SPEAKERS

Meet the industry leaders and experts joining us on stage for the 2027 Canadian Staffing Industry Summit. Speaker announcements coming soon.

WHO WILL DEFINE YEAR 5?

At our last summit, one theme echoed louder than the rest: navigating market volatility takes more than standard playbooks—it takes bold action, conviction, and the drive to make tough calls when the stakes are highest.

So for Year 5, we went out and sourced the exact leader to address it.

Our mystery keynote is a top enterprise executive currently steering operations at a North American scale, renowned for stepping up in uncertain times and guiding teams through high-pressure transformation. She’s coming to share the real-world principles of resilience, strategic vision, and leading from the front lines of enterprise business.

The stage is set. Be the first to know who is taking the mic.

Mark Coetzee

Mark, the winner of the 2024 Canadian Staffing Summit Leadership Award, brings over 30 years of executive/board level experience across five continents, achieving excellent returns for shareholders with a track record of formulating, advising, and assisting in execution of chosen strategy, resulting in high impact performance improvement, business transformation and company turnarounds in multicultural environments.

Working within organisations across 5 continents – including start up’s, mid-sized, and large/multinational organisations – typically within Private Equity, Private Equity/Venture Capital type environments. Mark has played a pivotal role including but not limited to 3 successful exits: 2 x PE events, 1 x listing on a stock exchange, several 100% business transformation gigs, from major loss-making situations to full profitability.

Janelle Bieler

Janelle Bieler is President of Akkodis US, a division of The Adecco Group, a global staffing company. Ms. Bieler has comprehensive experience in Leadership, Strategy, Sales, Operations, Marketing, and Financial Management. Her areas of expertise include turnaround endeavors, building new markets and revenue streams, P&L management, as well as leading, driving, and developing high-performing teams.

Ms. Bieler has over a decade of leadership experience in the staffing industry. Prior to Akkodis, she most recently served as President of the Western Division at Employbridge where she led a total business transformation and market leading results.

Craig Brown

A strategic leader with more than 25 years of experience within the staffing and retail industries. Craig has focused on building outstanding teams with a focus on service excellence. Recognized for his consultative approach to sales and marketing, Craig believes in asking questions and the importance of being an avid listener.

Travis O'Rourke

Travis is a strategic executive leader overseeing market-facing strategy and client-centric operations for Hays across North America. He was the driving force behind the firm’s most successful service innovations, architecting and establishing the Hays Contract, Temporary, and Outsourced Solutions divisions from the ground up to provide scalable workforce solutions to the region’s largest organizations.

Widely regarded as a preeminent voice on employment trends, Travis is a 2023 Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) "40 Under 40" honoree and a LinkedIn Top Voice—a distinction reserved for the top 0.001% of professionals on the platform. His insights are frequently sought by global media, with over 100 live television appearances on networks including Bloomberg, CBC, and CTV. A Fanshawe College Distinguished Alumni, Travis is a dedicated mentor and serves as an Executive Sponsor for diversity and sustainability initiatives. Beyond the industry, he is a liver transplant donor and a long-standing supporter of Big Brothers Big Sisters and SickKids Hospital.