Canada's biggest HR gathering is under way in Toronto – here are the sessions shaping today's conversations
HRFest Canada 2026 opened its doors this morning at Rebel in Toronto filling five stages with more than 750 HR leaders, chief people officers (CPOs), chief human resources officers (CHROs), and practitioners from across the profession. Here is what is happening across the floor, what to watch before the day closes, and what you will wish you had been in the room for.
Five stages, one full-scale reset
HRFest Canada 2026 runs across four main stages – The Hangar, The Vault, The Lab, and The Loft – plus the exclusive HR Leaders Forum, designed for practitioners working at the CHRO, CPO, and VP level on a separate pass.
The Hangar opened the day with "Canada's HR Reset – The Decisions Defining 2026," a candid panel featuring Martine Lamoureux, head of talent and culture at Ardene, in Montreal; Casey Woods, head of HR Toronto at Lyft; and Catia Goncalves, director of talent acquisition at Walmart Canada, in Toronto. Moderated by Krista Skalde, operating partner and chief talent officer at Inovia Capital, the session put the question plainly: what has been funded, what has been quietly killed, and how can HR shape the business case rather than react to it?
By mid-morning, the conversation had moved to the legal risks of hybrid work before turning to AI trust in a session featuring Loren Blandon, culture and people lead at Google DeepMind, and Shawn Gibson, CHRO at Info-Tech Research Group, on why adoption data looks better on paper than it does on the ground.
Across The Vault, The Lab, and The Loft, today's program spans pay structure diagnostics, M&A workforce integration, trauma-sensitive HR frameworks, and AI governance labs. HRD Canada has been following the pressures behind these conversations in the 10 toughest HR questions Canadian leaders face in 2026.
Tina Sarkar-Thomson, Assistant Vice President, HR at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, arrived this morning with her team and said the breadth of the program is the draw. "I really like the mix of the future-forward piece, some of the higher-level leadership aspects, as well as some of the tactical pieces that different presenters will be presenting," said Sarkar-Thomson. "We've brought our team here, people at various stages in their career, so I think everybody will get something out of being here."
She sees the AI programming running through today's agenda as one of the defining conversations of 2026. "I think it's a really exciting time in HR," she said. "When you have such a significant change like the introduction of AI, it can be scary. But I think as HR leaders, we have the opportunity – and we've certainly seen at events like this and through connections with colleagues across industries – that leveraging the technology is really helping to empower people."
What the Leaders Forum is tackling
For pass holders in the HR Leaders Forum, this morning's sessions are running at a different level. Lawrence Hughes, CPO at Porter Airlines, and Marco Dube, EVP people and culture at Hydro Ottawa, joined Manuelita Cherizard, CHRO at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, to open the day on what HR actually needs to do to influence capital allocation decisions. That was followed by a live operating model case study from Anna Filice, CPO at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) of Ontario, and Elizabeth McSavaney, SVP and chief people officer at Zurich Canada, and a session on where Canadian labour relations is heading in 2027.
The Forum closes day one with the Executive Decisions Forum – a session built around real AI implementations in talent acquisition, listening, and learning. Dr. Kalifa Oliver, executive advisor, author, and senior director of technology at Lowe's in Atlanta, moderates alongside Michelle Loo, chief DEI officer at Linde, and Diana Valler, CHRO at TravelBrands. The conversation covers where ethics, bias, privacy, and adoption problems actually emerged in practice – not in theory – and when leaders chose to pause or stop. Sudha Dwivedi, chief people and culture officer at Interac Corp, in Toronto – who takes the same stage tomorrow for a session on cybersecurity as an HR problem – put the AI governance challenge plainly ahead of the event. "AI, like any other tool, should not get a fast lane," she said. "What data does it use and who's protecting it? If my peers can't answer these questions on governance and risk assessments, then they shouldn't be ready to approve it." For a preview of the full speaker lineup, see HRD Canada's stage-by-stage tour of HRFest Canada 2026.
Beyond the sessions: what's on the festival floor
HRFest Canada is not running on content alone. Between sessions, the floor at Rebel offers activations designed to keep people on the floor and talking. Knockri has brought an F1 simulator – a crowd draw that has been generating steady lineups throughout the morning – while Origami HR is sponsoring a caricature station and Rippling has set up a headshot photo booth.
ADP Canada is running a barista coffee station, GoodLife Fitness has a wellness zone, and Medcan is hosting a VIP Lounge for quieter conversations away from the main floor. Throughout the day, delegates can attend a mixology class and wine tasting before the HRD Rising Stars Trophy Presentation Ceremony at 4:30 p.m.
The fireside that closes The Hangar
The closing session in The Hangar this afternoon is the one most likely to carry into tonight's networking conversations. "View From the Top – A North American CPO on What Canada Gets Right" features Katya Laviolette, a four-time chief people officer, board director, and executive advisor at 1Password, in Toronto – in a frank fireside moderated by Krista Skalde. HRD Canada's coverage of the HR Reset panel provides context on the conversations building toward that moment.
If you are not in Toronto today
Full coverage of the day's key sessions will be published on the HRD Canada website. Follow @HRD_Canada on LinkedIn for live updates throughout the afternoon.two days of the event.
The day closes with networking drinks and the HRD Rising Stars Trophy Presentation Ceremony from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Day two begins at 10 a.m. on November 11, 2026, at Rebel, with programming across all five stages. Registration remains open at humanresourcesfest.com/canada.
