Omer is a Labour Affairs Officer, Labour Standards in the Ontario Region. He has been with the Labour Program since 2022. Omer has been working in the Federal Public Service since 2016 in various departments, including Service Canada and Integrity Services

Ms. Ginette Brazeau was first appointed as Chairperson of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) on December 28, 2014 and was reappointed for a second term in December, 2019.
Prior to her appointment as Chairperson of the CIRB, Ms. Brazeau held the position of Executive Director and General Counsel of the CIRB. In this capacity, Ms. Brazeau had delegated responsibilities for the administration of the Board and was responsible for case management, legal services and the regional operations of the Board.
Prior to joining the Board, Ms. Brazeau was the Senior Director of Strategic Policy and Legislative Reform with the Labour Program of the Department of Employment and Social Development and also worked at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service as Director of Legislation, Research and Policy. In these capacities, she was responsible for advising senior management and the Minister of Labour on labour and employment programs or legislative initiatives and on the administration of the Canada Labour Code. She started her career in the Public Service with Industry Canada serving in different positions related to corporate law policy and strategic planning.
Ms. Brazeau served on the executive boards of the Association of Labor Relations Agencies and the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals. She is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa.

Noëlle Caloren is currently Senior Legal Counsel, Labour and Employment at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL).

Prior to joining CNL in 2017, Noëlle was a civil litigator at Borden Ladner Gervais’s Ottawa office where she practiced for 22 years, predominantly in the areas of management-side labour and employment law. Noëlle developed her expertise in labour and employment law through her work for a broad array of public institutions, notably in the educational, healthcare and municipal sectors; and private sector corporate clients in both the provincial and federal jurisdictions. She provided strategic advice and representation to unionized and non-unionized employers on a variety of employment-related matters, including the development of employment contracts, policies and procedures, the interpretation and negotiation of collective agreements, the assessment of termination packages, and representation in legal and administrative proceedings related to wrongful dismissal claims and union grievances of all types. Noëlle also regularly advised clients on human rights issues and workplace investigations, and is well versed in both occupational health and safety, pay equity and privacy matters. Also, on an ongoing basis, from 2002 to 2016, Noëlle authored and edited the chapter on Part III of the Canada Labour Code in Borden Ladner Gervais’ loose leaf publication titled Employment Law: Solutions for the Canadian Workplace (published by STP Specialty Technical Publishers).

Noëlle graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa in 1993, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995.

Eric is the Director of the Compliance and Enforcement Division and responsible for the oversight and maintenance of inspection and enforcement activities as it relates to the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and the Accessible Canada Regulations (ACR).

Prior to joining the Commission, Eric worked at Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) for 6 years. At the OIC, Eric investigated access to information complaints against government institutions and then managed a team of investigators within the Central Agencies, Security and Intelligence portfolio. During this time Eric was responsible for various systemic-wide investigations of the overall processing of access requests.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts with a specialization in Sociology and a minor in Criminology from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Arts, Peace and Conflict studies from Saint Paul University. In his spare time Eric is a student and avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Sandra Haydon brings over 20 years of experience working with clients in both the public and private sectors under both federal and provincial pay equity legislation. She has worked with both unionized and non-unionized workforces on dozens of job evaluation / pay equity projects. Prior to starting Sandra Haydon & Associates in 2014, Sandra worked for a global consulting firm where she held a number of leadership roles in the firm’s human capital practice.

Sandra has provided advice and support to organizations to create project plans and supporting communications; develop terms of reference for committees; create pay equity compliant customized job evaluation tools and support implementation of recognized off-the -shelf plans; undertake job content data collection through both questionnaires and interview processes; and train and facilitate job evaluation committees. Over the course of her career Sandra has evaluated thousands of jobs across various occupations, levels and sectors. Sandra has completed multiple pay equity plans including all underlying mathematical analysis covering classification and compensation design (base and performance/incentive pay), pay equity and internal equity.

Sandra is currently working with multiple organizations to support the analysis and project planning for the implementation of the new pay equity requirements under the federal legislation. These clients include both public and provide sector organizations across the aviation, finance, and broader public service with and focus on crown corporations and agencies. Working with these clients, Sandra has supported the development of processes and materials to support the work ahead including Notices, Communication Plans, Project Plans, and analytic tools to test current state.

