8:00 am
REGISTRATION & NETWORKING BREAKFAST: BUILD COMMUNITY CONTACTS
- Start your day off right and connect with EX and HR leaders.
- Get to know your industry peers and colleagues over a delicious breakfast.
- Source practical tips, discuss best practices, and prepare for the day ahead.
9:00 am
OPENING COMMENTS FROM YOUR HOST
Gain insight into today’s sessions so you can get the most out of your conference experience.
9:10 am
OPENING FIRESIDE KEYNOTE: THE TRUST REVOLUTION
Why EX Begins with Transparency
Trust has become the number one predictor of employee engagement in modern workplaces. Learn how to empower your senior management to:
- Explore the role of transparent communication in building employee trust.
- Harness open decision-making and candid conversations about strategy to give employees a sense of belonging and ownership.
- Boost loyalty, performance, and engagement feedback by harnessing the power of transparency.
Gain a blueprint for building trust-based cultures where people feel informed, valued, and psychologically secure.
9:40 am
C-SUITE PANEL: AMPLIFYING EMPLOYEE VOICES
Master Transforming Feedback into Action
Collecting feedback is easy. Turning it into meaningful change is the challenge. Walk away with actionable strategies to:
- Create feedback cycles that drive visible, trackable results.
- Close the loop effectively and communicate outcomes to boost employee trust.
- Measure employee sentiment using smart qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Build a clear, step‑by‑step roadmap to convert feedback into real organizational impact.
Harness employee insights and turn them into action that truly moves the needle.
10:10 am
SPEED NETWORKING: MAKE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS
Grow your network by meeting like-minded individuals to share your latest ideas and projects with:
- Enjoy a quick icebreaker, exchange LinkedIn information, and build lasting business relationships.
- Achieve your conference networking goals in a fun and agile fashion.
- Join a community of HR leaders and gain invaluable support.
10:40 am
FIRESIDE: FROM SYSTEMS TO EXPERIENCE
Designing Human-Centric HR Tech
As organizations modernize HR systems, they face a critical design challenge: making tech that works for people, not just for process. Gain actionable insights to:
- Develop a vision for human-centred HR tech in the workplace.
- Identify key challenges in developing HR technologies that are fit for purpose.
- Use automation that augments human work rather than replacing it.
Learn from real-life examples and source a framework for implementing intuitive, ethical, and user-friendly HR systems.
11:10 am
REFRESHMENTS BREAK & EXHIBITOR LOUNGE VISITS
- Explore the latest HR technology and strategies with our industry-leading sponsors.
- Share your challenges with the biggest innovators in the business.
- Schedule one-to-one private meetings for personalized advice.
11:40 am
SPOTLIGHT SESSION: DESIGNING CONNECTED EX THAT DRIVES ENGAGEMENT
Discover Where Learning, Recognition, and Culture Come Together
Integrate colleague development programs, reward and recognition, and memorable experiences for a cohesive environment where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered. Source practical tips to build a unified employee experience by:
- Aligning learning and development with recognition and real-time feedback.
- Designing colleague programs that reinforce purpose, performance, and belonging.
- Creating memorable moments that strengthen culture and elevate engagement.
Make your employees feel seen, supported, and celebrated for the engagement to become sustainable.
12:10 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: OPTIMIZING BENEFITS; MEASURING IMPACT
From Program Delivery to Measurable Value and ROI Accountability
In today’s environment of rising costs and heightened employee expectations, organizations can no longer afford benefits and wellbeing programs that are well-intentioned but underutilized. Leverage data, analytics, and cross-functional insight to connect benefits strategy directly to business outcomes.
- Use data-driven insights to assess benefit awareness, engagement, and behavioral impact
- Identify gaps between employee perception and actual program utilization
- Align EX investments with executive priorities and financial performance metrics
Establish value-centric best practices that improve both workforce wellbeing and organizational outcomes
12:40 pm
FIRESIDE CHAT: RETHINKING THE FUTURE OF WORK
FROM GENERATIONAL MANAGEMENT TO HUMAN-CENTRED CONNECTION & TECHNOLOGY
Build High-Performing Intergenerational Teams in An Era Of Rapid Technological Change, With AI As an Important But Supporting Theme.
Organizations often overemphasize generational differences and unintentionally reinforce stereotypes. Use AI to augment human capability and free people to focus on judgment, creativity and connection. Lead across generations, foster collaboration and use AI in ways that enhance both performance and culture with
- Shared human needs which are more important than generational stereotypes
- How leaders can create common ground across different age groups and career stages
- The role of managers in building trust, engagement, and development
Strengthen team performance and employee experience with AI enabled learning and collaboration rather than create division
1:20 pm
NETWORKING LUNCH: DELVE INTO INDUSTRY CONVERSATIONS
- Meet interesting speakers and pick their brains on the latest industry issues.
- Expand your network and make connections that last beyond the conference.
- Enjoy great food and service while engaging with your EX colleagues.
2:20 pm
EXHIBITOR LOUNGE: VISIT BOOTHS & SOURCE EXPERTISE
- Browse through different sponsor booths and test drive new technology.
- Source expertise from our industry-leading sponsors.
- Take advantage of event-specific offers and special content.
