CCHL National Conference 2026

Mike Downie

Mike Downie is a celebrated documentary filmmaker and philanthropist. Most recently, he directed and produced The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, a powerful exploration of the band’s legacy and its deep connection to Canada’s cultural identity. It premiered at TIFF 2024, where it won the prestigious People’s Choice Award for Documentary, and recently won seven Canadian Screen Awards. Downie is also the co-founder of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, the largest reconciliation fund in the country, and, along with his brother, Gord, created Secret Path, the groundbreaking multimedia project that tells the tragic story of Chanie Wenjack. Through his work and speaking engagements, he inspires audiences to embrace storytelling as a means of connection, change, and creating cultural identity.

Downie’s work has earned multiple Canadian Screen Awards, including the prestigious Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary. His other award-winning documentaries include Invasion of the Brain Snatchers, The Hockey Nomad, One Ocean, and The Covid Cruise, all of which showcase his ability to tell compelling, wide-ranging stories.

Downie’s keynotes weave personal storytelling with powerful insights, drawing from his experiences growing up in a small town, working in a northern mine, and traveling the world as a filmmaker. His talks resonate with audiences looking for inspiration, authenticity, and a deeper understanding of the stories that shape us.

With a background spanning science, economics, and adventure — including time as a deep shaft miner, medical researcher, and windsurfing instructor — Downie brings a unique perspective to every stage. He holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours from Queen’s University, and an MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business.

Telling Canada’s Story

For more than three decades, award-winning filmmaker Mike Downie has been exploring the power of story. His films have taken him across Canada and around the world. From powerful documentaries about music, nature, sports, and culture to films that uncover untold histories and celebrate unsung heroes, his work explores what makes a story resonate — and why storytelling matters.

In his acclaimed recent film, No Dress Rehearsal, Downie examined how his brother Gord and The Tragically Hip built a deep and enduring connection with Canadians through their music. Through all his films, Downie has always returned to the same question: how do we tell Canada’s story?

“Telling Canada’s Story” is a keynote about the power of storytelling — how it defines us, inspires us, and weaves together the fabric of our nation. Drawing on behind-the-scenes filmmaking experiences, Downie shares insights on what makes a story powerful, how leaders, creators, and communities can find their own voices, and why it’s more important today than ever before.

This keynote is for anyone looking to make an impact — individuals, organizations, and businesses that want to connect with people on a deeper level. With personal stories, lessons from the field, and a call-to-action, Downie challenges audiences to think bigger about the narratives they shape and the legacy they leave behind.

Amie Archibald-Varley

Amie Archibald-Varley is an award-winning healthcare and political thought leader, nationally bestselling author, and sought-after keynote speaker represented by the National Speakers Bureau. She currently serves as a Knowledge Mobilization Consultant with the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), where she works to translate evidence, lived experience, and policy into meaningful action that advances health equity and system change.

Amie is the co-creator and host of The Gritty Nurse, Canada’s #1 nursing podcast, launched to amplify the voices of more than 400,000 nurses across Canada and nurses worldwide. Born from the lessons of the pandemic, the podcast has become a trusted platform for courageous conversations about mental health, social justice, women’s health, and the realities of working within complex healthcare systems.

A former CBC journalist and frequent media contributor, Amie has written for The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, and the Toronto Star. She is the author of The Wisdom of Nurses, which brings readers to the front lines of care through stories of compassion, resilience, and moral courage. Across all her work, Amie is driven by one core belief: storytelling is essential to building empathy, trust, and meaningful systems transformation.

The Courage to Be Gritty: Storytelling, Compassion, and the Bravery to Change Healthcare

In a healthcare system under unprecedented strain, courage is no longer about individual heroics – it is about telling the truth, listening deeply, and daring to lead with compassion. Award-winning healthcare and political thought leader Amie Archibald-Varley, national bestselling author of The Wisdom of Nurses and host of Canada’s #1 nursing podcast, The Gritty Nurse, invites leaders to explore courage as a relational, moral, and transformative force.

Drawing on direct care experiences, national conversations on health policy, and the power of storytelling, Amie challenges leaders to confront uncomfortable realities: workforce moral distress, inequities in care, silenced voices, and systems that no longer serve patients or those who work within them. Through provocative stories and unfiltered dialogue, she reframes courage as the willingness to engage in difficult conversations, amplify lived experience, and lead with humanity – even when the stakes are high.

This keynote speaks directly to the LEADS framework by encouraging leaders to Lead Self through values-driven reflection, Engage Others by creating psychologically safe spaces for truth-telling, and Develop Coalitions rooted in trust, empathy, and shared purpose. Amie also explores how courageous leadership fuels Achieving Results and Systems Transformation by challenging the status quo and centering equity, mental health, and compassion.

Attendees will leave inspired to lead boldly – not alone, but together – armed with renewed conviction that courage, grounded in story and community, is essential to building a more ethical, equitable, and resilient healthcare system.

Geneviève Biron

A committed leader, Geneviève Biron is recognized for her optimistic and strategic vision and her ability to mobilize and rally teams around a common objective.

With more than 30 years in the health, economic development and business sectors, Ms. Biron founded and served as President of Propulia Capital, an investment platform created in 2021 to support businesses in the startup and growth phases.

