Future of Work Canada 2027 will bring together the ideas, insights, and conversations shaping the future workplace.
The event will open on Day One with a keynote on our Main Stage, bringing all attendees together for an inspiring start.

From there, attendees will have the opportunity to tailor their experience across three dedicated conference tracks:

Leadership, Culture & Human Performance: Building trusted leadership, strong cultures and sustainable performance
Future Skills & Learning: Building capabilities and shaping careers for a future-ready workforce
Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence: Connecting people, technology and work to improve business results

With access to every track, all attendees can design their own agendas and explore the sessions most relevant to their goals.

 

 

2027 Agenda

 

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09:00
  1. Opening Welcome Address
    10 mins
    • Keynote Stage
09:10
  1. Keynote:
    60 mins
    • Keynote Stage
    We look forward to announcing our keynote speaker soon. We’ll share details of their session and the topics they’ll be discussing.
10:10
  1. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Keynote Stage
10:40
  1. Chair’s Welcome
    15 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Chair’s Welcome
    15 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Chair’s Welcome
    15 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
10:55
  1. Panel Discussion: Rebuilding the career ladder in the AI era
    45 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    As AI changes entry-level work, are organizations considering the long-term cost of changing or removing these roles? Which important skills and experiences would early-career employees miss? How can …
  2. Panel Discussion: Leading through change (when you do not have all the answers)
    45 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    What difficult decision did you have to make before you had all the facts? What made you decide to act, wait or change direction? Where did the leadership team disagree, and how did you agree on what …
  3. Panel Discussion: From AI adoption to work redesign
    45 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    How can organizations redesign roles and workflows rather than simply add AI into existing processes? Which tasks should be removed, automated, supported by AI or retained? How should HR, technology a …
11:45
  1. Case Study: Time to Competence When Entry-Level Work Disappears
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    How did the organization redesign onboarding and early career development as AI took over entry-level tasks? What replaced the experience and learning previously gained through entry-level work – simu …
  2. Presentation: Why HR can no longer think like HR
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    How can HR think more commercially but remain people focused? What does HR need to understand about the rest of the business? How can HR identify business challenges instead of simply responding to re …
  3. Case study: How we implemented an agentic AI workflow
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    What problem was the organization trying to solve and why did it choose an agentic AI workflow? How were AI agents coordinated across the process, with clear roles, handovers and access to systems and …
12:15
  1. Practical session: Is this role losing skills? A five-step risk audit
    20 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    As AI takes over more tasks, some roles risk losing the skills people need to do them well. Use a simple five-step audit to identify which roles in your organization are most at risk.You will leave wi …
  2. Practical Session: Five ways to tell if leadership development is working
    20 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    Is your leadership development changing how leaders behave or just how many people attend?Work through five checks that link observable behaviour change to team and business results. You’ll leave with …
  3. Practical Session: Ten AI prompts every HR leader should know (and what never to paste into an AI tool)
    20 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    When should HR leaders use AI, and where is their own judgement essential? Explore ten practical prompts, how to recognise good output, and when to challenge, refine or reject an answer. You’ll leave …
12:35
  1. Lunch & Networking Break
    60 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Lunch & Networking Break
    60 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Lunch & Networking Break
    60 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
13:35
  1. Case study: How we rebuilt our leadership pipeline
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    Where was the existing approach to succession and leadership development falling short, and what needed to change? What skills and capabilities would future leaders need, and how were these identified …
  2. Case Study: Building trust through leadership behaviour
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    What are the specific and observable leadership behaviours that turn an organizational value into everyday experience? How do leaders’ daily behaviours impact employees’ trust and safety? How can chan …
  3. Case study: What our AI investment delivered
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    What business problem was the organization trying to solve? How did the results compare with their expected outcomes? What impact did the investment have on their productivity, quality and employees? …
14:10
  1. Presentation: How does AI affect the L&D team?