2:30 pm
INDUSTRY EXPERT: SMARTER PLANS, BETTER OUTCOMES
Applying Data and leveraging AI to Modernize Your Benefits and Retirement Strategy
Organizations have more data than ever on their workforce but translating that data into better benefits and retirement outcomes remains a challenge. Too often, plan design is still driven by static benchmarks, legacy assumptions, and limited visibility into what employees need.
What if those inputs are missing the most important piece, the actual needs, and behaviors of your employees? In this session, we’ll challenge conventional thinking around benefits design and explore how organizations can move beyond static and outdated benchmarking models. Using real-world examples, we’ll show highlight how employee data can be transformed into meaningful insights and more importantly, how those insights can be acted on.
- How to move beyond benchmarking to uncover actionable insights within your own workforce data.
- Strategies to identify gaps in employee coverage, engagement, and retirement readiness.
- A framework for evolving toward a more proactive, data-driven total rewards strategy.
- Real-world examples of how organizations are improving outcomes without overhauling their entire benefits offering.
3:05 pm
CASE STUDY: CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Well-Being During Organizational Change
As organizations undergo rapid transformation, well-being has become a critical determinant of engagement and performance. Build a roadmap to:
- Strengthen resilience and well-being across teams experiencing disruption.
- Understand the emotional, cultural, and workload impacts of change on different employee groups.
- Implement practical interventions that support mental health while sustaining momentum.
Gain valuable insights on how to lead change in a way that protects your people, preserves culture, and fosters a healthier employee experience.
3:05 pm
PANEL: MASTER RETENTION IN A STABILIZING MARKET
Why Canadian Workers are Staying Put
Some retention strategies do not just rely on compensation. Flexibility, culture, manager relationships, and meaningful development are equally significant. Source practical strategies to:
- Deepen engagement and reduce turnover risk in a cooling labour market.
- Understand what is keeping employees where they are and how to harness this for greater employee satisfaction.
- Explore key initiatives to make your best employees more likely to stay at your organization.
Gain insights on employee retention in the current employer market.
3:35 pm
REFRESHMENTS BREAK & EXHIBITOR LOUNGE VISITS
- Enjoy exclusive sponsor demos and experience the next level of EX innovation firsthand.
- Meet one-on-one with leading solution providers to discuss organizational hurdles.
- Brainstorm solutions and gain new perspectives and ideas.
3:50 pm
CASE STUDY: THE NEUROSCIENCE OF EMPATHETIC LEADERSHIP
How Trust and Accountability Drive Sustainable Performance
Leadership behaviours directly shape whether employees operate in threat or trust. In today’s cognitively demanding work environment, empathetic leadership regulates the brain, enabling learning, sound decision-making, and consistent performance. Build high-performing teams by:
- Creating psychological safety that unlocks focus, creativity, and collaboration.
- Pairing empathy with clarity and boundaries to strengthen accountability and follow-through.
- Reducing burnout and disengagement by shifting teams out of chronic stress responses.
Move your organization from surviving to thriving through neuroscience-backed leadership capability.
3:50 pm
FIRESIDE CASE STUDY: From HR Partner to Business Driver
How to Quantify the ROI of People Strategy
HR is so often seen as a cost centre, I would like to flip this concept on its head. Master success factors to:
- Turning engagement into business outcomes (NPS -> retention -> cost savings)
- Why time to offer is a revenue metric
- Cost of vacancy as an executive lever
Build frameworks for trying People initiatives to attrition, connectivity, recruitment efficiency
4:25 pm
PANEL: IMPACTING CAREER GROWTH FOR EVERYONE
How to Design Internal Mobility Pathways
Career development is one of the biggest predictors of EX and one of the biggest gaps. Walk away with guidance on how to:
- Develop strategies for building transparent, equitable internal mobility programs.
- Understand how to implement effective skills pathways and talent marketplaces for your employees.
- Initiate career conversation and provide development resources that empower employees to grow where they are.
Harness career progression strategies for improved employee retention and internal mobility.
4:55 pm
CLOSING KEYNOTE: LEADING EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE IN COMPLEX, GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTS
Enhance Talent Strategy to Sustainable Performance
In multi-site, international organizations, EX is shaped by how well talent, leadership, and operations align. Balance your business outcomes with integrity, simplicity, and purpose while navigating complexity at scale. Learn to strengthen your employee experience to:
- Build integrated talent acquisition and talent management strategies across regions.
- Use coaching, compensation, and mobility programs to support engagement and retention.
- Lead labour relations and people decisions with clarity, trust, and business focus.
Create exceptional employee experience for disciplined leadership, purposeful design, and excellent execution.
5:25 pm
END OF DAY ONE SUMMARY & CLOSING COMMENTS FROM YOUR HOST
Review the key solutions and takeaways from today’s sessions. Learn essential action points you can start using immediately. Discuss tomorrow’s highlights!
5:35 pm
EVENING RECEPTION: ENJOY GREAT CONVERSATION, MUSIC, & NETWORKING
- Relax and unwind with tasty cocktails after a long day of learning.
- Connect with your fellow attendees, speakers, and sponsors in a fun and casual setting.
- Make dinner plans with your new connections and explore the best of what Toronto nightlife has to offer. Just be sure to set your alarm for Day 2!
6:30 pm