Lunch and a coffee with ADP Canada at HRFest Canada 2026

When hundreds of human resources (HR) professionals, executives, and innovation leaders gather in November for HRFest Canada 2026, ADP Canada won’t be the loudest voice in the room, by intention.

The payroll and human capital management (HCM) company is sponsoring the event's VIP Lunch and Coffee Barista station – two spaces built for candid conversation, not stage presentations. The choice reflects a core conviction for ADP Canada: the most valuable thing the company can do for Canadian human resources (HR) leaders right now is to listen to what their priorities are, according to Heather Haslam, Vice President of Marketing at ADP Canada in Toronto,

"The best conversations happen when we listen to the challenges and opportunities that HR leaders are facing and learn how it is that we can help them move forward with confidence," says Haslam. "That's really what it's about."

HRFest Canada 2026 takes place November 10 and 11, with organizers expecting more than 750 attendees across HR, C-suite, and innovation functions.

Listening as strategy

ADP Canada's decision to step back from the presentation stage is calculated. Rather than broadcasting capabilities, the company is running an HR priorities poll at the event and facilitating structured conversations during the VIP Lunch, with the goal of building a current, specific picture of what is top of mind for HR leaders across Canada.

"Rather than ADP Canada doing the talking, this is really an opportunity to hear directly from HR leaders," Haslam says. "So the idea of sitting down and creating a forum for peer-to-peer exchange, facilitating meaningful conversations, and creating a space to be able to do that – we're excited to help really bring the HR leaders together for meaningful conversations, not just among themselves about challenges and opportunities, but also for us to listen."

The barista station carries equal weight. The most useful insights rarely surface in formal settings, according to Haslam.

"Some of the best conversations happen in informal settings," she says. "I just had a really good one when I was going to fill up my water, literally at the water cooler – so we're excited to tap into the more informal settings in order to be able to hear what's really on the minds of HR professionals in the country."

This approach aligns with a broader evolution in how technology providers are expected to engage the profession. For example, people analytics is reshaping how Canadian HR leaders make decisions, and the quality of the inputs shaping those tools matters as much as the tools themselves.

The technology stakes for Canadian HR

Haslam brings decades of experience in Canada's technology marketing sector to this conversation. Her perspective on the HR profession's trajectory is that companies that treat human resources as a strategic function will be the ones still standing in the years ahead.

"Those organizations that put HR at the epicenter of strategic planning and investment decisions in terms of not just what you're doing, but how it is that you're enabling your workforce – those are the ones that will be here in the future," she says.

That conviction is grounded in a productivity reality specific to Canada, she says. "In Canada, we’re at a deficiency from a productivity level," Haslam says. "And it's really around what are the tools, what are the data points, and what is it that’s required for people leaders and executives to be able to do that more effectively."

Workforce data, AI, and the pressures shaping 2026

HRFest Canada 2026 has placed artificial intelligence (AI) ethics and implementation, workforce planning under hiring freezes, and well-being tied to measurable business outcomes at the centre of its program. They reflect what Haslam says ADP Canada hears consistently from HR professionals and clients across the country.

"HR leaders have access to more and more workforce data than ever before, but the real opportunity lies in turning that information into the right insights for meaningful business decisions," she says. "Data is no longer just reporting, it's becoming a strategic tool that helps organizations plan for what's next."

Haslam also believes that the AI conversation in Canada has matured. The question is no longer whether to adopt it but how – specifically, how to use automation to free HR teams for higher-value work without adding complexity, while compliance remains a parallel pressure, she says.

"Our regulations are evolving and we're constantly looking at how to reduce complexity," says Haslam. "HR leaders want to spend less time managing complexity and answering the same questions over and over again, and more time really driving more business value."

This is where ADP Canada plays a role in empowering HR professionals and leaders to focus more on key people areas rather than administrative tasks, says Haslam.

“When you talk about recruiting or talent retention, what we hear loud and clear is that attracting and retaining good talent remains a top priority for organizations, and everybody looks to HR to help manage that, so it's about how HR can support seamless workplace experiences,” she says. "Employee experience isn't just an HR initiative anymore – It's really a business priority, so our role is to understand what HR needs so that they can show up and make it really actionable."

Building the toolkit for what comes next

The insights ADP Canada gathers at HRFest Canada 2026 – through the poll, the VIP lunch, and the informal exchanges at the barista station – feed directly into how the company develops its tools and services.

"We’ll do better if we actually understand what it is that they're concerned about tomorrow," says Haslam. "So we're not just supporting what it is that they're dealing with today, but how we're building the right toolkit for HR leaders to lead their organizations tomorrow and the day after."

The ADP Canada Happiness at Work Index – a monthly measurement of workers’ workplace satisfaction and stress – signals how far the company's view of workplace impact extends, according to Haslam. "When I'm happy in my workplace, I'm a better mom, I'm a better partner, I'm a better contributor, and I'm volunteering," she says. "It impacts more than just our workplace. It impacts our entire society."

ADP Canada's VIP Lunch and Coffee Barista sponsorship at HRFest Canada 2026 is, in that light, more than an event activation. It’s the company's argument – made not from a keynote stage, but over coffee – that the best way to support Canada's HR leaders is to start by understanding them.

HRFest Canada 2026 runs from Nov. 10 to 11, 2026. Registration is open now.