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    Which areas are being automated the fastest and how does this affect training content and delivery?What skills will L&D professionals need in 3 - 5 years?Where can L&D professionals add value and how …
  2. Presentation: Keeping EDI Front and Centre
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    As EDI becomes embedded, what has changed and how do you keep inclusion a priority? What have you changed in hiring criteria, shortlisting and interviews? Has it made a difference? What has changed in …
  3. Presentation: Hiring talent anywhere – building teams across borders and provinces
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    What should organizations know when hiring in provinces or countries where they do not have an office? Where do contracts, payroll and employment rights cause most problems? Which HR policies can stay …
14:45
  1. Case study: Learning when there’s no time to learn
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    How can time-poor employees be persuaded to consider more concise learning approaches? How can short skill labs, peer-problem solving and practical experimentation be used? How can learning be incorpo …
  2. Canadian case study: From reconciliation commitments to workplace practice
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    How are Indigenous perspectives being included in employment, leadership and business decisions?Learning from Indigenous employees, leaders and communities without placing burden on them to teach.What …
  3. Presentation: Connecting talent investment to business results
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    Are we hiring, developing and keeping people in the areas that matter most to the business?Which roles and skills make the biggest difference to business results?How can we move people to where they a …
15:15
  1. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
15:45
  1. Presentation: Managers as coaches – bringing out the best in their teams.
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    How can managers use coaching, feedback and everyday leadership behaviours to raise performance? Coaching versus telling: what is the difference and what do managers need in order to coach effectively …
  2. Case study: Leading frontline teams through change
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    How does leading shift-based or deskless workers differ from leading knowledge workers through change?How are labour shortages and demographic shifts affecting frontline roles differently than office …
  3. Case study: Pay transparency starts in payroll - A modern payroll for a changing workforce
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    How can data support pay transparency and pay equity reporting as new provincial requirements come in? How do organizations modernise payroll without disrupting employees or introducing risk? What rol …
16:20
  1. Panel Discussion: The human element and building judgment in the age of AI
    45 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    Which human skills matter more as AI does more of the thinking and analysis? How do employees build judgment if AI does the work they would usually learn from? How can people spot mistakes or gaps in …
  2. Panel Discussion: Leading human and digital teams
    45 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    What work should employees do and what can AI take on? How do managers make responsibilities clear? Which decisions need a person’s judgment or approval, and who decides this? What are managers respon …
  3. Panel Discussion: Where is the AI productivity gain?
    45 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    What does productivity mean in knowledge-based work? How can organizations establish credible measures of productivity before introducing new technology? How can they distinguish time saved from genui …
17:05
  1. Chair’s Closing Remarks
    5 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Chair’s Closing Remarks
    5 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Chair’s Closing Remarks
    5 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
17:10
  1. Networking Drinks
    60 mins
09:00
  1. Opening Welcome Address
    10 mins
    • Keynote Stage
09:10
  1. Keynote: The economic outlook for the Canadian workforce
    60 mins
    • Keynote Stage
10:10
  1. Panel Discussion: The future of the HR Function - a CHRO, CFO and COO in conversation
    45 mins
    • Keynote Stage
    How can HR help lead the business while making decisions that work for its people? What have CHROs done to better understand how the business works, makes money and grows? Does HR need to change how i …
10:55
  1. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Keynote Stage
11:25
  1. Chair’s Welcome
    10 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Chair’s Welcome
    10 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Chair’s Welcome
    10 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
11:35
  1. Panel Discussion: Real pathways to future skills in Canada
    45 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    How can organizations connect skills strategies to real workforce and business decisions? How are employers working with colleges and universities on apprenticeships and early career pathways? How can …
  2. Panel Discussion: Rethinking work to support sustainable performance
    45 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    Are organizations asking employees to cope better instead of fixing what is causing the pressure? What needs to change in how work is organized, shared out and prioritized? When workloads are too high …
  3. Panel Discussion: Who owns the blended workforce?
