Tod Maffin is "one of Canada's most influential futurists" according to The Globe and Mail. He is an international authority on the strategic use of social media, such as blogs, podcasting, online video, user-generated content, and social networking sites.

Mr. Luft has been with the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans for over 18 years as Director of Educational Programs. He has been in the Employee Benefits arena for the past 30 years. Mr. Luft's prime responsibility is for the overall management of designated Canadian educational programs. He earned his B.S., M.S. Education from the University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh.

From May 1987 to February 2004, Sheryl Smolkin was Director of Watson Wyatt Worldwide's Canadian Research & Information Centre, specializing in pension and benefits law. Upon taking early retirement from Watson Wyatt, she was appointed Editor in Chief of Employee Benefit News Canada effective March 1, 2005. EBNC publishes six print issues plus "EBNC inBrief," an electronic newsletter, which appears every week.

Jeff Alcock is the Manager of Investigative Services for Manulife Financial Group Benefits. Jeff is responsible for leading the team of experts that's at the forefront of Manulife's fraud prevention efforts. The team, comprised of investigators, claims analysts and industry consultants, works to protect group benefits plans from the harmful effects of fraud and abuse. This damage includes a loss or decrease in health insurance coverage for plan members and a financial loss for the organizations that sponsor the benefits plans.

Jeff is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. He is the Past Chair of the Canadian Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, is an Associate member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association in the United States.

Mary Ann is the director of Mental Health Works which is a multiple award-winning initiative of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Ontario. Mental Health Works addresses the management of workplace mental health issues from a practical approach that is grounded in Mary Ann’s firsthand experience as a business owner and manager.

Mr. Bonnar has been with Towers Perrin for over 25 years and is a Principal in the Toronto office. He has an extensive background in actuarial and employee benefit consulting, having assisted a wide variety of employers in the design, administration, communication, financing and investment of their pension plans.

Mr. Bonnar has responsibilities for managing large client relationships. He also develops intellectual capital relating to Retirement Financial Management in Canada, and is a frequent speaker on Pension Financing issues. Recently he has co-authored Towers Perrin’s White Paper on how to rejuvenate Canada's pension system to accommodate the realities of the 21st Century.

An employee with CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) since May 1997, Cinzia Booth is an active member of the Global and Canadian Management Teams, a member of Toronto CREW and HRPAO. With 25 years of experience, specializing in human resources, leadership, change management and administration. Cinzia provides national leadership and coordination for the Human Resources function within CBRE. Develops and implements corporate Human Resource strategy and programs.

Elizabeth Brown is a Partner and head of the Firm’s pension practice. Firm professional partner and a member of the Firm's Executive Committee from 2001 to 2003. Graduate of Queen's University (B. Mus.), York University (LL.B.), and the University of Leicester (LLM). Listed in the 2007 Canadian Legal LEXPERT directory as “repeatedly recommended” in the area of pensions and benefits.

Christopher Cartwright is Vice President of The Financial Education Institute of Canada where he is responsible for expanding the reach of its services to members of group retirement plans. He has over 30 years of experience in the group savings and retirement industry. For most of that time, he has specialized in developing and marketing financial and communications products designed for the specific needs of employer-sponsored retirement programs.

Jeremy Forgie practises in the Pension & Employee Benefits and Tax Groups. He is involved primarily in the areas of employee benefits, pensions and executive compensation.

After acquiring extensive experience in the hospitality industry with the Accor Group, Jean-Christophe Gras is now assuming the position of General Manager at the new 258-room Sofitel Montréal and Regional Vice President and General Manager of Sofitel.

Malcolm Hamilton
Actuary, Principal
Mercer

Malcolm Hamilton is a Principal and Worldwide partner of Mercer. For thirty years he has consulted on the design, funding and investment of Canadian pension funds.

He is the actuary for some of the largest pension plans in Canada and is a frequent speaker at pension conferences.

