Back

BC Total Rewards Connect 2026: Insights. Belonging. Community.

When
7 Oct 2026
8:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Location
Elements Hotel, Burnaby, BC

Registration

1. Early Bird - Member – $85.00
1. Regular Ticket - Member – $115.00
2. Early Bird - Non-Member – $120.00
2. Regular Ticket - Non-Member – $145.00
3. Early Bird - 5-Ticket Corporate Bundle – $400.00
Can only be purchased by a member. Purchaser must add all attendees details.
3. Regular Ticket - 5-Ticket Corporate Bundle – $525.00
Can only be purchased by a member. Purchaser must add all attendees details.
Laulima Special Ticket
Special tickets for our sponsor, Laulima Consulting.
Logan HR Special Ticket
Special tickets for our sponsor, Logan HR.
NB Special Ticket
Special tickets for our sponsor, Normandin Beaudry.
Sponsor Guest – $85.00
White & Gale Special Ticket
Special tickets for our sponsor, White & Gale.

BC Total Rewards Network Presents

BC Total Rewards Connect 2026

Insights. Belonging. Community.

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 8:00 AM – 3:30 PM Elements Hotel, Burnaby, BC

Buy Your Tickets Now!

About the Event

In 2025, we brought BC's Total Rewards community together for the first time, and the response told us everything we needed to know: this community has been waiting for a space like this. A sold-out room, energized conversations, and a waitlist that told us we had to go bigger.

This October, we're back, and we're building on everything that made last year special. Join BC's Total Rewards and HR community for a full day of insights, connection, and conversation on the issues shaping our profession today, from AI's growing role in Total Rewards to the realities of pay transparency and the future of retirement benefits.

Between expert-led sessions, a moderated panel discussion, and plenty of networking over breakfast and lunch, BC Total Rewards Connect 2026 is designed to help you walk away with practical insights and genuine connections within BC's Total Rewards community.

BCTRN Members: you must log-in to your BCTRN account to access membership pricing. Not a member yet? Membership is open to all BC Total Rewards professionals — visit bctrn.ca to join.

Pricing

Ticket Type	Member Rate	Non-Member Rate	5-Ticket Corporate Bundle (Members Only)
Early Bird (Jun 20 – Jul 31)	$85	$120	$400
Regular (Aug 1 – Sep 20)	$115	$145	$525
At-Door (Members Only, subject to availability)	$120	N/A	N/A

Schedule at a Glance

8:00 – 8:45 AM

Registration & Networking Breakfast

8:45 – 9:00 AM

Welcome & Opening RemarksSoumya Balakrishnan, President, BCTRN

9:00 – 9:45 AM

Keynote PanelDetails will be shared soon

9:45 – 10:15 AM

Navigating Compensation Decisions in the Current Economic Environment Kenneth Yung, Laulima Consulting

Compensation decisions are becoming harder as organizations balance constrained budgets, changing labour markets, talent pressures, internal equity and increasing expectations for transparency.

This session will explore how organizations can move beyond broad market responses and make more deliberate choices about where to invest compensation dollars, where targeted action is needed, and what should drive those decisions. Using the Canadian and BC environment as context, we will consider both employee and executive compensation and the trade offs Total Rewards professionals are increasingly being asked to navigate.

Join Us to Explore:

What current economic and labour market conditions mean for compensation decisions

Where to invest and how to prioritize compensation dollars across market competitiveness, critical talent, internal equity, compression and retention

How increasing transparency and scrutiny are changing expectations for defensible compensation decisions

A practical approach to balancing market data, internal equity, business priorities and affordability

10:15 – 10:30 AM

AM Networking Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Fireside ChatDetails will be shared soon

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

The Changing World of Total Rewards Vincent Chow, Partner & Co-Founder, LoganHR (Moderator)
Alisha Scichilone, Chief People Officer, Wesgroup Properties
Kevin Chiu, Sr. Manager Total Rewards, KPMG
Raquel de Munain, VP People & Culture, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation

A panel discussion featuring three senior leaders in the Total Rewards and HR in different industries

Join Us to Explore:As our world evolves, so do our rewards programs. We are delighted to invite three senior leaders in Total Rewards and HR from three diverse sectors, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, KPMG and Wesgroup Properties, to share their experiences, lessons learned, and perspectives on navigating the changes ahead in the total rewards landscape. We will cover a wide range of topics, including optimizing total reward budgets, refining organizational offerings, navigating transparency challenges, and developing competitive advantages to stay ahead of the competition. Audiences are encouraged to ask questions and share their thoughts, fostering an interactive and engaging dialogue.