Jennifer Hodgins practises in all areas of employment and labour law, including human rights, pay equity, employment standards, labour and employee relations, grievance arbitration, wrongful dismissal and health and safety matters. Jennifer has acted on behalf of employers in grievance arbitrations, human rights tribunal proceedings, wrongful dismissal claims, judicial review proceedings and federal and provincial labour board matters. She also regularly provides proactive and strategic advice to employers relating to workplace issues and labour relations, including collective bargaining.

Prior to joining our Toronto office, Jennifer practised labour and employment law at a management-side labour and employment boutique firm and completed a clerkship at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.

She has also worked as in-house labour counsel at a large regional hospital.

Derrick Hynes is currently the President and CEO of FETCO (Federally Regulated
Employers – Transportation and Communications). In this role, he manages the day-to-day operations of FETCO, an employers’ association comprised of federally regulated firms within the transportation and communications sectors. FETCO companies employ nearly 500,000 Canadian workers and is the primary voice for federal private sector employers on domestic workplace matters within Canada.

Mr. Hynes, through FETCO, also represents Canadian employers on labour matters on the international stage. In this capacity, he has been selected to lead the Canadian Employer Delegation to the ILO International Labour Conference on several occasions and is a member of the Governing Body of the ILO. He currently sits on the Equal Pay Equity International Coalition (EPIC). He has spoken at numerous international events on behalf of Canadian employers.

Mr. Hynes has more than 25 years of professional experience, in both the private and public sectors. He is a skilled communicator, with proven research, writing and facilitation skills. Mr. Hynes has served as primary media spokesperson on behalf of federal employers for many years and is a registered lobbyist who advocates on behalf of a diverse constituency. Previous employers include The Conference Board of Canada, NAV CANADA and the Government of Yukon.

Mr. Hynes holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Memorial University and a Master of Public Administration from Queen’s University. He has been married to Jacqueline for more than 25 years and is a proud father to Adam and Leah. In his free time, Mr. Hynes is an active cyclist, cross country skier and hockey player. He is also a long-time cross country skiing instructor and minor hockey coach.

Sarah advises, represents and advocates for employers on a wide variety of employment and labour law matters. She began her career with Sherrard Kuzz LLP as a law student, during which time she participated in a secondment with the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

In addition to both civil litigation and tribunal advocacy, Sarah’s practice includes advising employers in areas such as: management training; policy development and implementation; labour relations; and workplace investigations.

Sarah is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association (Administrative Law, Civil Litigation, Labour & Employment Law, Workers’ Compensation, Constitutional, Civil Liberties & Human Rights, Privacy and Access to Information Law).

Simmy Sahdra is a management side employment and labour lawyer in Dentons’ Toronto Employment & Labour group. She provides strategic labour and employment advice and representation to clients of all sizes, including multinational corporations, mid-market businesses, start-up businesses, and not-for-profit based organizations. Simmy represents provincially and federally regulated clients in both the private and public sector across various industries. With her diverse client service experience, she offers customized solutions to address the specific labour and employment needs of each client. Simmy is focused on providing targeted labour and employment advice, which reflects an incorporation of the necessary legal compliance balanced with an understanding of unique business needs and industry norms. Simmy is committed to achieving favourable outcomes for her clients in a wide range of workplace-related matters. She routinely represents management in all aspects of labour and employment related disputes, including: employment standards claims, labour claims, wrongful dismissal litigation, labour arbitrations, interest arbitrations, occupational health and safety claims, and human rights litigation. Simmy also acts as a lead labour and employment lawyer advising on all labour and employment matters arising in corporate transactions.

