Virtual  ·  April 22–23, 2026

Better Workplace Conference 2026

Wellbeing as a Strategy: Your Roadmap for Success

About Better Workplace Conference

Canadian workplaces are at a defining moment. Leaders face mounting challenges: an economy demanding more with less, burnout that is rarely just individual and often structural, leadership gaps in distributed teams, rising mental health concerns, and technology that’s transforming work faster than organizations can adapt.

The way we work has fundamentally changed—and traditional wellness programs fail because they treat symptoms, not systems.

Better Workplace Conference 2026 is the national platform where wellness and organizational effectiveness intersect to create resilience and results. This isn’t about perks. It’s about designing a future with a new mindset: advancing wellbeing as a strategic lever for success by embedding it into work design, culture, and leadership.

Location

Virtual

Contact Us

1-888-928-7190

[email protected]

What You’ll Experience

This virtual event is designed to help you tackle your most urgent workplace challenges, offering insights, strategies, and practical tools to build resilient, healthy and high-performing organizations. Access your roadmap to transformation through:

  • Exclusive research insights: Hear from experts on the latest research defining today’s workplace.
  • Dynamic keynotes and lived experience spotlights: Learn from trailblazing leaders and employees whose stories challenge conventional thinking and inspire practical approaches you can bring back to your organization.
  • Hands-on collaborative sessions: Participate in interactive sessions that go beyond theory to help you build frameworks, test ideas, and leave with tools you can apply immediately.
  • Peer showcases and networking: Connect with leaders from across sectors to share what’s working, what’s next, and how to navigate common challenges.
  • Pre-event engagement: The learning starts before the conference! Join us for thought-provoking webinars and timely conversations that spark ideas, offer fresh perspectives, and set the stage for deeper engagement during the main event.

Expect evidence-based insights, real-world case studies, and useful tools to embed wellbeing into your organizational strategy.

Conference Themes

Each session is anchored in one of four interconnected themes that address today’s biggest challenges and point toward solutions:

From work design to measurable impactLeading in flexible and distributed work modelsMental health and wellbeingTechnology, AI, and the human-centred future of work
Wellbeing starts with how work is designed. This track combines practical strategies for reducing systemic strain with evidence-based tools to measure progress and make wellbeing a strategic lever for organizational success.Flexibility is here to stay, but culture, belonging, and wellness suffer without strong leadership and intentional design. This track equips leaders to close gaps and create strong, connected teams.Wellbeing is multidimensional, spanning mental health, psychological safety, diversity, equity, inclusion, and financial security. This track explores practical strategies and inclusive policies that reduce risk, strengthen resilience, and create cultures where people can thrive.Technology is transforming work at breakneck speed. This track helps leaders balance innovation with humanity, leveraging tech to support wellbeing interventions, predict and prevent strain, and prepare organizations for future capability needs.

What’s New This Year

The 2026 Better Workplace Conference is evolving, with a refreshed look and a sharper focus. This year’s program is designed for impact: two days of dynamic sessions built around core themes that deliver clear, actionable insights to help you embed wellbeing into your organizational strategy and create a roadmap for lasting change.

We’re also debuting a new name. While the conference may look different, our legacy remains the same. For more than a decade, we’ve led this national flagship conference with the expertise and experience needed to deliver a proven, high-impact event.

Who Should Attend

This event is designed for:

  • HR and people leaders shaping culture and wellbeing strategies;
  • executives and senior leaders driving organizational performance and resilience;
  • operations and strategy leaders focused on workforce effectiveness;
  • innovators and researchers exploring systemic solutions for workplace health.

Whether you’re driving implementation or shaping strategy, BWC 2026 will equip you to lead with purpose, impact, and confidence.

Keynotes

HRPA CPD Seal

The Better Workplace Conference has been pre-approved for 8.5 CPD hours through CPHR Saskatchewan. Conference attendees may also apply for up to 8.5 CPD hours through the HRPA.

Agenda

Please note: All agenda times are in Eastern Standard Time. See what time that is for you.

The Reset

11:00 am

Join us as we open the conference with a holistic understanding of wellness—one that recognizes the interconnected roles of mental and emotional wellbeing, financial health, social connection, community, and work–life balance. We’ll acknowledge how inclusion and belonging shape every aspect of the wellness journey and why no single path works for everyone. This opening moment will ground us in a shared understanding: that when employees feel supported, valued, and able to show up as their full selves, organizations see measurable gains in engagement, productivity, and performance.