Ms. Biron worked at Biron Groupe Santé for over 25 years, and served as President between 2014 and 2021. She strategically repositioned the company, steering a major digital transformation program. Motivated by a desire to improve efficiency and customer service, she also founded and built the leading network of medical imaging clinics in Québec, Imagix, a subsidiary of Biron Groupe Santé.  During her time as President of Biron Groupe Santé, the organization ranked for five consecutive years among the best-managed companies in Canada.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science from HEC Montréal, she also completed the Quantum Shift TM specialized program at the Ivey Business School and holds the ICD.D designation awarded by the Institute of Corporate Directors.

A veteran entrepreneur, she has been repeatedly recognized for her strategic vision, her progressive leadership style and successful transition at the FCCQ’s Les Mercuriades and as a PWC Business Transfer Awards Medallist.

Mobilizing and Innovating: Santé Québec’s Major Shift

At a time when health systems are under pressure and facing major challenges, change is not a choice, it is a necessity. Geneviève Biron, President and Chief Executive Officer of Santé Québec, will share her experience leading a major transformation aimed at modernizing Quebec’s health and social services network. She will present how Santé Québec acts to:

• Rethink traditional models of care and making bold decisions;
• Mobilize and unite the strengths of the network, fostering collaboration among 30 institutions and breaking down silos;
• Introduce innovative solutions to improve access to and quality of care;
• Build a more humane, integrated system that is worthy of the trust of the province’s citizens.

This presentation will provide a concrete example of how clear-headed, bold, and collaborative leadership can transform a complex system and have a lasting impact on the population.

Michael Rossi

Driven by the belief that everyone has a voice, Michael Rossi left his role as President of adidas Canada to launch Voce Leadership in 2021, pursuing his passion to help others grow through speaking and executive coaching. He loves inspiring leaders to discover and use their own voices to achieve meaning and fulfillment in their own lives, and helping those they lead to do the same.

Appointed President of adidas Canada before turning 40, Michael understands the unique pressures and demands placed on business leaders and executives. Throughout his career, Michael successfully led teams through acquisitions, reorganizations and transformations, all while building empowered cultures. His belief that everyone has a voice and a unique contribution to make has helped to unlock amazing potential and create highly engaged, loyal employee bases.

Relevant for audiences across industries, ages, geographies and experience levels, Michael’s keynotes offer real-life examples and learnings that leaders can use to navigate change, transform culture and create meaning in their lives. With a unique blend of humor, humility and transparency, a speaking engagement with Michael serves as an inspiration for any leader, no matter where they are on their own leadership journey.

Michael is the Chair of the Terry Fox Foundation Board, helping to further Terry Fox’s vision of a world without cancer. In addition to his work as a speaker, Michael is an ICF Certified Coach and loves leading team-building workshops with global leadership teams.

Leading Through Change

Paradoxically, many of us are resistant to change, and yet it is the most constant and irresistible force in our daily lives. In this keynote, Michael explores our relationship with change, why we fear or resist it, and how leaders can better create a culture that embraces it. Tapping into concepts such as VUCA, Michael offers perspective on how to communicate as a leader in times of change, how to inspire and align a team, and how to not just tolerate or adapt to change, but to actually create it. He illustrates how Values, Mindset and Purpose are critical building blocks as your team navigates a change landscape. Great for teams who are either embarking on a change journey ahead, or feeling stuck within one, Michael helps teams and leaders channel their focus and move forward with energy.

1. The Best of LEADS at All Levels, a CYOA Experience

Presented in English

The purpose of this highly customized and interactive session is to guide participants to identify outstanding leadership capabilities at their level and commit to practical applications.

The LEADS Framework has been proven to support effective leadership practice, but what separates the best of the best leaders from all the rest? For example, all positional leaders build teams (Engage Others), but what’s different about the teams the most outstanding leaders build?

Cracking this question could have game-changing implications for leaders at all levels regarding:

• How they lead,
• What they focus on for their own professional development and that of their direct reports,
• What they look for in high-potentials and external collaborators, and
• Informing standards of leadership excellence informally and in various talent functions.

Along with tackling this exciting topic, participants will be immersed in a unique approach to conferences: Dr. Geerts’s patented Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) experience. At several key points, the audience collectively selects the topic or illustrative examples and their choices instantly determine the course of the discussion, resulting in a journey unique to that audience.

This session will be informed by CCHL’s international academic and cutting-edge rapid research, as well as by conference participants through a pre-survey and in-session discussion.

The structure begins with distinguishing leadership from management before delving into the LEADS Framework.

Each participant will then choose their focus: frontline, middle, senior, executive leaders or generic leadership behaviours. From there, the discussion will highlight outstanding leadership capabilities and behaviours within 3 domains: Engage Others, Achieve Results, and Develop Coalitions. We will touch on differences among levels, as well as implications for development and talent strategies. Finally, participants will create an action plan with practical next steps to apply at work.

Learning objectives and outcomes:
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Explain the difference between leadership and management and implications for practice;
• Identify characteristics of outstanding leadership at their chosen level;
• Apply their learning at work using the tools provided and their personalized action plans.

Speaker:
Dr. Jaason Geerts – Vice-President of Research and Leadership Development CCHL; Associate, Cambridge Judge Business School; Adjunct Professor, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa  

2. Courage to Clarify: A Collaborative Review to Strengthen Workforce Readiness in Oral Health

Presented in English

Courage in health leadership often begins with the willingness to examine long-standing systems with honesty, humility, and curiosity. The College of Alberta Dental Assistants’ (CADA) Program Approval Review reflects this spirit by engaging educators, employers, students, and regulated members to explore how entry-to-practice education supports workforce wellbeing, team cohesion, and patient experience. Rather than redesigning programs, this initiative focuses on gaining a clearer, shared understanding of expectations, identifying variations that contribute to onboarding pressures, and illuminating opportunities to strengthen graduate confidence across Alberta’s oral health sector.