    45 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    Who should be responsible for digital agents in the workforce? What roles should HR, technology, finance and operational leaders play? How should employees, contractors and digital agents be included …
12:30
  1. Presentation: Measuring learning – evidence leadership will believe
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    Which measures show whether learning is improving performance? How can manager and business data be brought into the picture? What should teams stop reporting on? How can organizations move beyond par …
  2. Presentation: Why are people saying no to management?
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    What is making the management track less attractive? Is it compensation, visible manager burnout, workload? Have organizations built credible specialist tracks with progression in responsibility, stat …
  3. Presentation: What should this job pay now?
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    Should pay change when parts of the job are removed or supported by AI? How should employers respond to cost-of-living pressures? How can organizations balance external competitiveness with internal e …
13:00
  1. Lunch & Networking Break
    60 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Lunch & Networking Break
    60 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Lunch & Networking Break
    60 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
14:00
  1. Panel Discussion: The retirement cliff and the knowledge transfer challenge
    45 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    Which roles, skills and expertise are most exposed to workforce retirement? How can organizations capture institutional knowledge that cannot be transferred through documentation? How can organization …
  2. Panel Discussion: Protecting culture and psychological safety as AI changes work
    45 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    What do leaders need to get right so people feel valued, are treated fairly and know they can speak up? How can employees try out AI and learn from mistakes without fear of blame? Are organizations ta …
  3. Panel Discussion: Has AI broken Talent Acquisition?
    45 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    If candidates are using AI to create CVs and applications and recruiters are using AI to screen applications - what are we assessing? How is automated screening affecting candidate quality and diversi …
14:50
  1. Practical session: A simple five-step skills mapping exercise
    20 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    Join this session to work through five steps for mapping the skills needed for a role or team. You’ll look at the skills people use today, what may be needed next and where the gaps are. Leave with a …
  2. Practical Session: Five questions to ask when everything matters
    20 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    When every request is urgent how do you decide what deserves your attention first?Join this session for five questions to ask yourself that help you prioritise and how to explain those decisions to ot …
  3. Practical Session: Five compliance questions to ask before introducing AI
    20 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    What questions should you be asking before introducing an AI tool?Join this session and leave with questions you should be asking to make sure you stay compliant, that you have the right safeguards in …
15:10
  1. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Coffee & Networking Break
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
15:40
  1. Case Study: Getting the whole workforce AI-fluent
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    How can organizations build AI capability at scale? How can employers avoid leaving non-technical employees behind? How should learning be tailored to different roles, levels of confidence and use cas …
  2. Presentation: Five generations at work
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    How do different experiences of work shape expectations of leadership and careers? How do generations approach AI, flexibility and communication differently? How can skills and knowledge be shared acr …
  3. Presentation: Benefits people value – what to offer, what it costs and what it returns
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    Can one benefits strategy meet the needs of five generations? How can employers offer choice without complexity? Having a benefits package that supports employees and your bottom line Can one benefits …
16:15
  1. Case Study: Developing senior leaders already in role
    30 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
    What was missing from the organization’s approach to developing senior leaders? How did it decide what leaders needed to learn as their roles changed? What helped experienced leaders change how they w …
  2. Case Study: Performance management redesigned
    30 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
    How did the organization change what it measures and rewards? How did managers assess individual contribution, judgement and collaboration fairly? What changed in ratings, calibration and everyday con …
  3. Case Study: Rethinking organizational structures and operating models
    30 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence
    What was not working in the previous structure, and how did decision-making change? How many leadership layers does the organization need now, and where did accountability move? What were the measurab …
16:45
  1. Chair’s Closing remarks
    5 mins
    • Future Skills & Learning
  2. Chair’s Closing remarks
    5 mins
    • Leadership, Culture & Human Performance
  3. Chair’s Closing remarks
    5 mins
    • Workforce Strategy & Operational Excellence

 

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