Mary Johannesson joined ESI Canada in January 2001 and is currently the Director of Salesand Marketing. In her sales role, Mary is responsible for building relationships with leading insurers and third-party administrators who can utilize ESI Canada’s claim services. In her marketing role, Mary is responsible for the development and execution of ESI Canada's marketing strategy and communication plans.

Ari N. Kaplan is a partner at Koskie Minsky LLP in Toronto, Canada and is the author of Pension Law (Toronto: Irwin Law 2006). He is recognized as a leading practitioner in the area of pensions and benefits by both the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and Best Lawyers in Canada.

Mr. Kerr serves as in-house counsel with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada in Toronto.

Called to the Ontario Bar in 1990, Mr. Kerr’s practice encompasses individual and group insurance and savings product development, product distribution and regulatory compliance matters.  He is also corporate secretary for Sun Life Financial Trust Inc.

Larry Ketchabaw is the Manager of Pension and Benefits for Unisource Canada, Inc. He has worked in the pension and benefits field with 2 major oil companies and for the last 19 years with Unisource Canada.

Violette is currently the Director, Employee Engagement, Wellness and Corporate Contributions for Xerox Canada.

Violette’s career at Xerox spans over 25 years and started in sales and sales Management for the first 10 years. She moved to Toronto from Montreal in 1988 and became a change agent, spiriting many organizational changes and initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Recruitment and Diversity in the workplace, and more recently Wellness and Employee Engagement.

Bob Mac Arthur is a senior leader with extensive business experience in the private and public sectors across Canada and the United States. While Bob's focus has been primarily in health related business he also has a strong reputation for leadership development across all sectors in Canada.

Marilee graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in Occupational Therapy. She has a background in healthcare, sales, consulting, product development and disability management.   Marilee is responsible for the development of marketing strategies, communication and products for employers of all sizes.

Sally is responsible for implementing and managing competitive and cost-effective compensation and benefit related programs which support Pepsi-QTG's strategy and objectives.

Matthew is  Senior Consultant, Marketing and Communications for the Group Savings and Retirement division of Standard Life Canada. As a  leading member of this unique team of he is responsible for the development of communication solutions that meet the needs of  plan sponsors, intermediaries and members. 

Oma Sharma is a Principal with Mercer Investment Consulting in Toronto and a member of the Canadian Investment Business Leadership Group, responsible for the strategic direction of the business. Oma also leads Mercer’s DC Consulting Services in Canada.

Karen joined the firm on February 1, 2006 as a partner in the Employment & Labour Relations and Pensions & Employee Compensation Group. She has extensive experience advising clients on pension and benefit matters. Karen regularly advises clients on the legal and regulatory aspects of pension and benefits design, plan governance fiduciary responsibilities, plan administration and compliance, multi-employer plan issues, surplus entitlement and pension plan wind-ups.

Sean is the National Practice Director responsible for LifeWorks, Ceridian's EAP and Organizational Wellness business. His responsibilities are national in scope and include the strategic direction of all functions within this area of Ceridian's business. Sean leads the teams that develop and deliver innovative EAP and organizational wellness solutions and services to national and international organizations and their employees. He has held this post since 2003.

Riza Sychangco is responsible for the delivery of all non-pension actuarial services to the office's many diverse clients, both private and public sector. She is a frequent contributor at industry forums and client educations seminars on flexible benefits plans and has authored numerous articles and co-authored the Flexible Benefits chapter of the "Canadian Group Insurance Benefits: A Practitioner's Guide & Reference Manual," a textbook now also used for the Certified Employee Benefits Program. Riza has more than 20 years of employee benefits industry experience with extensive experience in the design, marketing, implementation and underwriting of employer-sponsored benefits plans, including flexible benefits plans.

Keith is responsible for the Marketing and Product Management areas for MFC Global Investment Management. He joined MFC Global in 2004, with over 21 years of experience in financial services, encompassing an extensive range of roles both in Canada and abroad.