This session will explore three learning objectives:
(1) understand how a collaborative, evidence-informed review process can support workforce stability, reduce onboarding strain, and enhance clarity for both educators and employers;
(2) examine practical tools used in this initiative, including readiness indicators, environmental scanning, mixed-methods data collection, and facilitated engagement across diverse groups; and
(3) identify how insights from this review can be adapted to other professions experiencing recruitment, retention, and role clarity challenges.

Highly relevant to the HHR theme, the project highlights the relationship between educational variability, workplace burnout, and organizational resilience. Practical applications include approaches for engaging multiple partners in system review, structuring focus groups, analyzing workforce narratives, and mapping the connections between education quality and patient safety. Patient and family perspectives are reflected through themes of communication, continuity, and confidence, underscoring how graduate readiness contributes to people-centred care.

To model courageous learning, the session will include live polling, small-group scenario analysis, and a hands-on exercise comparing “patchwork fixes” to structured review. Leadership lessons emphasize moral courage, relational courage, and the bravery required to listen deeply, question assumptions, and navigate uncertainty while supporting those entering the health workforce.

This session offers a practical and compassionate path forward for leaders committed to strengthening workforce readiness and improving the experience of teams and patients.

Speakers:
Carmen Sheridan, CHE – Principal Consultant, CLS Consultancy Inc.
April Slotsve – Deputy Registrar, College of Alberta Dental Assistants  

3. Courage in Action: Implementing Province Wide Nurse Patient Ratios in British Columbia

Presented in English and French

In 2023, British Columbia made a major commitment: to introduce minimum Nurse‑Patient Ratios (mNPRs) in every care setting across the province. This is a first in Canada and one of the few examples worldwide where ratios apply to all program areas, not just select units.

This session looks at what it takes to turn a bold promise into real, system‑wide change. BC’s publicly funded health system serves nearly six million people and employs more than 250,000 workers, so implementing ratios at this scale requires courage, coordination, and strong partnerships. Panelists will discuss how the Ministry of Health and the BC Nurses’ Union worked together to move quickly despite global staffing shortages and financial pressures.

Participants will learn about the strategies, tools, and data used to understand staffing needs, plan resources, and close workforce gaps. The session will also share lessons on engaging stakeholders, sequencing implementation, measuring progress, and keeping momentum.

Beyond the technical work, the discussion will highlight how safe staffing levels support nurse well‑being, retention, and resilience—and how they help protect compassion, dignity, and equity in patient care. Attendees will leave with practical insights they can apply in their own regions as they consider similar policies.

For leaders facing uncertainty and system strain, this session offers a real example of courageous leadership turning ambition into action to build a more sustainable, people‑centred health system.

Speakers:
Julie Fraser - Chief Nursing and Allied Health Officer, Fraser Health Authority 
Adriane Gear - President, BC Nurses Union
Kerry Morrison - Provincial Chief Nursing Officer, BC Ministry of Health

4. Courage to Disrupt: Leading the Redesign of Canada’s Health Workforce Before Sustainability Slips Away

Presented in English

Canada’s health workforce (regulated/unregulated) is comprised of an ~900,000 individuals with 478,000 nurses. This highly educated and skilled workforce is the face of the healthcare system. In 2022, Canada spent $331 billion in health expenditures or $8,563 per Canadian. Canadians expect the workforce to attain the Quintuple Aim: better patient experience and quality of care, better population health, better value for money, health equity and better health worker experience. However, the workforce is organized and paid the same way as when Medicare was established in the 1960s to 1980s. As Canada’s population grows, ages and continues to live longer with multiple chronic conditions, new models of care and different configurations of health providers are required to address the shifting health care needs of Canadians. We need to design a health system with the right number and mix of health providers by putting patients first (and their families) and delivering better outcomes at higher value.

Canada’s health workforce accounts for approximately 70% of the health budget and this is not sustainable. Coupled with a longstanding call for a national integrated health human resources (HHR) strategy – the time for action is now! Modernizing the way Canada plans for and optimizes its health workforce will ensure we can continue to meet the healthcare needs for generations to come. It will require coordinated efforts by all and active public participation. As an Assistant Deputy Minister, the presenter led the development of a provincial integrated HHR Strategy and Plan (Strategy) which includes a vision, mission, guiding principles, underlying assumptions, and objectives, along with recommendations and a detailed action plan. The Strategy highlights key areas of focus to coordinate the supply, deployment, distribution and retention of the workforce, using a systematic approach that coordinates efforts across stakeholders and supports the delivery of new models of care (integrating technology) to meet the health needs of Canadians.

Changing the way governments approach integrated HHR planning and workforce optimization with health system leaders and planners will not be easy. Putting the plan into action will require commitment and effort from many stakeholders and public participation. The nine policy recommendations will be highlighted in the presentation.  Canada is lagging in workforce optimization and data-driven workforce planning and health system leaders must champion integrated HHR planning efforts today to sustain our future.

