Events

Upcoming events

27 Oct 2026

IWH Speaker Series

New business owners on why and how OHS starts to matter

Basak Yanar, Institute for Work & Health

New businesses make a substantial contribution to the economy, with roughly 100,000 created a year in Canada. New businesses and their owners are expected to begin managing occupational health and safety (OHS) by the time they hire their first employee. But against the many demands for their attention, when, why and how does OHS begin to matter to new business owners? In this presentation, a companion piece to a presentation from last year based on survey findings, Dr. Basak Yanar shares insights from interviews with new business owners on how they begin managing OHS and what supports they need.

24 Nov 2026

IWH Speaker Series

Work and health 2040: Anticipating changes impacting the futures of occupational health and safety

Arif Jetha, Institute for Work & Health

The world of work is changing fast. Technological breakthroughs, environmental shocks, social fragmentation and shifting global power dynamics are converging to redefine what it means to be safe, healthy and supported on the job. Predicting the salient features of the future of work can be a challenging task for occupational health and safety (OHS) practitioners. In this presentation, Dr. Arif Jetha shares findings from a recently completed international horizon scan, led by the Institute for Work & Health in collaboration with OHS experts in Canada and Europe. He highlights seven major changes on the horizon and discusses how they may impact the field of OHS over the next 15 years.

Past events

15 Oct 2026

Other events

What’s Working? What’s Next? Building the evidence for safe work in small business

What’s Working? What’s Next? brings together leaders in business, workplace health and safety and research to explore current challenges and emerging issues at the core of work, wellbeing, and organizational success. This invitation-only event, hosted by the Institute for Work & Health, is sponsored by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and supported by the WorkSafe Ontario Fund.

29 Sep 2026

IWH Speaker Series

On mental health, remote work and shared accountability: Complex and evolving perspectives on workplace support and accommodation

Monique Gignac, Institute for Work & Health

Much has changed in recent years in the way workers and employers view workplace disability support and accommodation. Conversations around seeking and providing support have become more complex, while the number of support requests have risen and expectations around support provision have evolved. In this presentation, Dr. Monique Gignac shares the perspectives heard in her recent study based on interviews with HR professionals, disability managers, union representatives, OHS professionals, and managers.

23 Jun 2026

IWH Speaker Series

Parental employment quality and the mental health of children

Faraz Vahid Shahidi, Institute for Work & Health

Socioeconomic status is a powerful predictor of child health and development. A key factor shaping household socioeconomic status is the quality of parental employment. As the labour market in Canada has shifted towards more precarious forms of work, a growing share of parents are having to rely on casual, insecure, and low-wage jobs to make ends meet. The declining quality of parental employment has significant but underappreciated implications for children and their families. In this talk, Dr. Faraz Vahid Shahidi will present findings from research examining parental employment quality as a social determinant of children’s mental health and development in Canada. By drawing attention to an upstream driver of early-life socioeconomic disadvantage, this research can help inform policies and programmes aimed at promoting child health and health equity.

View all past events