Join Miller Thomson’s Labour & Employment Group for our annual virtual conference, featuring practical insights on the legal, workplace and economic developments shaping Canadian employers.
This year’s program will address key issues impacting workplaces across the country, including employment law developments, legislative trends, workforce transformation, workplace investigations, OHS, and compensation package updates.
Agenda
Schedule is in EST. All sessions will be delivered in English only.
Welcome and Introduction
9:00 – 9:05 a.m. | Speaker: Claudia Desjardins Bélisle
Panel 1 | Labour Relations at a Crossroads: A Potpourri of Labour Trends Impacting Unionized Workplaces, Economic Growth and the Right to Strike
9:05 – 9:55 a.m. | Presenters: John Batzel, Claudia Desjardins Bélisle, Jeff Grubb, Zeinab Yousif
Canada’s labour relations landscape is evolving rapidly, creating new challenges and opportunities for employers operating in unionized environments.
This session offers a practical potpourri of the significant labour relations developments shaping today’s workplace. Our panel will explore recent legislative reforms and emerging case law.
Drawing on developments across federal and provincial jurisdictions, we will highlight the trends employers need to watch and provide practical guidance on how these changes may affect workplace strategy, operations, and labour relations in the years ahead.
Panel 2 | Is Your Employment Contract Still Enforceable? Key Risks and Emerging Trends for Employers
10:00 – 10:50 a.m. | Presenters: Nafisah Chowdhury, Lisa Goodfellow, Geoff Mason
The employment contract remains one of the most important tools for managing workplace risk, yet employers are facing increasing uncertainty regarding the enforceability and interpretation of key contractual provisions.
This session will explore the latest developments affecting termination clauses, restrictive covenants, remote work arrangements, equity compensation, and post-employment entitlements. Our panel will examine emerging legal and regulatory trends, including heightened scrutiny of non-compete provisions, and provide practical guidance on drafting and updating employment agreements to better protect employers in a rapidly evolving workplace.
Panel 3 | Workplace Culture Under Scrutiny: Off-Duty Conduct, Accommodation and Emerging Employer Obligations
11:00 – 11:50 a.m. | Presenters: Tom Duke, Ashley Mitchell, Andrea Raso, Evon Gayle, Sophie Ouahbi Garcia
Employers are facing increasing challenges in balancing workplace culture, employee rights, and evolving accommodation obligations. Recent decisions across Canada highlight the growing legal risks associated with off-duty conduct, public expression, and the management of employees with complex accommodation needs.
This session will examine two significant cases attracting attention from employers nationwide. We will explore Chilliwack Teachers’ Association v. Neufeld, and its implications for workplace leaders, freedom of expression, reputational risk, and poisoned work environment claims. We will also discuss Volpi v. Lifemark Health Corp., focusing on invisible disabilities, mental health, neurodiversity, the expanding duty to inquire, attendance management, and challenging return-to-work situations.
Attendees will gain practical guidance on fostering respectful workplace cultures, navigating sensitive employee conduct issues, and meeting evolving accommodation obligations while managing organizational risk.
Panel 4 | Provincial Legislative Trends: What Employers Need to Prepare for Next
12:00 – 12:50 p.m. | Presenters: Eliab Taïrou, Michael Gargaro, Shayla Klein, Annie Redmond, Daryn Tyndale, Matthew Wray
Employers across Canada continue to face a rapidly evolving legislative landscape, with significant employment and labour law reforms being introduced at the provincial level. Keeping pace with these changes is critical to maintaining compliance and minimizing workplace risk.
This session will provide a cross-country update on key legislative and regulatory developments affecting employers, including Ontario’s POWER Act (Bill 105), recent Québec labour law developments, and employment law reforms in British Columbia. Our panel will highlight upcoming implementation requirements, emerging compliance obligations, and the practical steps employers should be taking now to prepare for what lies ahead.
Break
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Panel 5 | Employees Behaving Badly: Employee Misconduct, Employer Response, and the Lessons from Recent Cases
1:30 – 2:20 p.m.| Presenters: Patricia Forte, Gary Rosen, Teri Treiber, Jill Wilkie
Join us for a review of some of the most interesting recent employment law decisions from across Canada involving employee misconduct. Through real-world examples, we’ll examine where employers succeeded, where they fell short, and why. Along the way, we’ll highlight the practical lessons organizations can apply when drafting agreements, conducting investigations, responding to workplace issues, and managing risk.
Panel 6 | What to do When an OHS Inspector is at your Door
2:30 – 3:20 p.m. | Presenters: Jason Lakhan, Michael Cleveland
Regardless of whether you are an employer in the Construction or Industrial sectors, the possibility of being visited by the health and safety regulatory body governing your workplace is always there whether it be as the result of a proactive inspection, internal complaint, work refusal or injury/fatality. How your organization reacts to such a visit can have a profound effect on the type of enforcement actions taken post-visit.
In this session, we will inform you about some best practices for handling these inspections, review the powers that Occupational Health and Safety enforcement personnel have and discuss the various types of enforcement instruments which can be applied against employers.
By the end of this presentation, you will be prepared to implement a program which allows your organization to deal with such visits with confidence.
Panel 7 | I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me: Digital Monitoring in the Unionized Workplace
3:30 – 4:20 p.m. | Presenters: Greg Bush, Hugh Dyer, Inna Koldorf, Kimberly Lennon
From dashcams and GPS tracking to electronic monitoring software and biometric time clocks, workplace surveillance technology is evolving rapidly. But how far can employers go in the unionized workplace? This presentation will explore the latest on digital monitoring, employee privacy, management rights, and discipline. We will discuss what employers can monitor, how monitoring programs should be implemented, and the common pitfalls that lead to successful union grievances.
Panel 8 |Total Rewards in Transition: Pensions, Benefits and Employee Expectations
4:30 – 5:20 p.m. | Presenters: David Tsai, Dirk Van de Kamer, Hugh Wright
In today’s competitive labour market, compensation alone is no longer enough to attract and retain top talent. Employers are facing growing pressure to deliver total rewards programs that balance employee expectations with rising costs, evolving workforce demographics, and an increasingly complex legal and regulatory environment.
This session will explore the latest trends in pensions, benefits, and employee rewards, including mental health and disability benefits, changing workforce expectations, and strategies for attracting and retaining talent. Our panel will also examine emerging legal and regulatory developments affecting total rewards programs, including recent legal decisions in the pension and benefits landscape and emerging areas of risk for employers. Attendees will gain practical guidance on designing sustainable, competitive offerings while effectively managing risk and cost pressures.