Speaker:
Valerie Grdisa - Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Nurses Association  

5. LTC-Acute Collaboration: Leveraging Nurse Lead Outreach Team Towards Improving Long Term Care Staff Capacity, Toronto, Ontario

Presented in English

This session explores how purposeful collaboration, clinical innovation, and value-based strategies can improve care for long-term care (LTC) residents through the Nurse-Led Outreach Team (NLOT). It will demonstrate how partnerships between acute care and LTC strengthen workforce capacity, reduce avoidable emergency department (ED) transfers, and improve resident and family outcomes. The session will highlight how nurse-led outreach and shared clinical training models build sustainable, community-centered care.

Participants will learn how NLOT’s expansion—supported by targeted funding and guided by the Quintuple Aim—created a culture of collaboration across 11 LTC homes. Key learnings include strategies for co-designing solutions with LTC leaders and applying the “see one, do one, teach one” model of demonstration, performing with guidance, and then teaching it to someone else to build LTC nursing staff skill and confidence while respecting scopes of practice. This approach supported safe transitions, reduced acute care bed days, and strengthened coordination between acute and LTC sectors. Optimizing resources, improving resident and caregiver experiences, and reducing unnecessary ED transfers guided decision-making and evaluation.

The initiative’s relevance to collaboration and innovation is shown through NLOT’s proactive response to the provincial withdrawal of IV therapy services for LTC residents. Using training, simulation, and just-in-time support, NLOT enhanced LTC nurses’ competence in IV initiation and maintenance, ensuring continuity of care for residents requiring complex therapy. Practical applications include replicable training models, community-of-practice structures, and strategies to align clinical innovation with sector-wide needs.

Resident and family feedback informed priorities such as rapid assessment, fewer ED transfers, and ensuring care closer to home. Participant engagement will include discussion and scenario mapping to explore implementation challenges and opportunities.

Leadership lessons highlight the importance of trust-building, transparent communication, and shared accountability in advancing integrated, value-based care that supports system resilience and keeps teams moving forward.

Speakers:
Beatrise Edelstein, CHE – Vice President, Post Acute Care and Health System Partnerships, Humber River Health
Kathleen Kirk, CHE – Manager, Schulich Family Medicine Teaching Unit & Integrated Care Services, Humber River Hospital

6. From Patient to Participant: Acting and Innovating Through Adversity

Presented in French

What if a patient’s greatest strength resided in his or her ability to become a real actor in his or her health?

Through a personal story marked with lucidity, action and curiosity, Sophie Reis shares the valuable lessons her professional and personal experience with cancer, among other things, taught her. This journey, initially imposed, became a lever for transformation, both individual and collective.

In this inspiring talk, Sophie explores:

• How she developed her ability to act by collaborating actively with her medical team;
• How the word “patient” was transformed into “participant,” thanks to an attitude based on listening, exchange and shared responsibility;
• The importance of patient partnerships, personalized medicine and access to clear information, as a lever for trust and autonomy;
• The concrete benefits of an integrative approach focused on prevention, combining conventional medicine and complementary techniques to get through the ordeal more gently.

This conference is aimed at clinicians, care centres, organizations, patients and their loved ones, with a clear objective: to equip everyone with the means to become (or become once again) a committed, aligned and enlightened player in a rapidly evolving health system.

By embodying resilience and collaboration, Sophie opens a space for deep reflection and hope, where awareness, trust and action converge to bring about a new way to heal… and to be healed. The teams leave the session feeling mobilized and highly energized, more aware of their power to influence others and ready to take meaningful action!

Speaker:
Sophie Reis - Entrepreneur, Speaker, Author Trainer & Inspirational Health & Wellness Coach  

7. Resume Ready: Crafting a Standout Career Profile

Presented in English

Join our industry leaders for a one-on-one resume review! Looking to sharpen your resume and build your career? Participate in this session for one-on-one feedback from experienced healthcare leaders on your resume.

In these 15-minute “speed mentoring” sessions, you will receive practical advice to help you improve your resume, highlight your leadership strengths, and stand out in your career journey. These brief sessions are designed to help you:

• Strengthen your resume
• Better showcase your leadership experience
• Gain insight from senior professionals in the healthcare field

Bring a copy of your current resume along with any career or resume improvement questions you might have. Note that these sessions are not to be used as an opportunity to get a job or sell something. These things may occur but should not be the goal of mentoring.

Note that pre-registration is required to attend the Resume Review Session.  

8. Transforming Healthcare Culture: Putting People at the Center

Presented in English

This session explores how healthcare leaders can foster a culture that prioritizes the human experience in patients, family, and staff engagement. Participants will examine strategies to integrate dignity, compassion, and empathy into care delivery while addressing the critical role of organizational culture in shaping outcomes. Through evidence-based practices, and interactive reflection, learners will gain insight into the leadership competencies necessary to drive cultural transformation, support staff well-being, and enhance patient-centered care.

Topics include building a caring culture, staff engagement and burnout prevention, psychological safety, resilience and compassion in practice. Participants will leave with practical tools and strategies to promote meaningful connections, improve organizational performance, and create environments where patients, families, and staff thrive.

