Tech Talent North 2026: Elevating people strategy and HR innovation in Toronto

What an incredible day! On June 3rd, the Employment Hero Canada team wrapped up an intensive, high-impact day at Tech Talent North (TTN) Eastern Edition, hosted at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

As Platinum Sponsors, we had the absolute privilege of connecting with over 300 senior People and Culture leaders, C-suite executives and HR tech innovators representing Canada’s vibrant tech ecosystem. From cutting-edge AI discussions to rethinking legacy performance models, the energy in the Harbour Ballroom was a testament to how fast the world of work is moving.

If you couldn’t make it to the lakeside or missed a session, here is our ultimate recap of what went down, what we learned and how Employment Hero is helping teams navigate the future of HR.

The Employment Hero activation: Purple converse, s’mores and Big Ears

If you walked through the Foyer, you couldn’t miss the sea of Employment Hero purple! Our team—rocking our signature black EH t-shirts and bright Purple Converse – spent the day greeting attendees, sharing insights and hosting a few crowd-favourite activations:

• The s’mores and coffee fuel-up: Between intense sessions, attendees swarmed our booth to grab our popular custom s’mores kits and fresh pens to keep those conference notes flowing.
• The $500 Air Canada Draw: We had lines at our booth QR code all day for our official giveaway. We are currently processing the entries and will be drawing the lucky winner of the $500 Air Canada Gift Card very soon – keep an eye on your inboxes!

Mainstage moments: Elevating the conversation

The main track sessions in the Harbour Ballroom didn’t shy away from the hard questions facing tech leaders today. From the opening remarks to the closing panel, the stage was packed with raw, operator-led insights.

Employment Hero was thrilled to be a part of that mainstage momentum, with our own Evelyn Wiseman (Partnerships & Events Lead) taking the podium to welcome back attendees and introduce two of the afternoon’s headlining sessions.

Here are the big discussions that had the room buzzing:

Navigating the pressure: Leading teams through the fire

The day kicked off with an urgent, timely opening keynote addressing the macroeconomic realities facing Canada’s tech sector. With “doing more with less” becoming the standard operational mandate, the discussion focused on how People leaders can build genuine resilience. The takeaway? Pressure is a permanent fixture in tech right now and leading through it requires radical transparency and a sharp focus on protecting core cultural pillars.

The cybersecurity threat in HR: When your new hire isn’t who you think

One of the most eye-opening sessions of the morning tackled a rapidly growing challenge: sophisticated candidate fraud. What used to be an issue of slightly exaggerated resumes has evolved into a legitimate cybersecurity risk for tech companies. Presenters walked the audience through real-world case studies of deepfakes and identity fraud in remote hiring, emphasizing that talent acquisition teams are now on the front lines of company security.

Rethinking autonomy: The irrelevant leader

Following the networking lunch, Evelyn took the stage to introduce Phil Jewell (Founder at Impact Leadership) for a packed keynote that flipped traditional management mindsets on their head. He challenged leaders with a powerful question: What if the true mark of a great leader isn’t how essential you are to daily tasks, but how well your team thrives when you aren’t in the room? 

The session sparked incredible conversations around building sustainable, high-trust team structures so businesses can scale without leadership bottlenecks.

The new operational reality: AI-driven workforce strategy and restructuring

Later in the afternoon, Evelyn returned to the podium to introduce moderator Kim Benedict (CEO & Co-Founder at TalentMinded) and her panel for a deeply tactical discussion on modern organizational design. As AI rapidly shifts how work gets done, this panel dove into the realities of restructuring. The panelists shared strategies on how to audit team capabilities, integrate automated workflows and guide companies through tech transformations without eroding employee trust.

Real talk: Tech CPOs unfiltered

The main track wrapped up with incredible vulnerability during the Tech CPOs Unfiltered panel. Moving away from polished PR answers, senior People executives shared their biggest misses, what failed spectacularly and what they would never do again. It was a refreshing reminder that navigating hyper-growth and market shifts is an iterative process for everyone.

Key takeaways: What we learned at TTN 2026

With 62% of attendees sitting in C-suite positions and 86% identifying as HR professionals (predominantly from agile, mid-sized companies of 11–200 employees), the conversations on the floor were deeply practical.

Three clear themes dominated the day:

1. AI in HR: Moving past the hype

From the morning’s “BYOA – Build Your Own Agent” workshop to afternoon panels like “Designing Work in the Age of AI,” the consensus was clear: AI is no longer a futuristic concept. It is a current operational reality.

• The challenge: Balancing rapid AI adoption with data compliance, security and human trust.
• The shift: Moving away from generic AI tools and moving toward integrated HR systems that natively automate contract creation, compliance workflows and administrative overhead.

2. “Recruitment needs a refresh, not a rebrand”

A major sentiment echoed across the breakout rooms was that modern talent acquisition is facing unprecedented hurdles, including rising global competition and sophisticated candidate fraud. True success requires a total overhaul of the candidate experience – making it fast, transparent and verified.

3. Killing the annual review

The session “Killing the Annual Review” struck a massive chord with the mid-market tech crowd. Teams are moving away from rigid, slow, annual performance systems built for a different era. Instead, the focus is shifting toward continuous feedback, real-time performance tracking and agile compensation models that pay for actual impact.

Simplifying the “juggle” for Canadian tech teams

During our booth conversations, a common pain point kept coming up: the administrative juggle.

Many People & Culture leaders in that 11–200 employee sweet spot told us they feel trapped between driving high-level talent strategy and drowning in manual spreadsheets or clunky legacy systems. Managing separate tools for onboarding, compliance and Canadian payroll eats up hours that should be spent on culture and retention.

That is exactly why we built Employment Hero. By centralizing onboarding, compliance, automated payroll and AI-driven performance management into one single, intuitive dashboard, we give HR teams their time back—cutting HR admin by up to 80%.

See you at the next turn!

Thank you to the TAP Network, the organizers, the incredible speakers and every single person who stopped by our booth to chat, grab a s’more or take a photo with Big Ears.

The future of work is being actively built by communities like Tech Talent North and Employment Hero is incredibly proud to be part of it.

Missed us on the floor but want to see how we can streamline your HR operations?