Live legal Q&A, AI case studies and a peer-only Leaders Forum top must-see sessions at Toronto HR festival on Nov. 10–11
HRFest Canada 2026 packs more than 120 speakers and upwards of 40 networking activities into two days at Rebel in Toronto on Nov. 10 and 11.
With five stages running at once, the human resources (HR) festival rewards attendees who choose their sessions in advance.
HRD Canada's breakdown of the five HRFest Canada 2026 stages covers the format. And these are the moments worth planning around.
Legal risk, AI and well-being debates
The Hangar's Risk Radar panel tackles the employment law calls that weigh heaviest on HR teams. Panellist Erin Kuzz, founding partner at Sherrard Kuzz LLP in Toronto, is focused on artificial intelligence (AI) in hiring and regulatory change. "It's not about the single biggest change, it's about keeping up with the almost weekly small changes," she says.
AI ethics gets its own case-study treatment. Kalifa Oliver, senior director of technology, people and legal analytics at Lowe's, moderates "The AI Implementation Files: Case Studies in Ethics, Risk and What Got Paused," with Michelle Lu and Diana Vela. "One of the questions I will be asking is the idea of: 'We could, but should we do this thing?'" says Oliver.
Well-being data takes the spotlight in "Well-Being ROI: Where Investments Actually Move the Numbers." Panellist Tammy Sergie, chief HR and privacy officer at Edgewood Health Network (EHN), says an employee's chance of returning from disability leave drops to 62% without an integration plan in the first six months. "We're going to focus our attention on making sure that the HR professionals understand the critical role they play in supporting Canadians in getting healthier," she says.
Unfiltered and hands-on sessions
The Vault is billed by organizers as the stage for conversations other conferences avoid. Its live legal question-and-answer session and audience open-mic segments put attendees' own problems on the table, alongside sessions on trauma-sensitive leadership.
At The Lab, Oliver also leads "From Surveys to Storytelling: Making People Analytics Land with the C-Suite." Like every Lab workshop, it is designed to send participants away with a usable template, checklist, plan or draft – and capacity is limited.
The Loft offers live career coaching. Lee-Ann Reid, vice-president of operations at Vistek, joins a panel on moving from function expert to business leader, while Celine Maasland, head of people and culture at Rvezy, covers building an HR function from scratch.
Inside the HRFest Canada 2026 Leaders Forum
The Leaders Forum, capped at 300 chief human resources officers (CHROs) and senior people leaders, runs off the record. HRD Canada's look at the peer-only HR Leaders forum format explains how the room works.
On Nov. 11, Shawn Gibson, CHRO at Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ont., joins Julie Turner, CHRO at McCarthy Tétrault in Toronto, for "Selling the Stack to the CEO: An HRIS Transformation Story," covering a human resources information system (HRIS) rollout. "It's like an octopus," Gibson says. "It's got tentacles throughout the entire team."
Helen Ashton, vice-president of people, culture and customer experience at Grand & Toy in Toronto, sits on "The Rewards Audit: What's Working, What's Wasting Money, What's About to Stop Working." Her challenge to peers: "Sometimes we go with the momentum and we forget to question does that still make sense? Does that still drive the business forward? Or is it because we've always done it?"
Beyond the stages, ADP Canada is running an HR priorities poll and facilitated conversations at its VIP Lunch. "Rather than ADP Canada doing the talking, this is really an opportunity to hear directly from HR leaders," says Heather Haslam, vice-president of marketing at ADP Canada in Toronto.