Speaker:
Mary-Ellen Piche - Healthcare Executive, Consultant, and Senior Fellow, UAlbany’s Rockefeller College  

9. When AI Challenges Our Integrity: Courageous Leadership for a New Era of Care

Presented in English

Statement of purpose:
Across Canada, health leaders are facing a new kind of pressure: AI is evolving faster than their ability to trust. Many feel caught between innovation and unease—uncertain about the limits of generative AI, the safety of automation, the protection of patient data, and whether digital tools respect cultural identity, equity, and Indigenous data sovereignty. As General Counsel and Privacy Officer, the presenter supports leaders when instinct signals risk before evidence is clear. This session helps leaders turn that discomfort into courageous action, offering tools to decide when AI should proceed, pause, or be sunset to protect patients, families, and the workforce.

Learning objectives and outcomes:
Through real scenarios and interactive decision labs, participants will learn to identify early warning signs; demonstrate the NO / NOT YET / STOP framework; and lead transparent conversations with patients, clinicians, boards, and vendors. The session strengthens Lead Self by grounding decisions in integrity; Engage Others through open dialogue; Develop Coalitions via interdisciplinary evaluation; and Systems Transformation by showing how values-based digital choices support safer, more equitable care.

Relevance to the AI & Digital Tech topic:
This session addresses a defining challenge in digital health: making complex AI decisions when certainty is limited and trust is essential.

Practical applications:
Participants receive a decision aid, communication scripts, and examples where courageous leadership reduced harm and strengthened privacy, equity, and cultural safety.

Patient and family involvement:
Co-designed patient scenarios show how AI affects autonomy, dignity, consent, and community values, positioning patient voice as a guide.

Engagement, originality, and innovation:
An AI Courage Simulation Lab, red-flag rounds, and “courage circles” immerse leaders in decision tension and build the courage required when integrity is challenged.

Leadership lessons learned:
Leaders leave with clarity, confidence, and a courage-based framework to protect those who rely on the system most.

Speaker:
James J. Hall, CHE - General Counsel & Privacy Officer, Niagara Health  

10. Language Barriers: Why it Matters and Where to Start to Address Them

Presented in English and French

Objectives:
Knowledge transfer on the impact of language barriers Demonstrating that services in the patient’s chosen language is not simply a question of recruitment but the result of a rigorous and innovative process for planning and service delivery Showing participants the ‘how’ and ‘where to start’

Relevance:
Services in the client’s language matters because quality of care and patient safety are at the core of the healthcare value system. Where communication fails, there is tremendous risk to the patients’ health and well being, to the practitioners’ ability to effectively diagnose and prescribe, and to the health organization's operational and financial efficiencies. In the words of patients, it matters because “When I am sick, I am not bilingual”

Practical applications:
Using the planning and application model developed by Société Santé en français and French Health Networks, we created online tools that health managers and teams can use at their own pace, supported by experienced teams and communities of practice. Although the session focuses on services for francophone populations, this service model can also guide services in other languages and cultures.

Patient and family involvement:
Patient and family experiences will be shared through storytelling and video clips. The suggested strategy provides tools and knowledge to help organisations understand the needs of francophone populations in minority settings. It recommends including a representative from the francophone or Acadian community on the implementation team and creating meaningful ways to involve the target population in decision-making.

Engagement:
The session will involve storytelling, in-session online survey quizzes and group discussions specific to the implementation principles and practical tools.

Leadership lessons:

• Embedding language of service in the organisation values to promote equitable, high quality care.
• Equipping and empowering staff through training, evidence-based improvement, and recognition.
• Promoting collaboration across the organisation and with the community.

Speaker:
Lise Richard – Program Manager, Société Santé en français  

11. Redefining Value Through Courage and Kindness: The Edmonton Zone Integrated Operations Centre as a Model for Value-Based Healthcare

Presented in English

This interactive workshop explores how the Edmonton Zone Integrated Operations Centre (IOC) translated Michael Porter’s Value-Based Healthcare framework into a real-world leadership model that redefined value, coordination, and collaboration across a health system. The purpose of the session is to demonstrate how courageous, compassionate leadership transformed operational processes to address rising EMS volumes, prolonged offload delays, and hospital crowding. Participants will learn how the IOC’s clinician-led command structure integrated EMS, Emergency Departments, and inpatient capacity management to improve patient flow, preserve tertiary capacity, and enhance system resilience.

Learning objectives include analyzing how IOC principles can operationalize value-based healthcare in diverse settings, applying courageous and compassionate leadership to real-time operational decisions, and designing adaptable escalation structures such as the Edmonton Zone STEP framework. Outcomes reviewed - including a 12‑minute reduction in EMS offload times, a 42% decline in Red Alert events, and $6.3 million in avoided EMS expansion costs—illustrate measurable improvements in efficiency, quality, and cost.

The relevance of this workshop to the conference theme of collaboration, innovation, and values-based health care is clear.  The IOC exemplifies collaboration by aligning hospitals, EMS, and inpatient teams around shared definitions and transparent data. It advanced leadership development by equipping physician leaders with the skills and confidence to guide system-wide change. It reinforced patient centred care by prioritizing timely access to emergency services, reducing delays, and ensuring equitable distribution of risk across the system. Practical applications include tools such as service-level occupancy metrics, shared-visibility dashboards, and escalation pathways that participants can adapt to their own organizations.

Engagement activities include interactive case simulations of EMS routing and capacity decisions, small group exercises, live polling, and reflective dialogue on leadership behaviours. Leadership lessons learned emphasize that courage is required to challenge entrenched processes, while kindness builds trust and collaboration—together enabling leaders to drive sustainable, system-wide improvement.