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research


11:15 am

For wellness to function as a strategy, accessibility must be embedded into how work is designed—not treated as an afterthought. Yet many workplace accessibility strategies still rely on employees to disclose their accommodation needs. Evidence shows that stigma, power dynamics, and perceived career risk can prevent employees from coming forward. When organizations depend on disclosure, the accessibility barriers that are built into everyday systems don’t change, limiting engagement, performance, and talent outcomes.

Participants will leave with clear and practical insights to help move beyond reactive accommodations and embed accessibility by default, without placing the burden on employees to disclose.

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Panellists

Lindsay Coffin

Principal Research Associate, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Joanna Goode

Joanna Goode

Executive Director, Canadian Association for Supported employment

Christine Malone

Manager, National Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Canada Post


12:00 pm

Break


12:15 pm

Across sectors, Indigenous peoples encounter systemic workplace barriers shaped by historical and ongoing inequities, which affect their career progression and long-term participation in the workforce. This session brings together Signal49 researchers and Carrie Lamb, Co-founder of Sacred Workplaces, for a panel discussion that bridges empirical research and applied practice.

This session moves beyond awareness to action, offering both evidence-based insights and practical tools, including mentorship models, culturally grounded training approaches, and organizational strategies to support recruitment, retention, and the advancement of Indigenous talent.

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Speakers

Stefan Fournier

Stefan Fournier

Executive Director, Immigration, Indigenous & Northern Communities, Sustainability, Signal49 Research

Bethany Haalboom

Lead Research Associate, Indigenous & Northern Communities, Signal49 Research

Alicia Hussain

Alicia Hussain

Senior Research Associate, Indigenous & Northern Communities, Signal49 Research

Carrie Lamb

Co-founder, Sacred Workplaces


People analytics has the potential to unlock powerful insights that improve performance, equity, and decisionmaking. But without intentional, ethical design, it can quickly erode trust and compromise privacy. This expert-led session will explore how organizations can build people analytics practices that are transparent, responsible, and aligned with organizational values. Participants will examine practical approaches to drafting responsible analytics policies, establishing clear guardrails for ethical data use, and engaging employees with openness and clarity about how data is collected and applied. Attendees will leave with concrete tools to balance insight with trust, ensuring people analytics strengthens—rather than undermines—culture and accountability. 

Leah Ringwald

Leah Ringwald

Associate Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Speakers

Paula Allen

Global Leader and Vice President, Research, Insights, and Strategic Communications, TELUS Health

Ehsan Etezad

Organizational Psychologist, PhD(c), Co-Founder & CEO | MEUS Science corp.


Speakers

Scott Ste Marie

Neuroscience-informed Mental Health Educator and Mindfulness Coach

Dr. Tomi Mitchell

Family Physician, Keynote Speaker, Wellness & Performance Coach


1:15 pm

Interactive Break


1:45 pm

Moderator

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Speaker

Mina Johl

Founder & CEO, Purple Wins


2:15 pm

Break


2:30 pm

Burnout and mental strain are often connected to the structure of work itself. To address this, mental health must be considered within daily tasks. This expert-led workshop-style session will explore how workflows can be redesigned to include mental health supports within the architecture of work, thereby reducing strain and enabling recovery.

Participants will learn how to integrate micro‑recovery moments, support pathways, and lightweight measures of impact into daily work, and will leave with practical tools and a clear approach to redesigning work that sustains performance while protecting mental health.

Moderator

Leah Ringwald

Leah Ringwald

Associate Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Speakers

Michael Cooper

Vice-President, Data and Partnerships Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC)

Leora Hornstein

Well-being Specialist at Cenovus Energy

 


Work culture often glorifies overwork, viewing packed calendars and exhaustion as badges of honour that signal commitment and value. At the same time, organizations and leaders struggle to balance achieving bottom-line goals with working sustainably, creating operational friction and team burnout. In this fireside chat, presenters will unpack the hidden costs of glorifying grind culture and introduce wisdom and science-backed approaches to reimagining work and designing cultures that align ambition and the bottom line with team member wellbeing and performance.

Speakers

Chantaie Allick

Co-Founder, ReWork

Natasha Singh

Co-Founder, ReWork


Financial stress and income insecurity are among the most persistent—and least visible—drivers of employee mental health strain. When people are worried about making ends meet, managing debt, or navigating unpredictable costs, the result is often exhaustion, anxiety, and reduced cognitive bandwidth at work.

