Speakers:
Gadhi Cruz, Senior Legal Counsel & Canada Location Head, Senior Vice President, Group Operations, Legal & Compliance, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Canadian Branch;
2025-2026 Chair Legal Annual Meeting Advisory Council
Kate Walker, Senior Legal Counsel, Lead: Market Conduct & Anti-Fraud, CLHIA

This session will explore CLHIA’s current advocacy focus, and the challenges and opportunities facing insurers in a rapidly evolving environment.
The conversation will include a special video message from Stephen Frank, President and CEO of CLHIA.

Speakers:
Giulia Ahmadi, Vice President & General Counsel, CLHIA
Gadhi Cruz, Senior Legal Counsel & Canada Location Head, Senior Vice President, Group Operations, Legal & Compliance, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Canadian Branch

Speaker:
Frédéric Plamondon, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Representative, EY

Moderator: Gabriel Querry, Partner, Langlois 

Speakers:
Marc-André Chartrand, Senior Counsel, Litigation, Law Department, Canada Life
Adam LaRoche, Partner, Osler
 

Speakers:
Laurie Livingston, Partner, Dentons
Kate Walker, Senior Legal Counsel, Lead: Market Conduct & Anti-Fraud, CLHIA

Speaker:
Matthew Maslow, Director, Innovation & Navigate Leader, eDiscovery, Legal Project Solutions, Deloitte.

This off-site session combines professional development with cultural learning and reflection. Attendees will hear from Marilyn Poitras, lawyer, negotiator, professor, film producer, and most importantly a community builder. During this talk, Marilyn will explore themes of connection, leadership, and the evolving relationship between law, community, and reconciliation.

The program continues with guided tours of Wanuskewin Heritage Park, where participants will learn about the history, cultures, and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples of the Northern Plains. Together, these experiences provide valuable context for understanding the broader social and cultural environment in which legal and policy decisions are made today.

3pm-4pm Connecting with Indigenous Peoples with Professionalism Speaker:
Marilyn Poitras, Ethical Space Designer, Public Speaker, Positive Deviant

Please make your own reservation.

Sponsor Prize draws

Panel 1
Speakers:
Lynne Chlala, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Blue Cross Life Insurance Company of Canda
Isabelle Durand, Senior Vice President and Head of Legal Services, Procurement & Data Governance, Industrial Alliance
Sloane Litchen, SVP and General Counsel, Sun Life, Canada

Moderator: Jacques Waite, Corporate Director, Litigation, Industrial Alliance


Panel 2
Giulia Ahmadi, Vice-President & General Counsel, CLHIA
Lynne Chlala, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Blue Cross Life Insurance Company of Canada
Speaker (TBC)

Moderator: Jacques Waite, Corporate Director, Litigation, Industrial Alliance

Speakers:
Eli Monas, Partner, Torys LLP
Melissa Prado, Partner, Gowling WLG

Speakers:
Brent McNicol, AVP, Field Leader Effectiveness, SLFD, Sun Life
Jonathan Turner, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd.
Laura Wallace, Sr. Manager, Fraud Risk Management, Manulife

Moderator: David Grad, EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer and Ombudsman, Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada

Delisting decisions carry significant legal, operational, and reputational risk. As scrutiny around these decisions continues to increase, insurers must ensure their processes and documentation can withstand challenge.

This session will equip attendees with a clear understanding of why insurers delist providers, how to conduct defensible investigations, and how to manage legal and reputational risks. Participants will gain practical insights on decision-making, communication, and best practices to ensure delisting actions are evidence-based, fair, and robust in the face of legal challenges. Attendees will gain practical insights into how to reduce legal exposure and approach delisting decisions with greater confidence and preparedness.

Speakers:
Anne-Marie Levesque, AVP & Senior Counsel, Litigation, Sun Life
Laura Wallace, Sr. Manager, Fraud Risk Management, Manulife

Speakers:
Kristen Doyle, Senior Counsel, Manulife
Michael Wolpert, Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Speakers:
Shawna Sykes, VP, Compliance and Chief Compliance Officer Enterprise Compliance, The Co-operators Group Limited
Cindy Zhang, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault

Speakers:
Ross McGowan, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Zev Smith, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Speakers:
Nadine Bellefleur, Senior Counsel, Sun Life
Donna Spagnolo, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

What happens before a treaty is signed?  More importantly, what happens after?  Reinsurance is far more than a risk transfer mechanism.  It influences product design, underwriting, claims decisions, governance, regulatory compliance and long-term commercial relationships.  Through a candid discussion featuring both cedent and reinsurer perspectives, this session explores the reinsurance lifecycle from placement and treaty negotiation through implementation, claims management, regulatory oversight and the occasional dispute.  Drawing on practical examples and real-world experiences, attendees will examine how reinsurance shapes business, legal and risk decisions, including product changes requiring reinsurer approval, complex claims scenarios, evolving regulatory expectations and the challenges of administering relationships that may last decades.  Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of where reinsurance intersects with everyday legal practice and why it matters across the insurance enterprise.

Speakers:
Gadhi Cruz, Senior Legal Counsel & Canada Location Head, Senior Vice President, Group Operations, Legal & Compliance, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Canadian Branch
Gord Goodman, Partner, Cassels Brock and Blackwell LLP
Colin Simpson, EVP, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary, Equitable

Speakers:
Jennifer Carter, Assistant Director, Legal Services, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Industrial Alliance
Representative, Beard Winter LLP

Speakers:
Roisin Hutchison, Partner, Walker Sorensen LLP
Gabriel Stagno, Senior Manager, Forensic Analysis & Investigations, Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) 

Connect with colleagues from across the industry during an evening of networking, great food and fun at the Marquis Hall Events Centre on the University of Saskatchewan campus.

Speakers:
Pascale Caron, Lawyer, Donati Maisonneuve
Sandra Hawes, Partner, Miller Thomson, LLP
Jason Larsen, Senior Counsel, Litigation, Law Department, Canada Life

Moderator: David Fenicky, Partner, Davies Howe LLP

Speakers:
Koker Christensen, Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Felicia Yifan Jin, Lawyer, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

This presentation explores practical considerations for identifying, supporting, and protecting vulnerable clients. The session will examine emerging expectations, common risk factors, and organizational approaches to addressing vulnerability. The presentation emphasizes that protecting vulnerable clients is not solely a legal or compliance responsibility, but rather a shared obligation across the organization. We will discuss how legal teams can explore and foster collaboration among business, operations, customer service, risk, and other teams to help ensure client-centered and ethically sound outcomes.

Speakers:
Alida Brydon, Senior Counsel, Retail Advice & Solutions, Sun Life 
Madchen Funk, Senior Legal Counsel - Advisory, Equitable Life 

Speaker:
Jacques Waite, Corporate Director, Litigation, Industrial Alliance, 2026-2027 Chair Legal Annual Meeting Advisory Council