Priya is a Partner at Sherrard Kuzz LLP. She is an accomplished labour, employment and human rights lawyer with a background in civil litigation. She has extensive experience advising and representing a broad range of for-profit and non-profit management clients, in addition to conducting workplace investigations. While Priya places an emphasis on practical, risk-mitigating advice, she is no stranger to the courtroom and regularly advocates for her clients in court and before provincial/federal administrative tribunals

Fluent in English, French and Spanish, Priya is widely published and regularly asked to speak on topics relevant to her practice. Priya is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, Advocates’ Society, Canadian Bar Association and Ontario Bar Association. She has also obtained the Association of Workplace Investigators certificate designation (AWI-CH). Priya sits on the Board of Directors of the West Park Healthcare Centre .

Michelle Sterling is a Senior Investigator in Occupational Health and Safety for the ESDC – Labour Program. Michelle started her career with the Labour Program in 2008 and has held her current position for the past 9 years. Michelle is responsible for providing technical guidance to a team of Health and Safety Officers (HSO) in the Ontario region as well as conducting investigations and inspections of federally regulated employers. In addition, Michelle acts as a national trainer for HSOs and was one of the persons responsible for training HSOs on the new Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations when they came into force on January 1, 2021.

Melissa is presently the Director of the Policy, Outreach and Reporting Division, and responsible for providing support to the Accessibility Commissioner’s inspectorate, as well as promoting compliance with regulated entities. She has played an integral role in the design and development of the compliance and enforcement programming for the Office of the Accessibility Commissioner.

Prior to joining the Commission, Melissa worked at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for 11 years providing policy advice to the most senior levels of the Agency. While at CFIA, Melissa was the Champion for Persons with Disabilities from 2017-2019. She advocated for and played an instrumental role in building a federal government-wide initiative to hire individuals with intellectual disabilities. As a result of these efforts and her efforts to share and encourage use of recruitment best practices across the federal government, she was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award by LiveWorkPlay.

Melissa received a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for her advocacy work in the area of employment for people with disabilities. She also served on the National Capital Region Down Syndrome Association Board of Directors in 2007, and was the Board Chair from 2010-2014.

Cristina Toteda is Senior Counsel, Labour and Employment Law at Air Canada, where she advises and represents the company on a broad variety of labour and employment matters. Prior to joining Air Canada, she practiced labour and employment law in a national law firm, where she advised and represented a number of federally-regulated employers. She was also a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at McGill University, from where she graduated. Following her legal studies, she served as a judicial clerk at the Federal Court of Appeal.

Jimmy Vassilopoulos is the current National H&S Director for Purolator. With over 20 years of H&S experience he specializes in Behaviour Based Safety, Risk Control and Transportation Safety in the courier industry. Jimmy is currently leading Purolator through a transformational advancement in risk control through a highly customized defensive driving training program and strategic initiatives to reinforce safe behaviour through technology. Many of these initiatives are being applied to both drivers as well as inside manual employees. Since Jimmy started with Purolator in 2022, the organization has experienced record years in safety metrics.

Prior Purolator, Jimmy lead the H&S department for UPS Canada for 12 years and previous to that worked as a H&S lead in Europe for various industries such as transportation, hospitality and leisure. He is currently involved projects using AI and predictive analytics to control risk for next generation safety initiatives.

A Partner at our Vancouver office, Jennifer represents employers in all areas of labour and employment law including wrongful dismissal, employment contracts, human rights issues, employment standards, union organizing, collective agreement interpretation, grievance handling, progressive discipline and investigations into employee misconduct. Jen has experience appearing before arbitration boards and a variety of administrative tribunals including the Human Rights Tribunal and the BC Labour Relations Board. She has also appeared as counsel in the Provincial Court of British Columbia, Supreme Court of British Columbia and BC Court of Appeal. A significant part of Jen’s practice involves acting for and advising First Nations governments, economic development corporations, and First Nations-owned entities and business and assisting with their policy development and training, as well as governance. Jen volunteers for the BC SPCA Vancouver/Burnaby Branch as a Community Council member.

Natasha is a lawyer at the law firm Sherrard Kuzz LLP, one of Canada’s leading employment and labour law firms representing employers.

In her practice, Natasha advises employers of various sizes and industries on all manner of issues related to labour relations, employment law and human resources, including but not limited to: workplace investigations, policy development, employment and independent contractor agreements, wrongful dismissal, human rights and accommodation, occupational health and safety, workers’ compensation, and management training.