12:00 – 1:30 PM

Networking Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 PM

From Savings to Income for Life: Turning Retirement Readiness into Real EngagementPhilippe Rickli, Normandin Beaudry & Breanna Yee, Arc’teryxHelping employees retire well isn't just about how much they save. It's about turning those savings into income they can count on for life. This session unpacks the building blocks of retirement income, from government pensions and to smart decumulation strategies, then shows how thoughtful, personalized communication brings it all to life for members to develop the right savings habits. Drawing on Arc'teryx's real-world experience customizing the employee experience, Philippe Rickli and Breanna Yee explore how the right message, delivered the right way, drives stronger participation and better outcomes

2:30 – 3:00 PM

AI in Total Rewards: From Chatbot to System

Soumya Sharma

A working session on building an AI system that is NOT a document reader dressed up as innovation. Join to know how to build agents that actually talk to each other with embedded governance systems.

Join Us to Explore:Two analysts evaluate the same job and land on two different grades. Your pay philosophy lives in a 2022 PDF, your architecture in someone's spreadsheet, and your glossary in one person's head. AI cannot fix that.

But once you set the standard and govern who can change it, AI will enforce it every single time.

In this session we will build a working Compensation and Benefits agents live: source of truth, edit rights, version control, then job matching logic on top. We will finish by showing what happens when comp, benefits and hiring stop operating in separate rooms.

If your current AI is a chatbot with some documents uploaded, come see what the next step looks like.

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Featured SessionPresented by White & Gale — Details will be shared soon

3:30 – 3:45 PM

Closing Remarks

3:45 PM onwards

Post-Event NetworkingOptional, informal

Save Your Seat

Spaces filled quickly in 2025, and we're expecting the same this year. Register early to lock in early bird pricing and guarantee your place in the room.

Out-of-Town Accommodations & Discounted Rates: Traveling from out of town? You can book your stay at the special rate directly online via this link.

Event Sponsors

A special thanks to our event sponsors for helping make BC Total Rewards Connect 2026 happen.

Event Speakers & Presenters

Meet our expert speakers and presenters joining us for BC Total Rewards Connect 2026.

Kenneth Yung

Laulima Consulting

View Bio

Kenneth founded Laulima in 2024. Prior to founding Laulima, Kenneth led the Canadian human capital practice of a large global consulting firm, where he spent nearly twenty years. He is the lead advisor for a wide array of organizations, ranging from large multi-nationals to small to medium enterprises, and including both publicly-traded and privately-held companies. He also advises a number of PE-sponsored firms.

Kenneth has extensive experience working collaboratively with Boards of Directors and senior management on a wide range of people issues. His focus is on aligning compensation and total rewards with business and talent strategies. He specializes in incentive plan design, performance measure selection and target-setting. He helps clients make informed decisions based on facts; however, he is not afraid to provide advice that deviates from market practice where it makes sense to do so.

Kenneth is a strong advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion. He has served as a member and co-chair of an ethnic and racial diversity council/Business Resource Group.

Kenneth has a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a concentration in Finance from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Philippe Rickli

Normandin Beaudry

View Bio

Philippe Rickli joined Normandin Beaudry in 2011 and is a Principal in the Pension and Savings teams. His ability to find solutions to his clients' pension and savings issues, combined with his leadership skills, have led him to work on various types of mandates. He has mastered a wide range of consulting services for federal, private, public, and parapublic organizations.

Philippe works with his clients on all aspects of a savings plan: investments, administration and governance, design and communication. He takes an active role in client relationships, managing ongoing projects, which include investment monitoring, reviewing fund lineups and investment policies.

Philippe is also responsible for decumulation initiatives at Normandin Beaudry, effectively implementing these solutions for his clients. Philippe also co-manages the firm's annuity purchasing team (group and individual) – a risk management strategy for pension plans, and a decumulation strategy for individuals.

Breanna Yee

Arc’teryx

View Bio

Breanna Yee is a People & Culture professional with extensive experience in global benefits administration, employee programs, and HR operations. Known for her collaborative approach and strong analytical skills, she partners closely with business teams to enhance employee experience and streamline HR processes. With a background in retail (previously lululemon and now Arc’teryx), Breanna brings a solutions‑focused mindset and a passion for supporting employee wellbeing across the organization.

Soumya Sharma

BC Total Rewards Network

View Bio

Soumya Sharma brings a builder’s mindset, a creator’s energy, and a challenger’s curiosity from the world of TR to the BC Total Rewards Network. His career in Human Resources has spanned Org Design, Total Rewards, Setting up Comp and job architecture framework from scratch, M&A work in Total Rewards, Workforce Planning, people analytics, and people strategy across multiple industries and business stages.

He is drawn to work that moves beyond inherited ways of doing things and asks a simple but important question: is there a better, clearer, and more human way to solve this? For Soumya, Total Rewards is not just a technical discipline. It is a powerful lever for trust, fairness, retention, leadership credibility, and employee experience.

Grateful to operate on the traditional and unceded lands of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.

British Columbia Total Rewards Network (BCTRN) is a non-profit organization.