Canadian HR execs reveal how they’ll steady their organizations as transformation, anxiety and disruption accelerate
HR leaders heading into 2026 are staring at a wave of pressure — from AI to worker anxiety to market volatility. The coming year looks to be one where people functions either help the business compete, or get exposed as unprepared.
For Stefanie van Hooijdonk, Vice-President, People Experience at Prospera Credit Union in Surrey, B.C., the core problem is that change is piling up faster than people can absorb it.
“HR leaders are faced more and more with having to find ways to support employees to navigate change,” she says. The catch is “the volume of change coupled with the complexities they are dealing with — think AI — and having to navigate external pressures that are beyond peoples’ control,” she says.
That strain is already baked into daily work: “Employees have to navigate how they show up, continuing to put their best foot forward, working on staying relevant, and they have to deal with all of these pressures that are coming at them at once," says van Hooijdonk, who believes that if HR ignores that reality, it’s a fast route to burnout and quiet exits.
Steady support during transformation, disruption
Van Hooijdonk is clear that HR can’t fix macro shocks, but it can strip out internal chaos.
“HR leaders can support their organizations by really leaning in when it comes to employee communications, change management practices, and skill building," she says, adding that means fewer cosmetic campaigns and more blunt, ongoing support for people whose jobs keep shifting under them.
Digital transformation only raises the stakes. “With the introduction of AI, I see the way in which we do our work continuing to change,” says van Hooijdonk. “I think what’s changing is the pace of change itself and learning how to sift through the sheer amount of information that’s available to us and is coming at us.”
That’s why she links technology choices directly to how work is structured. In her view, digital transformation in general is requiring HR to adapt to evolving technological changes and it “requires employers to focus on supporting employee wellness more holistically, investing in upskilling, and considering optimal job structures,” says van Hooijdonk.
Mindful of the cost of moving too fast
For Lola Obomighie, Vice-President People, Culture and Organizational Effectiveness at Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg, Ont., AI is both a standout opportunity and the biggest threat to trust.
“As we look toward 2026, one of the most defining challenges — and also an opportunity at the same time — for HR leaders will be the rapid adoption of AI within an increasingly diverse and evolving workforce,” she says.
Obomighie believes that much of the risk isn’t the technology itself — it’s leadership. “The real risk is in deploying it without sufficient attention to equity, inclusion, and wellbeing,” she says.
In workforces already living through sustained uncertainty, she says that “HR must help organizations adopt AI in ways that are transparent, fair, and psychologically safe.”
To Obomighie, this is where HR’s strengths are most critical: “By grounding AI strategy in strong values, inclusive workforce planning, and thoughtful change management, HR can enable innovation because, when used thoughtfully, intentionally, and responsibly, AI could be a key enabler of the future of work.”
Recruitment in a market that won’t sit still
On the hiring front, Stephen Taylor, lead of talent acquisition at Global Relay in Vancouver, is already watching old patterns fall apart. “For years, recruitment always slowed down in December, but it's not slowing this year, it’s same as in August,” he says.
The result is more pressure at both ends of the hiring table, he says. “We used to see rises and falls in applications, interviews and hiring quite predictability, but we don't anymore... I'm seeing a lot of desperation in the market, which is really hard, especially when we want to honour people and we can't.”
Taylor’s response has been to widen the lens beyond vacancy-filling and host events where, when they can’t hire everyone, they provide resources, training, or opportunities to network, he says.
Expecting the unexpected
If there’s one theme running through HR leaders’ outlooks, it’s that trying to script a neat path through 2026 won’t be easy.
Taylor says he’s learned to not predict anything during uncertain times. Instead, his focus is on how his team shows up under all the pressure. “Something that I've encouraged my team to do is to expect the unexpected and what we need to do is not add to the noise,” he says.
That demand for steadiness cuts across HR, from boardroom strategy to front-line hiring. As Taylor puts it: “I want us to be a calming, non-anxious presence, and have that be our voice right now, rather than be like, ‘Oh, doom is coming.’”
Van Hooijdonk sees a continuation of developments from 2025 into the next year.
“I think HR leaders in general are wondering whether they’ll be tasked with having to navigate big unforeseen global challenges similar to when we had to navigate the impact of a global pandemic,” she says. “It’s topics such as employee experience, the ongoing competition for critical talent, striking the balance with flexible work arrangements, and the ever-evolving role of HR as a strategic partner to the business.”
Shared ownership of outcomes
Obomighie’s prediction for HR in 2026? “HR leaders will be held formally accountable for the quality of work, not just the quantity or cost of labour,” she says. “We may see wellbeing, inclusion, and trust measured as leading indicators of performance, with HR leaders sharing ownership of these outcomes alongside financial metrics.”
That forecast lines up with how Obomighie sees HR’s broader evolution.
“HR’s role is evolving from a support function to a strategic force that shapes how the organization wins,” she says. “That shift forces explicit strategic choices about where it focuses its effort, rather than trying to do everything for everyone.”
These are interesting times to be part of the HR profession, says van Hooijdonk, "as there are multiple forces at play that require agility and out-of-the box thinking."