In this session, employees and employers will explore how financial insecurity can show up as disengagement, absenteeism, and lower productivity. Participants will gain insight into both the employee experience and the organizational impact, and learn practical ways to support financial wellbeing and create a more stable, focused, and engaged workforce.

Speaker

Elke Rubach

President and Founder, Rubach Wealth Holistic Family Advisors™


3:15 pm

Break


3:30 pm

This session is ideally suited to organizations experiencing change and seeking to bring their team together. They can achieve this through “involvement and influence,” which is one of 13 psychosocial factors in the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety that can affect workplace mental health. It focuses on creating a work environment where employees are included in discussions about how their work is done, how important decisions are made, and how psychological health and safety in the workplace can be sustained during difficult times.

Participants will learn about actions they can take to better understand the role and importance of psychological health and safety and how to enhance it within their organization. Topics to be addressed include:

Speaker

Dr. Joti Samra

CEO & Founder, MyWorkplaceHealth


The Roadmap

11:00 am

Join us to reflect on the insights, conversations, and moments that shaped yesterday’s sessions as we open day two of the conference. Together, we’ll revisit the key themes and learnings that brought us to this point, grounding ourselves in the collective progress we’ve made. From that reflection, we’ll shift our attention to today’s intention—a day designed to synthesize ideas, deepen connection, and chart forwardlooking action. This opening session will help us recentre, reenergize, and prepare for a meaningful close to our shared experience.

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research


11:15 am

Work is evolving faster than most organizations can comfortably absorb. While leadership strategizes, employees are often navigating change in their own ways: sometimes stepping back, sometimes adapting quietly when they’re unsure how their perspectives will be received. Their silence is an indicator that many workplaces are struggling to build the trust, clarity, and connection people need to navigate continuous transformation.

Drawing on years of industry expertise and experience leading organizations through disruption, our keynote speaker will explore what it will take for workplaces to meet this new era with confidence. Learn how employers can build trust, strengthen relationships, and create environments where people feel safe leaning into change, rather than bracing against it. These same practices not only prepare organizations for what’s coming, but also create cultures where people can truly be well.

Moderator

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Andrea Adams

HR Consultant, Host of The HR Hub podcast


12:00 pm

Break


12:15 pm

The rapid shift to remote and hybrid work has led many organizations to adopt monitoring tools that unintentionally undermine trust, autonomy, and workplace culture. As leaders, the challenge is no longer about visibility—it’s about accountability and meaningful oversight. This session will explore how managers can move from activity-based oversight to outcome-driven leadership that supports both performance and engagement. Participants will learn from expert practitioners how to define clear outcome agreements, replace monitoring with meaningful, results-focused check-ins, and apply trust-building techniques that strengthen accountability while sustaining a healthy, high-performing culture.

Moderator

Debra Burke

Lead Council Manager, Signal49 Research

Speakers

Beata Chami

Organizational Psychologist, Executive Coach, Mediator and Researcher

Neil Seeman

Senior Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Board Member of Mental Health Research Canada


Reliance on unwritten expectations, complex processes, and cognitive overload limit both performance and wellbeing and unintentionally exclude neurodivergent employees. This interactive lab will invite leaders to rethink how work is designed, not how people adapt. Participants will explore practical ways to redesign workflows, tools, and supports to reduce cognitive load and better enable diverse thinkers. Using a structured redesign canvas, attendees will learn how to create effective job aids and identify measures that link cognitive inclusion to improved engagement, performance, and outcomes.

Moderator

Jennifer Fane

Jennifer Fane

Lead Research Associate, Education & Skills

Wanda Deschamps


As AI becomes a growing part of the workplace, many organizations are under pressure to move quickly, often without a clear roadmap. This session explores what it truly means to prepare for AI, using the idea that “AI is like Everest—you need to prepare for it; you can’t just show up and expect to reach the summit.” This fireside chat will highlight the human side of AI adoption, not the tools.

  • Why psychological safety is critical for learning and adapting to AI
  • How leaders can support openness, curiosity, and skill development across their teams
  • What it takes to build readiness in an environment where not everyone has the same level of knowledge or confidence

Moderator

Michael Bassett

Director, Research Impact, Research Office, Signal49 Research

Speaker

Treena Reilkoff

Founder of TLR Solutions4Conflict Inc.


1:15 pm

Break


1:30 pm

Join us for this engaging session celebrating innovation, research excellence, and real-world problem-solving in health and safety through the 2025–26 Minerva Canada Case Study Competition. Launched in September 2025, this national competition challenged post-secondary students and recent graduates from across Canada to apply critical thinking and evidence-based analysis to a contemporary case study informed by industry and policy perspectives.

Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate emerging leaders and explore how thoughtful research can drive meaningful change.

Speakers

Carrie Bjola

CEO, Service Hospitality

Kara Edwards

VP, Responsible Care, Chemistry Industry Association of Canada

Finalists

Magnus Ma

Finalist

Maymun Osman

Finalist

Milu Thomson

Finalist


2:15 pm

Interactive Break


2:45 pm

Workplace communities can be deeply affected by a suicide, and leaders may find themselves navigating grief, stigma, and uncertainty without clear guidance. To effectively support healing, organizations must undertake thoughtful planning and have responsive practices in place before a crisis occurs. This session will equip HR leaders and managers with a toolkit that outlines compassionate, practical approaches for responding to suicide in the workplace while fostering a culture of safety, empathy, and prevention.

Leah Ringwald

Leah Ringwald

Associate Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Tracey Pickup

Education Specialist, Canadian Mental Health Association Alberta, Centre for Suicide Prevention


Case Study + Roundtable/fireside chat/open forum

As organizations increasingly rely on ESG commitments to drive long‑term performance and accountability, employee wellbeing has become a critical foundation for sustaining a healthy, equitable, and resilient workforce. This session will equip participants with strategies to position wellbeing as a core component of ESG, sustainability, and DEI goals. The discussion will highlight actionable approaches to designing, aligning, and measuring wellbeing initiatives that create meaningful social and business impact.

Speakers

Rachel Jurgens

Partner, Access & Equity Client Services Deloitte Canada

Hilary McVey

National Managing Partner for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Deloitte Canada


As AI tools become more integrated into HR, employee experience, and wellbeing initiatives, leaders are increasingly responsible for asking the right questions and recognizing the risks these technologies can introduce. This fast-paced session will give HR leaders a practical, non-technical look at how AI can influence wellbeing, equity, and trust across the employee lifecycle. Learn where bias most commonly enters AI-powered HR tools, how to ask the right questions of vendors and internal partners, and what checkpoints help ensure responsible, people-first implementation.

Participants will gain an understanding of leadership practices and conversation approaches that can help support fairness, transparency, and inclusion as AI becomes part of HR operations—without needing to be AI experts. This session is perfect for HR leaders who want to champion human-centred innovation while protecting what matters most: people.

Storm Balint

Research Associate, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Speaker

Katrina Ingram

Founder and CEO, Ethically Aligned AI


3:45 pm

Break


4:00 pm

Inspirational keynote

Canadian workplaces are at a tipping point. Burnout, leadership gaps, and rapid technological disruption have exposed structural flaws in work design. These challenges aren’t about individual resilience—they’re rooted in systems that no longer fit today’s realities. This keynote will reframe wellbeing as a strategic lever for organizational success. We’ll explore why traditional programs fail, the evidence behind systemic burnout, and the critical shift from perks to integrated systems built on work design, culture, and leadership.

Alana Painter

Director, Human Capital, Signal49 Research

Dr. Raj Choudhury


4:45 pm

This closing session will bring together the key insights and patterns that emerged throughout the Better Workplace Conference to reinforce a central idea: better workplaces are not built through isolated programs or individual resilience, but through intentional systems.

Drawing on themes of wellbeing, inclusion, leadership, work design, and technology, this reflection will challenge leaders to move from insight to action by strengthening the structures that shape everyday work. Participants will leave with a clear call to focus on creating workplaces that are resilient, human‑centred, and built to last.

Dianne Williams

Vice-President, Signal49 Research


Speakers

Tops of skyscrapers

Testimonials

Past Event

Previous conference highlights:

The 29th annual Better Workplace Conference will address emerging workplace challenges, such as polarization and technology-induced burnout, and explore how to meet the diverse needs and requirements of today’s workforce.

464

Past Attendees

4.5/5

Overall satisfaction

Attendees by job function

Other (except public administration) Educational services Health care and social assistance Local, municipal, and regional public administration Unknown Utilities Finance and insurance Prof., scientific, and tech. services

Attendees by job title

Other Manager Director Student Consultant Coordinator Advisor Specialist/tech.

Some noteworthy speakers from our previous conference

Signal49 Research delivers insights that help Canadians build a stronger future. Proceeds from this event are invested back into producing and disseminating our evidence-based research.

Sponsors