View the Session Descriptions Below
Session Title: Retirement Realities in Canada – A Gendered Journey
Tanya Staples, Ph.D., Personal Financial Planning, CFP®, Professor & Financial Planner | Principal, ExecuCorps Canada
Retirement planning in Canada is at a crossroads. Despite some progress, women continue to face significant financial disadvantages that follow them into retirement. On average, women accumulate less retirement wealth than men and are able to cover a smaller share of their needed retirement income. These gaps reflect not only economic realities, but also the ways in which retirement planning services have or have not responded to women’s lived experiences. This session will share their perspectives on what truly matters in preparing for retirement: the challenges they face, the support they wish they had, and the changes that are needed by the financial planning profession.
Session Title: Old Habits, New Rules: Aligning Compliance and Advisors for Sustainable Growth
Richard S. Pyper, CEO of EXOS Wealth Systems and President of Customplan Financial
Advisors
Client Relationship Model – Phase 3: Regulatory rules continue to evolve, but many advisory firms still rely on workflows and habits built for a very different compliance landscape. In this session, we’ll explore why “doing things the way they’ve always been done” can create unnecessary risk – and how thoughtfully integrated technology can bridge the gap between new rules and daily practice. Attendees will gain practical insight into aligning compliance requirements such as CRM3 with modern rules, reducing friction, improving oversight, and creating processes that work with advisors, not against them, ultimately supporting both compliance and sustainable growth.
Session Title: Strategic Structuring: Pitfalls and Opportunities with Corporate-Owned Life Insurance
Patrick Uzan, Vice-President of Professional Services, PPI
This presentation will explore the tax implications of several life insurance ownership structures commonly used in the corporate market. While many advisors are actively involved in these types of cases, the related tax risks and potential pitfalls are often overlooked. Business owners may structure ownership and beneficiary designations to meet specific objectives but must also consider relevant case law and CRA interpretations that can lead to unintended and adverse tax consequences. This session will highlight common missteps, outline key areas of risk, and discuss practical solutions to help advisors structure cases more effectively and avoid unfavourable tax outcomes.
Session Title: What Built Your Success Won’t Sustain It: Mastering Your Default Patterns Under Pressure
Lee Picco, Founder of The Picco Institute
Lee Picco is the Founder of The Picco Institute, a leadership and performance consultancy specializing in team dynamics, communication, and sustainable execution under pressure. Lee works with executive teams, advisory firms, and growth-stage organizations to help high-performers evolve as complexity increases. He is the co-creator of the proprietary Leadership Identity™ framework, a model that reveals how a leader’s greatest strengths can become default stress-patterns, and how regulating those patterns improves collaboration, decision-making, and long-term team performance.
Session Title: Unshakeable: Trust, Teamwork, and Rising After Setback
Krissy Scurfield, Olympic Silver Medallist
Olympic silver medallist Krissy Scurfield knows what it takes to perform at the highest level, and what it feels like when the plan falls apart. After earning her place on Canada’s rugby sevens team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, an injury sidelined her partway through the tournament, leaving her to watch her teammates fight their way to the podium without her. In this keynote, Krissy shares the mindset shifts, hard earned lessons in resilience, and the unshakeable trust between teammates that turn setbacks into strength. Equal parts energizing and thought provoking, her story is an invitation to rethink what it really means to show up for yourself, for the people beside you, and for the moments that don’t go to plan.
Session Title: Advocis Update
Kelly Gorman, CPA, CA, ICD.D, President & CEO, Advocis
Kelly Ho, Certified Financial Planner and Certified Cash Flow Specialist
DLD Financial Group Ltd.
Kelly Gorman and Kelly Ho will share key updates on the association’s strategic priorities, including advocacy, education, and member engagement.
Session Title: Business Succession: Built to Last
Kathryn Bennett, LLB, TEP, CLU (RBC Insurance)
Are your clients among the 91% of Canadian business owners without a formal succession plan? For older, mass affluent owners of family businesses, retirement planning goes beyond finances—it’s about legacy, harmony, and ensuring a seamless transition. As a trusted advisor to this niche, you understand the complexities of balancing family dynamics, tax efficiency, and long-term security. Explore how life insurance integrates with wills, shareholder agreements, and buy-sell agreements to fund transitions and mitigate risks. Don’t let your clients’ hard-built businesses risk uncertainty. Equip yourself with the tools to transform their succession dreams into reality and help them build a legacy that lasts.
Session Title: Unlocking the Hidden Value of Life Insurance to Fund Medical Research and Patient Support
Joseph Galli, Chairman of PENTOR Charity Services (PCS) and Co-Founder of the
Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation of Canada (LDSFC)
We welcome you to join us for a presentation with Joseph Galli from PENTOR Charity Services. Joseph will be discussing the Loeys Dietz Syndrome Foundation (LDSFC) and the possible advantages of donating a life insurance policy.
Do you have uninsurable or rated clients who are about to cancel their life insurance policies? Then this is a presentation you don’t want to miss! You have been specially selected to join us to hear about a planned giving strategy for your clients.
Come learn about unlocking the hidden value of this life insurance that could potentially save your policy owners a ton of money on tax before they go ahead and cancel that policy.
