2026 Recap

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2026 Agenda Register

Empowering Healthcare HR Leaders Through Effective Strategies

The 4th Annual HR Solutions in Healthcare Conference took place on February 26–27, 2026, bringing together healthcare HR leaders, executives, and workforce strategists from across the sector. The event focused on some of the most pressing workforce challenges facing healthcare today including recruitment, retention, and leadership development.

With a strong turnout and active participation throughout the two days, attendees exchanged ideas, shared experiences, and explored practical solutions. Conversations continued well beyond the sessions, reflecting a shared commitment to strengthening the healthcare workforce.

Below are a few highlights from the event.

Turning Crisis into Opportunity

The opening keynote set the tone by addressing the health human resources crisis directly. Dr. Karima Velji, Chief of Nursing & Professional Practice and Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Ontario, discussed how the pandemic exposed structural workforce challenges, but also created an opportunity to rethink how healthcare systems plan for talent.

Ontario has responded with a 10-year health workforce capacity plan built on the following four pillars:

Expanding education programs,
Optimizing scope of practice,
Accelerating pathways for internationally educated professionals,
Improving retention and workforce distribution.

A key message from Dr. Velji was that healthcare systems must stop relying on short-term fixes and instead build sustainable workforce strategies.

Dr. Karima Velji, Chief of Nursing & Professional Practice and Assistant Deputy Minister of Health for Ontario

“The answer does not lie in more and more of the same. The answer lies in making a change and creating new possibilities for HHR in the system.”

She emphasized that workforce planning must be directly tied to system priorities, particularly strengthening primary care and community-based services. This is to ensure the right professionals are available where patients need them most.

Creating Safer Healthcare Workplaces

Workplace violence in healthcare has become an increasing concern across the sector. In this session, Mark Spencer, Executive Vice President of People & Culture at University Health Network (UHN), shared how the organization is taking a systemwide approach to prevention.

Spencer outlined UHN’s Safer Workplace Strategy, which includes stronger risk assessments, improved reporting systems, staff safety training, and closer collaboration between HR, clinical teams, and security to help identify risks earlier and better protect healthcare workers.

By combining technology, training, and organizational culture change, UHN is working to create safer healthcare workplaces while supporting staff well-being and retention.

Developing the Next Generation of Healthcare Leaders

Another focus was on leadership development and succession planning. Ryna Young (KBRS), Myfanwy Marshall (CAMH), and Frank Vassallo (Kemptville District Hospital) explored how healthcare organizations can build stronger leadership pipelines.

Matt Snyder (SE Health), Ryna Young (KBRS), Myfanwy Marshall (CAMH), and Frank Vassallo (Kemptville District Hospital)

Panelists agreed that succession planning should be seen as “success planning.” Rather than simply replacing leaders when positions open, organizations need systems that identify and develop talent early.

Strategies discussed included:

Creating structured leadership development programs.
Using data and assessments to identify high-potential leaders.
Expanding opportunities for diverse candidates.
Giving emerging leaders stretch assignments and project leadership opportunities.

“If we don’t create environments where people feel safe taking risks and learning from mistakes, leadership development will fail.” – Frank Vassallo, Kemptville District Hospital.

Moreover, a common challenge across healthcare organizations is that the frontline manager role is becoming increasingly complex. Supporting these leaders will be critical for maintaining strong leadership pipelines.

Conclusion

Across all sessions, one theme stood out, “Healthcare workforce challenges cannot be solved with recruitment alone.” Sustainable solutions require long-term workforce planning, leadership development, and smarter use of existing talent.

Speakers emphasized the importance of expanding scope of practice, removing barriers for internationally trained professionals, investing in leadership pipelines, and collaboration across organizations.

As healthcare continues to evolve, HR leaders will remain central to shaping the workforce strategies that support high-quality care across Canada.

Be Part of the Discussion Shaping Healthcare’s Workforce

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