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 Place Du Canada

Keynote presentation |  Place Du Canada

Artificial intelligence has moved from experimentation to boardroom priority. As financial institutions evaluate how AI can improve productivity, strengthen decision-making, manage risk, and enhance customer experiences, many leaders are still asking the same question: What actually matters?

In this keynote, futurist, author, and former Head of Innovation at Mattel Ramy Nassar cuts through the noise to deliver a clear, practical perspective on the opportunities, risks, and realities of AI. Drawing on 25 years helping global brands navigate emerging technologies, and on his forthcoming book The World After AI, Ramy helps leaders separate fleeting trends from meaningful transformation.

With a focus on business impact rather than technical complexity, he explores where AI is creating measurable value today, what developments are most likely to influence strategic decision-making in the years ahead, and which narratives leaders can confidently set aside.

Attendees will leave with a practical framework for evaluating AI opportunities, approaching adoption responsibly, and leading their organizations with confidence in a period of rapid technological change.

Key learnings:

• Separate hype from reality and identify AI opportunities with measurable business value
• Understand emerging risks, governance considerations, and the leadership practices required for responsible AI adoption
• Explore practical frameworks, tools, and prompting approaches that can accelerate productivity and growth
• Gain perspective on what is coming next and how leaders can prepare their organizations for an AI-enabled future

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Breakout session #1

Real-time payments, ISO 20022, open banking, atomic settlement, AI – these shifts are changing how financial institutions operate. But they aren't trends to wait out. They are a permanent shift towards continuous, machine-speed operations that traditional batch-based banking architectures weren't designed to support.

In this session, Kootenay Savings Credit Union explores why tomorrow's operating model must evolve and introduces Sentinel, its approach to the next generation of retail banking.

Key learnings:

• Why real-time banking demands a new operating model
• How Sentinel addresses the challenges of a continuous financial ecosystem
• What the next generation of banking architecture enables

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Breakout session #2

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Plenary session |  Place Du Canada

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Plenary session |  Place Du Canada

Canada’s economic outlook is being shaped by shifting trade dynamics, housing affordability pressures, constrained housing supply, regional differences, demographic change and evolving interest rate expectations. For credit unions, challenger banks and fintechs, these forces are not abstract economic signals. They influence lending, risk, growth, member and customer needs, and strategic planning. 
 
In this plenary panel session, Bryan Yu, AVP & Chief Economist at Central 1, will provide a timely economic outlook before moderating a discussion with Mathieu Laberge, SVP and Chief Economist, Housing Insights at CMHC, and Randall Bartlett, Deputy Economist at Desjardins. Together, they'll explore the macroeconomic and provincial trends shaping Canada’s economy, the outlook for housing markets and housing supply, and the opportunities and challenges this environment may create for financial services leaders.

Key learnings:

• A clearer read on the economic shifts most likely to affect Canada’s financial services sector over the next 12–24 months
• A better understanding of how housing affordability, housing supply and regional differences are shaping opportunities and risks across the country
• Practical context for lending, growth, risk, customer needs and strategic planning

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Breakout session #1

As fraud becomes more sophisticated and consumer losses continue to rise, financial institutions face growing pressure to rethink their role in prevention, response and victim support. In this candid discussion, Jeremy Nicholls, Vice President of Fraud & AML Compliance at WFCU Credit Union and a former law enforcement professional specializing in financial crime, joins Vanessa Iafolla, financial crime expert witness, therapist and advocate for fraud victims, to explore the evolving relationship between financial institutions and consumers.

Together, they'll explore where responsibility lies, how fraud affects victims beyond financial loss, and how a more human-centred approach to fraud prevention and response can strengthen trust and improve outcomes for consumers and financial institutions.

Key learnings:

• Understand how fraud affects victims beyond financial loss, including psychological, emotional and reputational impacts that shape member expectations
• Explore how financial institutions can balance consumer accountability, fraud prevention and victim support while maintaining trust
• Learn how evolving expectations around liability, consumer protection and member experience may influence the future of fraud management

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Breakout session #2

For decades, treasury operations have been built around batch processing, correspondent banking and delayed settlement. Today, that's changing. A new generation of digital payment infrastructure – from stablecoins and tokenized deposits to real-time payments – is reshaping how liquidity moves through the financial system.

In this session, panelists will examine how treasury functions are evolving as money becomes digital, programmable and always on, with practical insights on how to prepare.

Key learnings:

• How digital money is changing liquidity orchestration
• Emerging use cases and regulatory considerations
• The strategic implications for financial institutions

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Breakout session #3

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Keynote presentation |  Place Du Canada

Success can make even the strongest organizations miss what is changing around them. Teams with deep experience, clear processes, and a strong track record often know what has worked before – but that confidence can make it harder to notice when the environment starts to shift.