This is a strategy that works and is being implemented by Advisors across Canada.
Session Title: Pain to Purpose
Jayden Lee, cancer survivor, philanthropist, ultra marathon runner, and a real estate agent in the Top 30 under 30 agent category for Century 21 Canada.
Jayden Lee’s story started at 16 years old when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He underwent 3.5 years of chemotherapy at BC Children’s Hospital. After getting sick, he wanted to do more with his life. So he started a real estate career at 19 years old and ended up getting top 30 under 30 for Century 21 Canada at 21 years old. But right before that, his mom unexpectedly passed away. Then a year later, one of his best friends. After these tragic events, he hit rock bottom and needed to find a new goal to work towards. With previously never running over 10km, he decided to host an ultramarathon fundraiser to run to BC Children’s hospital from Chilliwack (103km), and ended up raising over $125,000. After these events his values and perspective on life changed, and rather than focusing on work awards and accolades, he decided to live a life of adventure, and focused on “ Building his Life Resume “
Session Title: The True Power of a CRM – Discover How the Right CRM Can Revolutionize Your Advisory Practice.
Ira Dixon, Senior Director of Customer Experience, Equisoft
This session explores practical strategies to leverage CRM technology to streamline compliance, automate time-consuming administrative tasks, and deepen client relationships. Learn how to reclaim hours in your week while identifying upsell and cross-sell opportunities that drive practice growth. Whether you’re just starting with CRM technology or looking to optimize your current system, you’ll walk away with actionable insights on integrations with AI notetakers and other modern tools that help advisors work smarter, not harder.
Session Title: The Secret of Getting Ahead is Getting Started: Building Superior Networks Using Alternative Assets
Dr. Sara M Johnson, Esq., Ph.D, TEP, CFP, LL.M (US Law), JD | VP, HNW Planning Services – International estate, art and digital legacy planning
When AI can handle the routine, mastering professional relationships becomes your moat. The seminar discusses how alternative assets become conversations transforming your professional network and practice growth.
Session Title: Creating Community: The Flywheel That Grows Your Practice
Dan Steinkey, BComm(Hons), CFP CIM CHS CEA, Dream Retirement Planning Ltd., Steinkey Financial Services
Advisory growth gets a lot easier when you stop trying to do it alone. This talk breaks down how to intentionally build community—inside your team, across your advisor network, with wholesalers, and through service—so your practice becomes more resilient, referable, and enjoyable to run.
Session Title: The Power of Presence: Performing Well Without Burning Out
Barbara Egan, ACS, RCC, LPC-MHSP (US), Approved Clinical Supervisor | Registered Clinical Counsellor, Owner, Alive Counselling
In high-performance environments, success is often measured by output, while presence quietly disappears and burnout takes its place. In this engaging and practical session, international speaker and licensed mental health therapist Barbara Egan explores the critical role presence plays in both performance and well-being. Drawing from neuroscience, psychology, and her work with driven professionals and elite athletes preparing for the 2026 Olympic Games, Barbara helps high performers understand the difference between stress and burnout, recognize early warning signs, and protect their energy before depletion sets in. Participants will leave with practical, personalized strategies to regulate stress, stay present under pressure, and sustain excellence over time, because in order to perform your best, you first have to feel your best!
Session Title: Where There is a Will, There Isn’t Always a Way…
Evan Grunberger TEP | Senior Business Development Manager, Segregated Funds and Annuities, BMO Insurance
Many clients want control from beyond the grave when passing inheritances to beneficiaries. In the absence of proper financial planning, clients may request an annuity to be purchased in the will. The issue is when a client or their lawyer doesn’t review the terms of the will with a financial advisor, they may request a financial purchase like an annuity that isn’t possible or permissible. The wheels fall off fast, potentially putting the executor in the crosshairs of the beneficiaries and dragging out the estate settlement process by years. The session will discuss real life cases and how to avoid this from happening to your clients.
Session Title: The Health and Wealth Connection
Anita Fantov, BBA, Business Development Manager, BMO Insurance
Health and wealth are deeply connected, yet many people don’t realize just how intertwined they are until life takes an unexpected turn. In this presentation, Anita explores the powerful link between physical health and financial security, bringing the topic to life through her personal experience of supporting her husband through a cancer diagnosis. She shares firsthand insights into the emotional, practical, and financial realities that accompany serious illness, and why proactive planning can make all the difference. This session is a compelling reminder that protecting your health also means protecting your financial future—and the people you love.
Session Title: The AI Amplifier: Today, Every Advisor Builds Their Perfect Associate
Alaeddine Jabri, CFP, CLU, Certified Financial Planner, Wealth Advisor, Managing Partner, Longevity Achieved
What if you could hire an elite HNW associate who works 24/7, never misses a detail, and costs less than your daily latte? In The AI Amplifier, we move past the AI hype to pull back teh curtain on a high-touch, tech-forward practice. You’ll see a live demonstration of how custom AI “Agents” can transform raw meeting transcripts into deep client insights and comprehensive wealth reports in seconds. Discover why the technical plan is being commoditized and learn how to use the “AI Blueprint” to amplify your true, defensible value: the irreplaceable human connection.