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The Future of Canada’s Labour Market:
Immigration, Diversity, AI, and Atlantic Canada

Venue: Scotiabank Auditorium

Date: October 16, 2026.

Future of Labour Registration

8:45 – 4:45

Canada’s labour market is being reshaped by immigration, demographic change, technological innovation, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. These transformations are especially important for Atlantic Canada, where population aging, labour shortages, and newcomer integration are central to the region’s economic future. This public outreach event will bring together researchers, policymakers, employers, community organizations, students, and the public to discuss how immigration, diversity, and AI are changing work, skills, and opportunity in Canada and Atlantic Canada. The event will explore emerging labour market trends, regional workforce challenges, and policies that can support inclusive growth, innovation, and long-term prosperity.

Tentative Agenda

8:45 Welcoming remarks
 

Artificial Intelligence and Canadian Labour Market: 9:00 – 11:35
9:00 – 10:00

Keynote (Fireside chat)

Dr. Michelle Alexopoulos (Deputy Governor Bank of Canada and Professor University of Toronto - view biography here) Moderated by Stephanie Kelley – Department of Management Science

Presentation title to be confirmed
10:05 – 11:35

Plenary:

Preparing Canada for the AI Economy: Policy, People, and Institutions

The co-panelists will round out the ecosystem by presenting data on the cross-provincial use of AI, analyzing the role of educational institutions in preparing the workforce and public-policy framework that connects these pieces together.
 

Presentations:  

  1. Artificial intelligence usage at work across Canada
    Speaker: Tahsin Mehdi – Senior Research Economist, Statistics Canada
    Data from the 2024-2025 Canadian Survey on Working Conditions will be presented to show how the usage of AI varies across Canadian provinces.
  2. Universities in the AI area: Speaker to be confirmed.
  3. AI and the Future of Smart Cities: How Municipalities Are Harnessing Artificial Intelligence? 
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch
 

Diversity and Immigration in Canada and Atlantic Canada 12:45 – 4:45
12:45 – 1:45 Keynote speaker:
Dr. Rupa Banerjee, Professor – Toronto Metropolitan University (view biography here)
Presentation title to be confirmed.
1:50 – 3:20

Plenary:

Provincial Immigration in Transition: Building Talent for Atlantic Canada

The panel will feature senior officials from the Atlantic provincial governments and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to discuss the current state of provincial immigration, including talent attraction and retention, workforce development, and the role of diversity and inclusion in supporting economic growth.

Speakers to confirm.
3:30 – 4:45

Interactive Roundtable with settlement organizations
 

Table 1: AI for Settlement Organizations

  • Translation
  • Case management
  • Client communication
  • Data analytics

Table 2: Labour Market Integration

  • Skills assessment
  • Employer partnerships
  • Foreign credential recognition
  • Job matching

Table 3: Retention in Atlantic Canada

  • Housing
  • Family supports
  • Community belonging
  • Rural settlement

Table 4: Policy Innovation

  • Federal programs
  • Provincial initiatives
  • Measuring success
  • Future priorities

Participants rotate every 20 minutes and report back with key recommendations.

Questions to stimulate discussion

  • What settlement services will become more important as AI transforms work?
  • How can settlement organizations ensure newcomers benefit from AI rather than being disadvantaged by it?
  • Which services should remain entirely human-centred?
  • How should governments fund AI innovation in settlement agencies?
  • How can settlement organizations better prepare immigrants for occupations that may be transformed by automation?
  • What partnerships between settlement agencies, employers, colleges, and AI developers are needed to improve labour market integration?

 

Rupa Bannerjee, a slender woman with long dark hair wearing a black and white specked dress against a rich charcoal grey background. She has her arms crossed and is smiling.Dr. Rupa Banerjee

Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University

Dr. Rupa Banerjee is Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour at Toronto Metropolitan University and holds the Canada Research Chair in Economic Inclusion, Employment, and Entrepreneurship of Canada’s Immigrants. A leading scholar of immigration and labour-market integration in Canada, her research examines how immigration policies, employers, and institutions shape newcomers’ socioeconomic outcomes. She also explores international students’ and temporary foreign workers’ experiences and the expanding role of digital technologies in employment trajectories. Her work also extends to second-generation outcomes, and to the mechanisms of ethno-racial discrimination in the workplace, with attention to intersectional and institutional dynamics.

DM of Bank of Canada. She has long auburn hair, a blue jacket and a white blouse. She is smiling.Michelle Alexopoulos

Deputy Governor, Bank of Canada

Michelle Alexopoulos was appointed external Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada for a term of two years, effective March 2025. In this role, Dr. Alexopoulos is a member of the Bank’s Governing Council, which is the Bank’s policy-making body responsible for decisions with respect to monetary policy and financial system stability.
Dr. Alexopoulos is a Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto with a cross appointment to the Faculty of Information. She holds a PhD in economics and is a qualified expert witness in the areas of technical change, macroeconomics and applied econometrics.
Her research primarily focuses on business cycles, monetary policy, technical change, economic uncertainty, labor markets and productivity. Her research, supported by public and private grants, has been published in top tier economics journals, and has been presented at numerous Central Banks, international conferences, academic departments, industry think tanks, and the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Alexopoulos was born in Toronto, Ontario. She completed an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto specializing in economics and mathematics and has a master’s and Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.