Speakers:
Dr. Warren Ma – Associate Zone Medical Director, Alberta Health Services
Dr. Kirstie McLelland – Associate Clinical Professor, University of Alberta  

12. Hosting CNA's 1st Anti-Indigenous Racism Knowledge Sharing Event

Presented in English

Anti-Indigenous racism (AIR) is a direct result of the dark legacy of colonization in Canada. Experiences of AIR results in significant health and social disparities, harm, and is some cases, death. Reconciliation is everyone’s responsibility, and it is foundational to first have the courage to sit with the truth.

The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) recognizes the professional and personal responsibility nurses have to uphold the health-related Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s Calls to Action, and the United Nations (U.N.) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As part of CNA’s journey to Reconciliation, on the 10th anniversary for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and in partnership with First Nation, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) health leaders across the country, we hosted our 1st AIR Knowledge Sharing Event.

Co-created with our Indigenous Steering Committee, CNA’s AIR Knowledge Sharing Event elevated the voices of diverse Indigenous health leaders from all three FNIM communities, including student nurses, nurses in clinical practice, nurses in academia, and nurses in senior leadership (e.g., CEO’s).  Speakers facilitated further understanding of the ongoing legacy of colonization from a distinctions-based perspective, lived experiences (including strengths and challenges), and tangible actions to mitigate the associated harms of AIR in health systems.

The virtual was successful in bringing together over 700 health-care professionals, policymakers, and community leaders. 93-94% of post-event survey respondents indicated that the event expanded their knowledge of: (1) the manifestations of AIR in health systems, (2) their knowledge of culturally safer care, and (3) their professional responsibility of addressing anti-Indigenous racism. The post-event survey also indicated areas which CNA must focus their efforts on our journey to reconciliation, including continued accountability, equitable public health policy and advocacy, and action-oriented education: all of which must be co-created with FNIM health leaders to facilitate culturally safer care.

Speaker:
Hilary Fry – Indigenous Policy Analyst, Canadian Nurses Association  

13. The Courage to Care for Those Who Care for Others: An Integrated Wellness and EDI Model for Retention

Presented in French

This session will show how Hôpital Montfort, faced with a shortage and burnout of health providers, deployed an integrated model of well-being and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as part of a sustainable retention strategy for staff and physicians by relying on essential relational courage. Based on a structured plan, Montfort has chosen to act simultaneously on several fronts: creating a healthy, safe environment; strengthening inclusive leadership and a culture of recognition; and supporting psychological safety through innovative awareness-raising and training approaches. Participants will learn to understand this integrated wellness–EDI model and its impacts on retention, to identify concrete levers to build an inclusive environment, to apply proven strategies to strengthen psychological safety, and to adapt practical tools such as wellness activities, EDI training, and socio-demographic data collection. The session will directly address well-being, recruitment, and retention by illustrating practical applications such as a wellness activity calendar, work flexibility, QWL committees, pronoun awareness, unconscious bias, and intersectionality. Patient and family engagement will be promoted through the principles of person-centred care and the collection of patient experience data. Proposed activities will include guided reflections on inclusive courage, breakout group discussions, and real-world scenario analysis. Leadership lessons will focus on the LEADS framework, coherence, and creating safe and inclusive spaces. The summary explicitly incorporates the CCHL’s commitments: EDI, Indigenous cultural safety, patient voice, and organizational sustainability.

Speakers:
Sara Leblond, CHE/LCS – Directrice en développement organisationnel et bureau de projets, Hôpital Montfort
Danielle Levac – Directrice en acquisition de talent, Hôpital Montfort

14. Own the Room: Building Your Personal Brand and Leadership Presence

Presented in English

In today’s complex healthcare environment, leadership impact goes beyond expertise: it also depends on how you communicate your value, show up with confidence, and build a presence that inspires trust. Whether introducing yourself to senior leaders, contributing to the boardroom, or positioning yourself for new opportunities, a strong personal brand helps ensure your voice is heard and your contributions are recognized.

This highly interactive session is designed to help emerging and aspiring leaders strengthen their leadership presence and articulate their unique value. Through a series of short, focused microlearning segments paired with hands-on practice, participants will immediately apply practical techniques to real-world leadership scenarios.

By the end of this 90-minute experiential session, participants will leave with practical tools, clearer language to describe their strengths, and greater confidence in how they present themselves as leaders within the healthcare system.

Note that pre-registration is required to attend the Personal Branding Session.  

Speaker:
Shiyen Shu - Executive Coach & Speaker

Sponsored by: Roche

15. Embedding Resilience: A Blueprint for Courageous Leadership and Systems Change

Presented in English

Healthcare today faces relentless change, systemic inequities, and workforce burnout - conditions that demand more than technical expertise. Courage and resilience are no longer optional; they are essential leadership competencies. Courage sparks action, while resilience sustains it. Together, they create the foundation for thriving organizations.

This interactive session explores how resilience and courage can become embedded in organizational culture rather than treated as one-off initiatives. Drawing on evidence-based research and the experience of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph in developing a coalition-driven learning centre and a systems approach to resilience, we will share practical strategies for translating these concepts into everyday practice. Participants will learn how policy integration, leadership capability building, strategic Key Performance Indicators, and innovative learning approaches transform resilience and courage from abstract ideas into tangible actions that shape how we lead, learn, and care.