Early signals rarely arrive fully formed. They often begin as something easy to dismiss – a subtle change in customer behaviour, an unexpected pattern, or a question that challenges the usual way of thinking. But when leaders rely too heavily on hunches, instinct, past experience, or "the way we've always done things," they can miss emerging risks and overlook real opportunities for growth.

In this keynote session, Estelle Métayer will explore how leaders can recognize early signals of change, challenge assumptions, and look beyond traditional industry boundaries. Attendees will leave with practical ways to think more critically about change and make stronger strategic decisions before risks and opportunities become obvious.

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Breakout session #1

Fraud is entering a new era. As AI advances, scams grow more sophisticated and real-time payments move money faster, financial institutions must detect threats faster, strengthen consumer trust and adapt to new risks.

Join fraud and risk leaders from Kindred Credit Union, Laurentian Bank and Central 1 as they explore their fraud strategies in response to AI-driven threats, rising scam activity and faster payment environments. Drawing on real-world experience and industry perspectives, panelists will unpack what stronger detection, clearer accountability and more resilient fraud programs can look like in practice.

Attendees will earn how financial institutions are adapting their strategies, where they are investing to build resilience, and what it will take to stay ahead in the next frontier of fraud.

Key learnings:

• Explore how AI, real-time payments and emerging technologies are transforming fraud risks, detection strategies and consumer expectations
• Examine the evolving role of financial institutions in balancing fraud prevention, consumer responsibility and trust in an increasingly real-time environment
• Learn where financial institutions are focusing investments and innovation to prepare for the next generation of fraud threats and opportunities

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Financial institutions have traditionally relied on vendors for specialized software, but AI is changing what's possible.

In this session, Chris Inniss, CEO of Mainstreet Credit Union, share how AI-assisted development is reshaping the build-vs-buy equation, enabling mid-size institutions to develop capabilities once considered out of reach.

Chris will be joined by Mary Gillett, chair of Mainstreet Credit Union's audit committee, for a candid discussion about the risk and governance questions that shaped the project – including where Mary pushed back, what had to be addressed before the project moved forward, and the areas that remain under active review.

Key learnings:

• Where AI creates new opportunities for in-house innovation
• Governance approaches that enable responsible AI development
• How to evaluate when to build, buy or partner

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Breakout session #2

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Plenary session |  Place Du Canada

The first phase of Canada's real-time payments journey is only beginning.

As the industry prepares for key RTR milestones, attention is already turning to what comes next: richer payment experiences, new business models, increased competition, open participation, and opportunities to rethink how money moves. In this candid discussion, leaders in payments across the sector will share their perspectives on the future of Canada's real-time payments ecosystem and the innovations it could unlock for financial institutions and their members.

From future roadmap priorities and emerging use cases to the organizational, technology and operational changes needed to support them, this session will help leaders move beyond implementation planning and start preparing for the next generation of payments innovation.

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Breakout session #1

Five forces are shaping the next era of payments and member experience: Real-Time Rail, Consumer-Driven Banking, stablecoin, open banking-enabled financing and agentic AI. As these capabilities move closer to market, they are creating new ways for members and businesses to move money, share data, access credit and manage their financial lives.

In this session, moderator Iain Scott brings together fintech founders and payments experts building at the edge of what's next. Drawing on global examples like Brazil's rollout of PIX and Open Finance, the panel will explore what happens when payment mobility and data mobility mature together – and what that could mean for credit unions in Canada.

Attendees will hear how emerging solutions in agentic AI and SMB financing could change the member relationship, speed up lending decisions and help credit unions become more embedded in members' daily financial lives.

Key learnings:

• How Real-Time Rail, Consumer-Driven Banking, stablecoin and agentic AI could reshape member expectations and the financial services industry
• What global markets can teach Canada about the connection between payment mobility, data mobility and competition
• How credit unions can use fintech partnerships to strengthen primacy, deepen member relationships and prepare before the market moves without them

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High-risk members can present meaningful growth opportunities but serving them responsibly requires more than checking compliance boxes. As Canada's proposed AML reforms under Bill C-12 raise expectations for program effectiveness, financial institutions need AML programs that help them manage risk, demonstrate outcomes and move forward with confidence.

In this session, AML and compliance leaders will explore how forward-thinking financial institutions are turning AML programs into strategic business enablers. Through practical examples and real-world experience, attendees will learn how strong AML programs can support responsible growth, improve collaboration between business and compliance teams, and meet evolving regulatory expectations without compromising control.

Key learnings:

• How to apply practical, risk-based approach to serving high-risk members responsibly while maintaining strong oversight
• What AML program effectiveness looks like in practice as expectations evolve under Canada's changing regulatory landscape
• How business and compliance teams can collaborate to support responsible growth while preserving controls, accountability and regulatory confidence

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Breakout session #3

 Place Du Canada