CONCURRENT SESSIONS
3:30 to 5 p.m.
(pre-selection is not required)

Current and Emerging Payroll Issues

Legislative changes profoundly impact the way that payroll is dealt with in any organization. Speaker Steven Van Alstine, vice-president of education at the Canadian Payroll Association, uncovers the issues affecting your payroll operations and how you can prepare for future changes.

This session will focus on updates from the Canada Revenue Agency, Service Canada, and Human Resources and Social Development Canada.

International Financial Reporting Standards

Since coming into effect, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have had an impact on most accounting and finance professionals. Join speaker Anu Goel of Neverest Inc., as she leads this valuable overview of the new accounting standards under Part I of the CICA Handbook and discusses some of the projects in development at the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

Personal Branding

Building a personal brand within your organization or with clients is critical to the success of all CGAs. In this engaging session, learn more from management consultant Lisa Mattam, founder of The Mattam Group, who was listed in Profit Magazine as one of the top 10 women emerging entrepreneurs in Canada, as she outlines how you can develop your own personal brand.

Adding Conflict Management to Your Skill Set

All relationships experience conflict — whether with clients or colleagues. Knowing how to manage conflict effectively is a valuable skill and one that can be learned. Conflict resolution practitioner Anne Grant is a chartered mediator who will provide some of the most important conflict management tools and skills, such as the three approaches to managing conflict, the Conflict Resolution Continuum, understanding motivation , and using mediation to solve the larger issues.

Enjoy a Special Night of Fun at The Academy of Spherical Arts

7 to 11 p.m.
End a full day of learning with a buffet-style dinner at the elegant Academy of Spherical Arts, located in the vintage Brunswick Billiards Building, built in 1890. Play a few games on some classic billiard tables, enjoy some fabulous food, and dance the night away to our own deejay! Meet the chair of CGA Ontario’s board of directors, Blake Mercer, FCGA, other directors from the board, chapter committee chairs, conference delegates and your fellow CGAs.
Transportation to The Academy of Spherical Arts is available; please let us know if you will be attending.
Sponsored by: TD Insurance Meloche Monnex

Networking Buffet Luncheon

12:15 p.m.

Join your colleagues for a hot and cold buffet luncheon and stimulating conversation about your morning sessions. Afterward, take some time to explore product offerings from our exhibitors.
Sponsored by: PTC Accounting & Finance

CONCURRENT SESSIONS
2:15 to 3:15 p.m.
(pre-selection is not required)

Consuming Content on Tablets, Smartphones and Netbooks

Vaulted into public awareness with the iPad, tablets have become business conveniences and speaker Randy Johnston thinks you’ll come to see that they are business necessities. Come learn the applications, tricks and business uses of the leading tablets, smartphones, netbooks, and other devices that help you consume content.

Investigating Fraud

Ken Froese, a certified forensic investigator, leads this educational discussion on the process of investigating fraud, financial disputes, and other irregularities in organizations, in addition to identifying the current trends and factors impacting and affecting businesses in Canada.

Providing Effective Feedback and Coaching

Effective feedback and coaching is crucial for ensuring competencies are developed, commitment is gained and talented individuals stay with organizations. The result of effective feedback and coaching is an organization where people feel more empowered, engaged and open to new challenges.

Speaker Julie Ruben Rodney will show you how to assess the gap between the current and desired performance of your employees, and how to identify and understand the challenges that impede their top-level performance. This session is a must for people managers.

Leading with Your Board of Directors

In this lively and engaging session, Bruce McDonald, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC), will explore how the organization grew in scope and mandate, and how they worked effectively with their board of directors to develop a new business strategy as they near their 100th anniversary as a not-for-profit organization. Bruce will also share his insights on how to partner with staff, the board and other key stakeholders to realize one’s strategic objectives.

Refreshment Break

3:15 p.m.
Take this opportunity to visit our conference exhibitors.
Sponsored by: Fisherman’s Friend Medicated Lozenges

Morning Fitness Walk/Run

6 a.m.

Join your fellow CGAs and begin the day with a healthy start! The morning fitness program — with both walking and running options available — departs from the main lobby of the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel.
Sponsored by: NandanCharkoTurnerMoore LLP and Debra J. Taylor, CGA

Association Internet Café

This year we’ve set up a number of laptops for our very own Internet café, where you can check your email and stay connected to your world. So drop by and stay connected!

Registration & Coffee with Exhibitors

7 a.m. Sponsored by: ABACA Solutions

OPENING CEREMONIES WITH KEYNOTE SESSION

The Art of the Pitch: Influencing Successful Partnerships

8 to 10 a.m. Whether we’re trying to get someone to buy into our ideas or get them to take the actions we want to see, we’re always ’pitching.’ We all need to get other people on-side to fulfil our ambitions, both in business and in our personal lives. In this entertaining presentation, Dianne Buckner, host of CBC’s popular Dragon’s Den, shares her observations on the strategies of successful pitchers, and the mistakes of those who pitch poorly. Learn new skills and strategies of persuasion for work and for home! Sponsored by: Robert Half

Refreshment Break

10 a.m.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
(pre-selection is not required)

Harmonized Sales Tax Strategies

Join Diane Gaudon, FCGA, as she discusses GST/HST-related topics relevant to accountants in industry and professional practice, including recovery strategies, restricted input tax credits and common recovery audit exposures. Diane will also provide an update on developments resulting from the federal and provincial budgets and announcements as well as issues associated with the application of the GST/HST that continue to challenge businesses.

IT Tricks & Tools

Every business owner is driven to minimize the intrusive costs of technology as much as possible; not an easy assignment by any means. Accounting Hall of Famer Randy Johnston will cover appropriate setup and strategy for your systems, defining managed services, how to select the appropriate provider and what you should pay. Included with this seminar will be a checklist of options, estimated costs and action items to get started.

Trends and Experiences in Aging

Understanding of the relevant demography of aging, plus market-useful knowledge of social, economic and health patterns in the over-50 population is vital to understanding the overall profile of seniors nationally and internationally.

With a better understanding of the predictive strengths and limitations of forecasting tools, professionals are better prepared to respond to some of the fundamental questions their clients are facing in preparing for the later years. Speaker Amy D’Aprix examines the underlying implications of demographic trends, longevity and how our extra years will be experienced and expressed.

Planning and Managing Your Time Effectively

This interactive and practical workshop will provide participants with an understanding of effective time management strategies and how to integrate them into their everyday work environments. Julie Ruben Rodney, CEO and founder of Maximum People Performance Inc., a people development organization, will help you develop skills to better save you time, better position yourself to manage stress and have the ability to control your time and life.