Grounded in the LEADS framework and informed by Dr. Graham Dickson’s work on leadership sustainability - including the “drip method” from Bringing Leadership to Life in Health - this session demonstrates how strong leadership emerges by elevating diverse perspectives, building coalitions, and embracing shared learning models. Patient and staff stories will illustrate the impact on care quality, while tools for mobilizing knowledge and measuring outcomes will support systemic change.

Learning Goals: 
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify strategies for integrating resilience and courage into organizational culture.
• Apply the LEADS framework to strengthen leadership sustainability.
• Co-create actionable plans using systems thinking, leadership development, and cross-sector collaboration.

Participants are encouraged to bring examples from their own organizations. Together, we will reframe resilience and courage as teachable, sustainable skills, equipping health leaders to lead boldly, nurture well-being, and inspire resilient organizations.

Speakers:
Sandra Ramelli, CHE - Vice President Culture, Equity & Organizational Effectiveness, St. Joseph's Health System
Sarah Tracz - Manager, Organizational Development & Learning, St. Joseph's Health Centre Guelph  

16. Two-Eyed Seeing Quality and Safety Framework

Presented in English

Background:
St. Joseph’s Care Group (SJCG) is advancing a Two-Eyed Seeing Quality Program aligned with its 2024–2028 Strategic Plan commitment to people-centered, high-quality care. Guided by Elder Albert Marshall’s teaching, Two-Eyed Seeing integrates Indigenous knowledge with Western quality science. Developing a Quality and Safety Framework grounded in both worldviews required organizational courage—the courage to confront inequities, elevate Indigenous voices, embrace diverse perspectives, and strengthen trust across communities, disciplines, and care settings. SJCG is a pioneer in leading the development of a framework that meaningfully integrates an Indigenous worldview with Western delivery of care.

Objective:
The purpose of this initiative is to design and implement a Two-Eyed Seeing Quality and Safety Framework that sets clear expectations for quality at the client, team, and organizational levels. This includes operationalizing Two-Eyed Seeing principles, supporting culturally safe care, and embedding courageous, community-informed approaches to quality improvement.

Learning Outcomes:
Participants will be able to:

• Apply the Two-Eyed Seeing Quality and Safety Framework in practice.
• Recognize Indigenous ways of knowing in defining and evaluating quality.
• Identify improvement opportunities using shared language across worldviews.
• Demonstrate courageous leadership by integrating culturally responsive quality practices.

Method:
From October 2024 to September 2025, the Quality and N’Doo’owe Binesi teams engaged Elders, clients, northern communities, Indigenous partners, clinicians, leaders, and educators through circles, co-design sessions, and story-based dialogue. Prior SJCG work and external Indigenous quality frameworks informed the design.

Result:
A practical, visually intuitive Two-Eyed Seeing Quality and Safety Framework and education suite were co-designed and published. Over 530 staff have received training and are applying the framework across programs.

Conclusion:
This initiative demonstrates the courage to integrate Indigenous and Western approaches to quality, amplify client and family voices, and lead culturally grounded, innovative improvement across the health system.

Speakers:
Andrew Koscielniak – Director, Indigenous Health/N'doo'owe Binesi, St. Joseph's Care Group
Sumeet Kumar, CHE – Corporate Director of Quality, St. Joseph's Care Group  

17. From Courage to Confidence: Equipping Leaders with Skills for Health System Innovation

Presented in English and French

Innovation in healthcare requires courage: the willingness to try new approaches without guaranteed success.

Amidst increasing fiscal pressures and workforce shortages, the need to innovate has never been stronger. However, the same pressures that create an urgent need to innovate simultaneously make it harder for leaders to find the time and space to do so. Therefore, to translate innovative ideas into funded reality, leaders need the skills to build compelling business cases that resonate with decisionmakers.

This session demonstrates how the EXTRA program, a health leadership executive training fellowship from Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC), has taken steps to incorporate health economics training into their curriculum. Presenters from HEC and Edge Health Insights will show how health economics bridges the gap between courageous ideas and funded projects.

Participants will learn how EXTRA fellows use tools like the Quintuple Aim and logic models to quantify value, moving beyond simple cost-cutting to demonstrate return on investment that includes patient experience and equity outcomes. By distinguishing between "cash-releasing" and "capacity-releasing" savings, leaders can advocate successfully for innovation funding.

A real-world case study from the EXTRA program will give participants hands-on experience on how to build an economic case for a new care model. Participants will leave with strategies for building a "culture of measurement" and health economic skills to help them transform innovative ideas into sustainable change.

Speakers:
Jennifer Connolly – Co-Founder/Lead, Edge Health Insights
Jérôme Ouellet – Director, Leadership and Capacity Building, Healthcare Excellence Canada  

18. From Mobbing to Meaning: Rebuilding Trust, Courage, and Accountability in Leadership

Presented in English

Statement of Purpose:
Workplace mobbing is a collective pattern of psychological harm that can involve exclusion, rumor-spreading, or subtle undermining behaviors. This session aims to explore how organizations can shift from cultures affected by mobbing, fear, and fractured relationships to environments grounded in meaning, accountability, and trust. Illuminating why mobbing occurs and to offer equity-informed, trauma-aware leadership approaches that repair organizational culture across both union and exempt roles takes courage.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes:
Participants will learn to (1) identify the dynamics and impacts of mobbing; (2) apply leadership practices that rebuild psychological safety; (3) integrate ACB (accessibility, community, and belonging), Indigenous and health principles into culture-repair efforts; and (4) implement accountability practices that strengthen trust and collaboration.

