Welcome & Opening Remarks

Kick off the 2026 HRPA Summit: The Human Advantage with a meaningful opening that sets the stage for a day of learning, connection, and inspiration. The program begins with a Land Acknowledgement and Indigenous performance, followed by welcome remarks from HRPA leadership, sponsor recognition, and special greetings from our Title Sponsor and government representatives.

Hosted by Toronto emcee Jamar McNeil.

Fixing Work So People and Performance Can Thrive

Organizations say people are their greatest asset, yet many are quietly eroding the very conditions that allow people to think clearly, collaborate well, and perform at their best. The human advantage is not lost through lack of effort. It is lost through how work is designed, led, and sustained. Excessive workload, constant change, and tolerated incivility are not just cultural issues. They are unmanaged psychosocial risks that drive burnout, errors, and turnover.

Grounded in Canadian standards such as ISO 45003 and CSA Z1003, this keynote challenges HR to confront an uncomfortable truth. Many of the outcomes being managed are being caused by the conditions of work itself. This session reframes HR’s role from supporting people to shaping the environment in which people can succeed. It offers practical ways to protect and restore the human advantage by addressing work design as a core business risk.

Speaker: Mary Ann Baynton

Sponsored by

When Workplace Culture Becomes a Legal Risk

Workplace culture is no longer just a leadership aspiration. It is a business risk, governance issue, and organizational responsibility. Attendees will examine the links between culture, duty of care, legal liability, and reputational risk, gaining a clearer understanding of executive accountability in creating sustainable workplaces. This session sets the stage for deeper conversations about belonging and culture by highlighting the very real operational consequences of workplace culture decisions. 

This thought-provoking discussion examines the gap that can exist between organizational values and employee experience, challenging leaders to consider how their choices influence inclusion, trust, and engagement. Attendees will gain practical insights into creating cultures where belonging is intentionally built and consistently reinforced.

Belonging is not a program or initiative. It is built through consistent leadership choices, behaviours, and accountability that create meaningful and lasting impact.

Time to recharge, connect, and reflect.

Just Because Technology Can, Doesn’t Mean Organizations Should

As technology continues to reshape the workplace, leaders face an increasingly important question: just because technology can do something, does it mean organizations should? This Human Advantage Moment explores the intersection of ethics, trust, technology, and human capability, challenging leaders to consider their responsibility in shaping the future of work. Through discussions on AI governance, workplace surveillance, digital trust, cognitive overload, and ethical innovation, attendees will examine how organizations can balance technological advancement with human judgment. This session serves as a critical bridge between conversations on belonging, psychological safety, and future workforce strategy, reinforcing the role of leadership in ensuring technology enhances rather than diminishes the human experience at work. 

The future advantage belongs to organizations that embrace technology while continuing to elevate and invest in human capability.

As organizations continue to embrace AI and emerging technologies, leaders face an important question: what uniquely human capabilities will matter most in the future of work?

This session explores the evolving relationship between technology and humanity, reframing AI as a leadership and workforce conversation, not just a technology discussion. Attendees will examine how organizations can leverage innovation while continuing to invest in the human strengths that drive creativity, judgment, emotional intelligence, and meaningful connection.

The Skills Crisis Isn't About Skills

Future readiness depends on more than training programs alone. Organizations that thrive will be those that create the capacity, support, and culture needed for continuous learning and adaptability.

As organizations prepare for an increasingly complex future, workforce readiness has become about more than closing skills gaps. Success depends on an organization's ability to create the conditions that enable people to learn, adapt, and grow continuously.

This session explores the connection between workforce agility, organizational capacity, and sustainable performance. Attendees will examine how factors such as workload, change fatigue, and cognitive overload can impact learning, adaptability, and long-term workforce resilience.

Skills, Talent and Organizational Agility

As workforce expectations, business needs, and skill requirements continue to evolve, organizations must rethink how they attract, develop, and deploy talent. This forward-looking session explores the shift to a skills-based economy, the growing importance of talent mobility, and new approaches to workforce planning that build organizational agility. Leaders will challenge outdated talent practices, examine where HR should stop investing time and resources, and identify the strategic bets that will position their organizations for long-term success. Attendees will leave with practical insights on building a more adaptable, resilient, and future-ready workforce.

Why Employees Stop Believing Leaders

Why are employees increasingly skeptical of organizational messages, change initiatives, and leadership promises? This Human Advantage Moment explores the growing disconnect between what organizations say and what employees experience. Examining themes of trust erosion, change fatigue, communication overload, leadership credibility, and organizational integrity, this session uncovers the emotional realities driving employee skepticism. Attendees will gain insight into why trust is harder to build, easier to lose, and more critical than ever in times of constant change. This conversation challenges leaders to consider how authenticity, consistency, and action shape employee belief and engagement.

Successfully navigating today's workplace requires balancing strategic priorities with human needs, making thoughtful decisions that support both organizational performance and long-term sustainability.

As organizations look toward the future, leaders are also facing immediate realities, balancing competing priorities amid economic uncertainty, evolving workforce expectations, and increasing pressure to deliver results.

This panel discussion explores the complex trade-offs organizations are navigating today, from flexibility and productivity to cost management, talent retention, and sustainable performance. Rather than offering simple solutions, the conversation will examine how leaders can make thoughtful decisions while maintaining trust, transparency, and organizational resilience.

Let the DJ set re-energize you by blending music and movement for a mid-afternoon reboot.

What the Four-Day Workweek Reveals About Human Performance in the AI Age

As organizations navigate rapid workplace change, leaders are being challenged to rethink long-held assumptions about productivity, performance, and how work gets done. In this closing session, four-day workweek pioneer Joe O’Connor and future-of-work journalist Jared Lindzon — co-authors of Do More in Four: Why It's Time for a Shorter Workweek — explore what the global four-day workweek movement reveals about psychological safety, innovation, sustainable performance, and the future of human-centred work.
Drawing on research, reporting, and work with organizations across multiple continents, Joe and Jared challenge outdated ideas about time, efficiency, and “performative busyness” in today’s workplace. They make the case that the organizations best positioned to thrive through disruption and technological change will not be those that simply do the same work faster, but those that redesign work to create greater trust, adaptability, creativity, and capacity for people to do their best work.
Delegates will leave with practical insights on building healthier, more resilient organizations by creating the time and space people need to learn, experiment, collaborate, and evolve in a rapidly changing world.

Fireside chat with Jared Lindzon and Joe O'Connor

Leading with Impact in a Changing Landscape

Leadership today is being tested by constant change, rising complexity, technological disruption, and uncertainty about the future. In this environment, the best leaders do more than manage risk. They expand possibility. They help people see beyond current limits, move with confidence, and believe that something better can be built together. In this high-energy and motivational keynote, bestselling author and leadership expert, our keynote speaker makes the case that hope is not wishful thinking. Hope is a strategy. It is one of the most powerful forces leaders can use to create clarity, build trust, sustain momentum, and inspire meaningful action in a changing world. As organizations navigate the growing tension between technological advancement and human connection, this session challenges audiences to think bigger, lead with courage, and harness the uniquely human capacities that drive progress forward. Blending research, storytelling, and practical leadership tools, our keynote speaker shows how hopeful leaders help people act as one, stay focused on the long term, and go beyond the norm to create lasting impact.

Who's closing out the Summit? Stay tuned for our keynote speaker reveal.

DJ weaves the day’s insights into a live musical reflection.

Mix and mingle at this reception with peers, speakers, and industry leaders during an evening of connection, reflection, and shared insight.