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HRFest Canada 2026 runs Nov. 10–11 in Toronto across five stages. Here's who's confirmed, by theme.
Executive Strategy & Board (Leaders Forum)
Shawn Gibson, CHRO at Info-Tech Research Group, brings an unfiltered HRIS overhaul story spanning six countries. His warning: don't skimp on support. "We under-invested in support," he says, noting it took two years before his team hired a dedicated HRIS manager.
Helen Ashton, VP of People, Culture and Customer Experience at Grand & Toy, joins a total-rewards audit panel. Her draw is candour among peers: "It's nice to be in the room where they're at the same level and they're struggling with the same things," she says.
AI & Future of Work (Hangar/Lab)
Kalifa Oliver appears on two tracks — one source lists her as senior director of technology, people and legal analytics at Lowe's, another as global director of EX analytics strategy at Ford (worth confirming before print). Her message: dashboards are really requests for decisions. "When an executive asks us for a dashboard, they're really asking us for a decision," she says.
Alexandra Tillo, senior talent marketing consultant at Indeed, argues employer branding is treated as messaging, not strategy: "They treat employer branding more like a communication exercise instead of a real talent strategy," she says.
Employment Law & Compliance (Vault)
Erin Kuzz, founding partner at Sherrard Kuzz LLP, appears on the Risk Radar panel (per HRFest's program, staged in The Hangar despite the legal subject matter). She's tracking AI hiring risk and doubled ESA penalties. "I don't think we're seeing enough attention paid to the inputs on AI when the outputs may create discriminatory output," she says. Her core message: "It's not about the single biggest change, it's about keeping up with the almost weekly small changes."
Wellbeing & EX (Hangar/Lab)
Tammy Sergie, Chief HR and Privacy Officer at Edgewood Health Network, speaks on wellbeing ROI, citing steep drop-offs in return-to-work odds without an early integration plan. "We're going to focus our attention on making sure HR professionals understand the critical role they play," she says.
Kristen Gill, Director of Corporate Partnerships and Sales at GoodLife Fitness (wellness sponsor), emphasizes there's no universal fix: "Most HR people recognize that wellness is not a one-size-fits-all proposition," she says.
Career Development (The Loft)
Lee-Ann Reid, VP of Operations at Vistek, joins a panel on shifting from function expert to business leader. Irina Posan, career and leadership coach, runs a session on turning career clarity into action. Celine Maasland, Head of People and Culture at Rvezy, speaks on building an HR function from scratch, framing sequencing as the make-or-break factor.