Relevance to the Topic:
Healthcare workplaces increasingly face psychological injury, labour-management tension, and systemic inequities. Addressing coalition building (mobbing) is essential for improving employee well-being, organizational sustainability, and patient and family experiences.

Practical Applications:
The session introduces tools such as restorative conversations, inclusive communication strategies, trauma-informed responses, and pain to purpose model that support healthier and more sustainable workplace cultures. Resilience cannot come at the expense of accountability. Asking employees to ‘be resilient’ in the face of dysfunction only deepens harm. Real resilience requires structural repair, transparency, fairness, and organizational learning.

Patient and Family Involvement:
Patient and family partners will share lived experiences illustrating how workplace culture directly shapes care quality, continuity, and safety, reinforcing the need for culture repair as a patient-centred priority.

Participant Engagement, Originality, and Innovation:
Interactive case studies, small-group dialogue, and scenario-based problem-solving will engage participants in applying concepts to real-world leadership challenges. The integration of both union and exempt perspectives offers an innovative and holistic approach rarely addressed in leadership development. Interactive including a movement activity with music. Handout with frameworks will be included.

Speaker:
Dr. Shelley McClure, CHE – Principal, Aspiring Leadership Inc  

19. ENACTing Change: Using AI to Give Nurses Back Time for Patient Care

Presented in English

Nursing teams are under immense pressure, facing growing patient complexity and mounting administrative tasks. At the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), the Empowering Nurses with Artificial intelligence (AI) for Care Transformation (ENACT) project is an innovative initiative that was created by asking ourselves the question: How can we give nurses more time for what matters most—caring for patients?

In this session, we will present our experience of leveraging AI to reduce nurses’ administrative workload and improve patient care. Learners will be introduced to practical solutions for introducing AI into clinical workflows. Interactive activities include:

• A live prototype walkthrough, seeing how our AI-driven tool was developed to optimize the nurse-patient assignment and support a more equitable workload distribution.
• Real-time polling will allow attendees to share their perspectives of security governance and data integrity and compare them with insights from our project.
• A panel discussion featuring storytelling by end users—including an Assistant Nurse Manager and a frontline Nurse—will provide insights into their reflections from co-design and early implementation—what worked, what didn’t, and what surprised them.

By the end of this session, learners will describe the process and key considerations when introducing AI into real-world healthcare contexts. Leaners will leave this session with insights on integrating AI into everyday clinical workflows and will deepen their understanding of security governance, data integrity, and the critical role of stakeholder engagement in building trust and driving adoption. We’ll explore strategies for phased implementation and share lessons on leading transformative change across large health systems.

The session will also present measurable outcomes from ENACT’s deployment—such as improvements in documentation, shift handovers, direct patient care hours, and nurse retention. By reducing administrative burdens and restoring time for patient care, ENACT demonstrates how digital innovation can advance care excellence and empower nursing teams.

Speakers:
Nicolas Arunn Francis - Nurse Clinician, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)
Paule Jubinville - Nurse Manager, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)
Jasmine Lee Hill - Nursing Practice Consultant, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)
Lorie Lemieux - Assistant Nurse Manager, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)  

20. Le courage de transformer localement : deux modèles québécois de gouvernance de proximité

Presented in French

Workshop Description:
In a context of growing systemic pressures, organizational courage has become an essential tool to transform and anchor health and social service systems at the heart of community needs. This session will present two Québec models of local governance — the CISSS de l’Outaouais and Montérégie Centre-du-Québec — illustrating how to bring decision-making closer to the field, strengthen intersectoral alliances, and restore the patient voice at the centre of clinical and operational orientations.

Both organizations pursue a common objective: evolving their structures to improve proximity, access, equity, user experience, and clinical performance, drawing on evidence-based data and population-level profiles.

Session Objectives:

• Compare two structured approaches to local governance and the conditions that enabled their implementation.
• Illustrate how courage, innovation, and collaboration transform access, continuity, and user experience while supporting adaptation to the diverse realities of the community.
• Offer transferable strategies to strengthen local governance in various settings — urban, rural, or peri-urban.

The outcomes will address the consolidation of intersectoral partnerships, the simplification and streamlining of decision-making processes, the reinforcement of cultural safety, and the improvement of user pathways. These experiences demonstrate that courageous leadership is rooted in concrete actions, agile coordination, and clear collaboration mechanisms that bring decisions closer to the field and build a shared culture with teams, patients, and the community.

The session will include a panel of intersectoral partners who will share key conditions for supporting sustainable and innovative local governance.

Speakers:
Dr. Marc Bilodeau, FCCHL – PDG, CISSS de l'Outaouais
Jacinthe Cloutier – PDGA, CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec
Frédéric Parizeau – Directeur de proximité, CISSS de l'Outaouais  

21. Coaches’ Corner

Presented in English

Take your leadership to the next level. Come and speak with leaders from across Canada in a one-on-one setting. Hear personal leadership stories, ask questions and gain valuable advice. Leaders of health regions, hospitals, private sector and community organizations, from coast to coast, will be available to provide armchair coaching in relaxed surroundings. This session is ideal for emerging or mid-career leaders looking for advice and feedback from some of Canada’s most respected health leaders.

Note that pre-registration is required to attend the Coaches' Corner Session.  

Sponsored by: Roche