Be bold, stay human: the Canadian HR Awards winners speak

Photo: The HR Team from Yoplait Liberte, double winners at the 2026 Canadian HR Awards

The 2026 Canadian HR Awards brought more than 600 of Canada’ most influential people leaders to Toronto’s Rebel venue on Oct. 1, for an evening of recognition and celebration. From a team that built an entire HR function from scratch in fewer than 20 months to an organization rewriting its reconciliation commitments, the night captured a profession in the middle of a significant shift – navigating AI, post-acquisition integration, and a renewed push to keep the human element at the centre of work.

Presented by HRD Canada, the Canadian HR Awards recognized outstanding contributions across 23 categories spanning team performance, talent development, employee wellness, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and individual leadership. The 2026 edition drew some of Canada’s most ambitious people-first organizations and the practitioners leading them.

Top HR team performances

Martin Vermette, Vice President of Human Resources and Communication at Yoplait Liberté Canada in Montreal, accepted the Excellence in Team Performance (fewer than 500 employees) award on behalf of a team that he said had existed for barely more than a year-and-a-half. Though the Yoplait and Liberté brands have decades of history in Canadian grocery aisles, the HR team behind the combined operation was new, and Vermette’s pride in what they had built was unmistakable.

“We’re a new company, even though our brand been there for 60 and 90 years when you think about Yoplait Liberté, but the team is less than 20 months old and to be able to do this amazing work to build that culture, build that HR foundation, and have such a strong impact on the HR strategy and the business strategy, is just kind of amazing,” said Vermette – whose team was also recognized for top honours in Excellence in HR Communication & Change Strategy.

Vermette’s advice to other organizations looking to achieve similar success: “Be bold. Take chances – we’re talking about a fast-paced environment, but really what makes the big difference is to think differently, learn from your mistakes, and really do it in the sense of how could you do something really impactful and the footprint you want to leave behind for all of your employees.”

Agnico Eagle Mines, a global mining company headquartered in Toronto, won the Excellence in HR Team Performance (500 employees or more) award. Michelle Edwards, Vice-President of People at Agnico, said that recognition for strong HR practices carries direct business value: as Agnico expands, being known for investing in people is a meaningful advantage when building employer brand awareness in markets where the company name is still establishing its presence.

“This [award] is really important because we've done such great work in impacting the business and the transformation that the business has been through, and also the growth that we see coming,” said Edwards. “A lot of the work that HR has done has really been to support that and support its people, so when you think about that impact and us getting recognized for that work, it's something that’s important to our people and to the communities that we're in – and it's important to the industry as a whole.”

Integrating people after expansion

Bethany McMullen, Vice President, Human Resources Business Partners at Definity in Waterloo, Ont., accepted the Excellence in HR Team Performance (Finance/Insurance) award on behalf of the organization, after a year defined by what she called one of the more demanding integration challenges in the sector. The people-and-culture team guided approximately 1,500 employees into the organization following a $3.3-billion acquisition of another insurance company, according to McMullen.

“Having a people and culture team that ladders up to support the business is critical to our success,” McMullen said. “So I think this is a reflection of us delivering for the organization and allowing the organization to continue to deliver for our customers.”

McMullen described the team’s focus on day-one experience, role clarity, and early listening strategies as the engine behind the win. She also named the team’s defining philosophy: “doing hard work, taking our work seriously, and taking ourselves lightly” – a balance she described as difficult to strike, and the foundation for creating an environment where challenge and new opportunities thrive.

Expanding HR as the business expands

Cylee Wagner-Gasmo, People and Culture Manager at Strategic Group in Calgary, received the ADP Canada Award for Excellence in Emerging HR Leadership after a year she described as the most hectic of her career – and the most rewarding. She said she stepped into an expanded role as the company grew from 86 to just under 200 employees through acquisitions, while simultaneously implementing three new human resource information system (HRIS) modules, building a learning and development program from scratch, and overhauling its technology and AI infrastructure. “People are what run a company – you can have all the strategy you want, but people are the ones who make it happen,” said Wagner-Gasmo.

The University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP) in Toronto took home the Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging award. Omo Akintan, Chief Engagement and People Officer at UPP, said the organization is only five years old but what it lacks in age, it compensates for in conviction: diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and reconciliation is the single highest-scoring factor on the organization’s employee engagement survey.

Key initiatives included a reconciliation action plan developed through consultations with Indigenous rights holders and employees, employee resource groups, and a formal onboarding book club centred on Bob Joseph’s 21 Things You Didn’t Know About the Indian Act, said Akintan.

At a time when some Canadian organizations have retreated from DEI commitments under political pressure, Akintan’s message was direct: “Whatever the political climate might be, employees’ values around equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation have not changed,” she said. “And so I hope that any organization who’s thinking of doing work in this way will persist in doing the work.”

She urged organizations to be proactive towards building inclusive structures: “You don’t wait until it’s diverse to build the structures that really promote belonging,” said Akintan. “It’s good strategy and good business in 2026 to be really invested in DEI work.”

Learning agility and AI readiness

Stephanie Butt Thibodeau, Executive Vice President, Talent and Corporate Affairs at IA Financial Group in Montreal, spoke about the organization taking home top honours in Excellence in Learning & Capability Development. She tied the recognition directly to a corporate ambition.

“One of our top four corporate priorities for our 2030 plan is being a learning organization, and this is a learning award,” said Butt Thibodeau. “So I think it’s really confirming that what we’ve been doing to help develop our talent – which is the heart of our business – is having an impact.”

Leadership at the executive level

Keri Fraser, Chief People Officer of Westland Insurance in Burnaby, B.C., was recognized for Excellence in Senior HR Leadership. “Our profession is more important than ever as we get into technology and AI to keep that human side and really take care of our employees and others,” said Fraser.

Heading into 2027, Fraser said she’s prioritizing reskilling: “I’m loving figuring out how to reskill and enable our employees with AI and technologies,” she said. “I want to bring people along in that journey.” The award reflected a collective team effort rather than individual achievement, she said, and she described the evening as especially meaningful given several nominations her team received across multiple categories.

Dr. Uwe Zachau, Managing Director and CEO of MTU Maintenance Canada in Vancouver, accepted the SAP Canada Award for CEO of the Year – People First Leadership. Zachau described taking over a team that had not previously experienced that style of leadership, and said the recognition validates his approach at a moment when some organizations are questioning whether people-centred leadership is worth the investment.

“In times like this, where leadership is still being looked at – do we really need this and is it important, or do we just follow processes? – it really underlines that the way that I have chosen, and the path that I’m on with my team is the right one,” said Zachau.

Across the evening, a common conviction ran through the award winners: investing in people, maintaining the human element of work through technological disruption, and building strong HR leadership pipelines are simply good business.

View the full list of 2026 Canadian HR Awards winners and excellence awardees here. Congratulations to all the winners and excellence nominees for making the 2026 Canadian HR Awards another fantastic night celebrating HR.