HR LEADERS AGENDA
10:00am
MC Kick Off
10:10am - 10:50am
Inside the Boardroom: What the C‑Suite Really Wants from HR Now
A CEO/CFO and CHRO lift the curtain on the real pressures around growth, productivity, cost and risk and what they need from senior leaders. In this candid, off‑the‑record conversation, you’ll hear how HR priorities land in the boardroom, which conversations change capital allocation decisions, and where HR is still seen as “support” rather than “critical infrastructure.” Expect direct insights you can use to reposition your agenda with your own CEO and board.
10:50am - 11:05am
Coffee Break
11:05am - 11:40am
Cyber Is an HR Problem: Accountability, Insider Risk and What Boards Are Now Asking
Cyber sits on every board agenda now and the people side of cyber sits squarely on HR's. Senior leaders share real examples of incidents, near misses and AI rollouts that had to be paused or redesigned because of risk, accountability or governance gaps. How HR worked with risk, legal and technology to protect financial position and reputation when it mattered. Where accountability actually lives when something goes wrong. And what boards are now asking for in terms of assurance, questions that didn't exist 24 months ago.
11:40am - 11:45am
MC Intro
11:45am - 12:25pm
The Operating Model Reset: What's Actually Working Under Pressure
Cyber sits on every board agenda now and the people side of cyber sits squarely on HR's. Senior leaders share real examples of incidents, near misses and AI rollouts that had to be paused or redesigned because of risk, accountability or governance gaps. How HR worked with risk, legal and technology to protect financial position and reputation when it mattered. Where accountability actually lives when something goes wrong. And what boards are now asking for in terms of assurance, questions that didn't exist 24 months ago.
12:25pm - 1:25pm
Lunch
1:25pm - 2:10pm
The People Side of the Deal: How HR Realizes (or Destroys) M&A Value
Major transformations and deals are often sold on spreadsheets but delivered (or derailed) through people. In this panel, senior executives share real cases where HR was central to realizing value from transformations and M&A: from due diligence and workforce modelling to leadership selection, culture integration and tough calls on roles and locations. You’ll see how they quantified people‑related risks and synergies, how they reported progress to the board, and what they would redesign next time.
2:10pm - 2:15pm
MC Intro
2:15pm - 2:50pm
Workforce Planning & Leadership Pipelines that Don’t Break Under Pressure
Two organizations share how they actually run workforce planning with finance and strategy: time horizons, scenarios, governance rhythms and the trade‑offs that never make it into the slide deck. In back‑to‑back case stories and a joint Q&A, they’ll open up how they map critical roles, handle succession and manage senior performance—what’s working, what’s folklore, and what they’d redesign if they could.
2:50pm - 3:05pm
Coffee Break
3:05pm - 3:50pm
The AI Implementation Files: Case Studies in Ethics, Risk and What Got Paused
AI is no longer new but the lessons from real implementations are only just becoming clear. This focused session walks through detailed case studies of AI in talent acquisition, listening/analytics and learning, highlighting where ethics, bias, privacy and adoption challenges emerged in practice. You’ll see what governance models and contracts looked like, when leaders chose to pause or stop an initiative, and how they now evaluate ROI, value creation and risk in AI‑enabled HR tools.
3:50pm - 4:25pm
Executive Decisions Forum: Three Big Calls I’m Making This Year
The session built around the calls that are actually on senior leaders' desks right now. A curated group of CHROs each share one high-stakes decision they're working on this year and one knotty challenge they're not yet sure how to handle - restructures, work models, tech bets, M&A, executive performance. Guided by the MC and shaped by live input from the room, you'll see how peers at the top are weighing options, risk and values when there's no clear right answer. The closing Day One conversation for the leaders making the calls.
4:25pm - 4:30pm
MC Closing Remarks
4:40pm - 6:00pm
Networking Drinks
10:00am - 10:05am
MC Kick Off
10:05am - 10:40am
The Economist in the Room: What 2027 Actually Holds for Canadian HR
What should senior HR leaders be modelling for 2027? A leading Canadian economist opens Day Two with a clear-eyed read on where the economy is heading, what tariffs and Canada–US relations mean for the labor market, and which recession signals to actually take seriously. The macro context every CHRO is expected to bring to the boardroom, connecting what's happening in the broader economy directly to the decisions already on your desk.
10:40am - 10:55am
Coffee Break
10:55am - 11:30am
Immigration & Global Talent: From Policy Shock to Strategic Advantage
Immigration rules and political signals are shifting fast across North America, with real implications for how senior HR leaders secure scarce skills, manage compliance risk and sustain diverse workforces. This session goes beyond "how the system works" to unpack the most consequential pathways and the risk hotspots and shows how one organization has embedded immigration directly into its workforce, DEI and risk strategy. The honest conversation about where immigration should sit in your 2026 talent agenda, and what to do when the policy ground moves underneath it.
11:30am - 11:35am
MC Intro
11:35am - 12:20pm
Executive Hot Seat: Live HR Decisions Under the Microscope
CHROs put real decisions on the table and work them through live — with an expert moderator, anonymous audience polling, and short "what would you do?" moments shaping the conversation in real time. We'll unpack 2–3 complex calls (restructures, work models, AI risk, executive performance) and compare how different people leaders at the top would handle each one. The session for the leaders who want to see how their peers actually think before they move.
12:20pm - 1:20pm
Lunch
1:20pm - 2:00pm
The Rewards Audit: What's Working, What's Wasting Money, What's About to Stop Working
Three executive stories on how organizations have used data to redefine EVP, reshape total rewards and financial wellbeing (especially for lower-paid and under-represented groups), and build learning cultures that actually protect revenue, productivity, retention and labor cost in tight markets. Where the investment has paid off. Where it hasn't. And how senior leaders are now evaluating the trade-offs between cost, competitiveness and equity including which levers in their own portfolio may no longer be earning their keep.
2:00pm - 2:15pm
Coffee Break
2:15pm - 2:55pm
Selling the Stack to the CEO: An HRIS Transformation Story
A CHRO and a senior tech executive walk through the full inside story of an HRIS and analytics transformation, from business case and vendor selection to rollout, adoption and the issues no one warned them about. How they sold it to the CEO and CFO. Where they overreached. Where they under-invested. The governance model that sits around the data now. And how the new stack actually shapes board-level discussions on people, cost, revenue and strategy, not just HR dashboards.
2:55pm - 3:00pm
MC Intro
3:00pm - 3:25pm
Board Seats and Beyond: Expanding Your Influence as a Senior People Leader
A senior executive or board member shares a candid perspective on building influence beyond your current role; board positions, advisory roles, and external leadership opportunities. How to position your experience for what comes next. How to decide which opportunities to accept and which to politely decline. And how to keep growing your career and your impact once you're already in the top job internally. The closing Day Two conversation for the leaders thinking about what's after this one.
3:25pm - 3:30pm