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OHC2025
SPEAKER SESSION TOPICS
Note: Final session considerations are subject to change.
The State of the Industry and How it Affects your Business:
Hotel & Foodservice Segments
The hospitality landscape is in constant flux, and staying ahead of the curve is paramount for sustained success. This dynamic session will provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of the hotel and foodservice industries, in Ontario and the Canada as a whole, analyzing the key trends, challenges, and opportunities.
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Adapting to the Uncertain Business Environment:
The Impact of Global Uncertainty and US Policies on the Ontario Hospitality Market
This session explores the current and anticipated impacts of the global landscape and particularity how US policy since early 2025 affects Ontario's hospitality industry and specific strategies related to business adjustments that need to be considered and managed in these times.
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The session will take a deep dive into how travel, consumer behavior, labour, and supply cost model changes have affected the hospitality market and how they are expected to drive more change into the future.
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Speakers:
Irwin Prince - Realstar Hospitality
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois - McGill University
Redefining Hospitality Work:
How Today’s Younger Talent Is Redefining Hospitality Work and How Leaders Must Adapt
Val Upfold, one of the hospitality sector’s leading HR experts and executive recruiters will explore why it’s time to stop fighting this shift and start learning from it. She’ll show how forward-thinking hospitality brands are already winning the recruitment and retention game by understanding what they offer employees beyond pay alone; from flexibility to leadership pathways, to culture.
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Val will challenge the audience to see the current talent shift not as a threat but as an opportunity: to rebuild hospitality’s reputation, rethink what it means to be an employer of choice and make the industry more appealing to the next generation.
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Negotiating Smarter Hospitality Agreements
Lessons for Every Level of your Operation
From leases, franchising and partnership contracts, to more common operational supply and service agreements, uncertainty and one-sided language is testing the strength of hospitality agreements and your protections. This session offers practical insights on managing risk, avoiding acceptance of renegotiating terms, and building flexibility into contracts to protect your business in unpredictable times.
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Whether you're entering a new deal, renewing an agreement, managing a legacy contract, or just starting work with a new supplier, this session will arm you with the tools and foresight to make smarter, more resilient business decisions.
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Crime, Costs & Community:
Safeguarding Ontario’s Hospitality Industry
Rising crime and operational costs are putting pressure on hospitality businesses across Ontario. This session will explore real impacts on the industry, highlight safety and prevention strategies, and discuss effective approaches that businesses and stakeholders can implement to protect and support their operations and the industry.​
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Operating Foodservice Successfully in this New Environment:
Challenges, Opportunities and What You May Not Have Considered
The foodservice landscape has changed- and with it comes new challenges, fresh opportunities, and some overlooked factors that could impact your success. This session dives into what operators need to know now to adapt, innovate, and thrive in today’s evolving market including specific approaches to build sustainable success.
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Navigating Commercial Insurance and Group Benefits in 2025 and Beyond:
What You Need to Know to Get the Best Model for Your Business
The session will provide hospitality business operators with crucial insights into transformations impacting the Commercial Insurance and Group Benefit market, arming them with practical strategies to navigate effective considerations in making the right choices for their businesses.
The hospitality industry is on the cusp of a new era, defined by technological innovation, shifting guest and employee expectations, and an evolving risk landscape. These changes, while creating new opportunities, also introduce complexities to essential business functions like commercial insurance and employee health and benefits programs. This session will cut through the noise, offering clear, actionable advice to help delegates protect their assets, attract and retain top talent, and build a more resilient business.
This session will be dedicated to providing delegates with a toolkit of practical strategies and will include​: Proactive Risk Management, How to Best Approach Insurance Renewal Considerations, and Designing a Competitive Group Benefit Package and the Value such Brings.
By attending this session, delegates will leave with a clear understanding of the forces shaping insurance and benefits programs and the practical knowledge needed to make informed decisions that safeguard their business and invest in their people.
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Speakers:
​Marc Lipman - Lloyd's Underwriters
Dharmesh Patel - Infinity Hospitality Group
The Lost Art of Recognizing and Adapting to Individual Personality Traits:
A Skillset that Will Have Impact on all of your Interpersonal Interactions
In an era dominated by data and automation, the fundamental skill of understanding and adapting to individual personality traits often gets overlooked by leaders. This session revisits the timeless wisdom of recognizing diverse social and personality types, and demonstrating how this "lost art" can be powerfully applied in today's hospitality environment to significantly enhance team performance, improve guest interactions, and ultimately drive organizational results.
Tim Magwood, partner and co-founder of 1-DEGREE/Shift will lead an interactive session providing leaders with insights into the science behind this critical skillset and why these skills are vital to enhance the performance of your team. You will gain awareness of personality type recognition (including your own) and how this knowledge and recognition of individual motivation factors can be directly applied to your organization.
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