlife Fitness
Amanda Cennon, Head of Future of Work & Employee Experience, Electronic Arts (EA)
Sarah Fern, Chief People Officer, Velocity Global -
3:40PM
ā
Coffee Break
-
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
Mo Chahdi, Global Head of Contingent Talent Solutions, Dell Technologies
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 -
5:15PM
End of day one conference sessions
-
5:15PM - 6:15PM
Networking Drinks in the Exhibition Area
Day Two

-
9:15AM
Chair's Welcome and Opening Remarks
Steven Fitzgerald, Co-founder and President, Habanero Consulting
-
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
Presentation: Amrop Rosin
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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
-
11:10AM
ā
Coffee Break and Speed Networking
-
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 -
12:25PM
Presentation: ContactMonkey
-
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
Panelists:
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
-
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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2:20PM
Presentation: McLean & Company
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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
Panelists:
Suzannah Kelly, Vice President, Global Talent Management, Apotex
Kim Ellis, Vice President, Leadership Development & Culture, goeasy Ltd
Laura Chapin, Senior Solutions Partner, Behavioural Science Team, CoachHub
Anna Goncalves, Senior Vice President, Talent & Workforce Transformation, CIBC -
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.