EVOLVE 2026

Riaz Meghji, Human Connection Expert

Even in a profession typically defined by accuracy and compliance, strong relationships are as important as technical expertise. As AI becomes an increasingly common sounding board in accounting, the ability to build genuine human connections is a key differentiator.

This session explores three practical habits that strengthen trust, influence, and collaboration: turning small talk into meaningful conversations, asking before offering advice, and recognizing others in ways that make them feel valued.

Attendees will leave with applicable strategies to deepen connections with colleagues and clients and a renewed appreciation for the conversations that matter most in an increasingly AI-enabled world.

Introduced by: 

Garth Sheriff CPA, CA, CPA (Illinois), CGMA, AAIA, MAcc, Founder, Sheriff Consulting

Every fraud needs a story the fraudster can live with. In Quebec's maple syrup heist, insiders drained nearly $20 million from a strategic reserve for a year—and told themselves they were fighting an unjust cartel, not stealing. 

This session is an ethics case study built around that self-deception: it demonstrates how weak controls create opportunity, tests integrity in real time, and illustrates how "Robin Hood" rationalization lets good people justify bad choices. Attendees will examine the fraud triangle in action and leave better equipped to recognize rationalization—in others, and in themselves.

Introduced by:

Karl Schamotta, Chief Market Strategist, Corpay Cross-Border Solutions

The world is undergoing a historic period of upheaval as institutions built over centuries struggle to keep pace with a rapid acceleration in geopolitical and technological change. With powerful innovations transforming how billions of people live and work, societies are under severe pressure, long-settled alliances are fracturing, and flows of people, goods, money, and ideas are being rerouted.

This session steps back from the day-to-day noise to make sense of the bigger picture: how a clash between the old world and the new is reshaping economies, redirecting capital flows, and upending financial markets—and what it all means for Canadians.

Koula Vasilopoulos, Senior Managing Director, Robert Half

AI is transforming the workplace, but its success depends on how leaders guide its adoption. This session explores the current state of AI across Canadian industries and its impact on productivity, hiring and employee experience, as well as the critical role of leadership in driving responsible implementation.

Participants will learn strategies for closing skills gaps, engaging teams, and balancing innovation with empathy, while safeguarding privacy and minimizing risk. Whether an organization is starting its AI journey or scaling initiatives, this session offers actionable insights to build a future-ready workforce and help ensure AI complements—not replaces—the human element.

Presented by: 

Jeanette Hill CPA, CMA, MSc, Sustainability Manager, BC Pavilion Corporation

Sustainability is increasingly becoming a practical business issue for small- and medium-sized businesses, connected to customer expectations, financing, procurement, risk management, and competitiveness.

This session begins with a clear overview of the current sustainability landscape, including mandatory versus voluntary reporting and key Canadian developments. It then explores why collecting focused sustainability data can create business value by helping organizations understand risks, prepare for value-chain requests, and identify operational opportunities. Participants will learn how a few meaningful metrics—such as energy, emissions, water, waste, and supply chain exposure—can support better decisions, ROI analysis, capital planning, and long-term business resilience.

Erin Thorp, Founder, ELF Solutions Inc.

High performers at every level share one common challenge: the internal patterns that take over under pressure. Whether managing a team, navigating a demanding workload, or making high-stakes decisions, high performers’ biggest obstacle is often their own thinking.

Drawing on the Positive Intelligence (PQ) framework, this session introduces the science of mental fitness, identifies the saboteur patterns driving stress and self-doubt, and provides practical tools to lead and perform as one’s best self.

Introduced by:

Maddison Croden, Partner, RMRF

The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) is Alberta’s privacy law for provincially regulated private sector organizations, businesses, and non-profit organizations. This session will cover the requirements for proper collection, use, and disclosure of personal information under PIPA, including exceptions to disclosure. Through insightful discussion, participants will leave with a strong foundation for understanding their organization’s privacy obligations.

Presented by: 

Andrew Woods, Founder, Ask Us Consulting

One simple skill—asking—can transform careers. In this fast-paced, story-driven session, participants will be challenged to replace hesitation with confidence and fear with curiosity. This session explores the psychology of asking and the mindset shifts required to start asking with impact.

Participants will walk away knowing how to craft a powerful ask, read the room effectively, and handle a “no” without losing momentum. They will leave not only inspired but also equipped with practical frameworks to turn small requests into significant results.

Tammy Towill FPCA, Partner, Learning Driven Solutions

Professionals spend countless hours in meetings, yet many leave feeling disengaged, unheard, and unclear about outcomes. Research shows meeting quality directly impacts employee engagement, trust, collaboration, and decision-making. When only a few voices dominate the conversation, organizations miss valuable perspectives and often make poorer decisions.

This session explores how leaders can transform meetings from passive attendance events into meaningful opportunities for participation, collaboration, and results. Participants will examine the hidden costs of disengaged meetings, learn strategies to ensure all voices are heard, and leave with practical tools to improve engagement and decision quality in any meeting environment.

Atiba Lewis, Founder, ATL Workflow Automation Inc.

Generative AI is quickly becoming part of everyday accounting work, but useful results require more than opening a chatbot and asking a question. This practical session shows CPAs in industry how they can apply AI to real tasks—such as month-end commentary, variance analysis, management reporting, research, and workflow automation—while maintaining professional judgment.

Through live demonstrations, attendees will learn a repeatable approach for prompting, reviewing, and validating AI-generated work plus clear guardrails for confidentiality, accuracy, bias, and ethical decision-making as these tools shift from assisting to acting.

Danielle M. MacLeod CPA, CA, Associate Director, Accounting Standards Board

Join staff from the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) for an overview of recently issued Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE) that will be effective in the coming year. This session will also provide an update on the AcSB’s current work plan and key projects that may affect private enterprises in the future.

Rachel Miller FCPA, FCA, CEO, CPA Alberta

CPA Alberta is the professional organization for more than 32,000 CPAs across the province. The organization educates and regulates the competency and ethical standards of Alberta CPAs and promotes the value of the CPA designation.

This session will provide the latest information on the profession in Alberta and CPA Alberta’s work.

Jay Kiew, Innovation and Change Navigation Strategist

Change used to come in waves. Organizations would navigate disruption, stabilize, and breathe before the next shift. That cycle is gone. Today, the business world faces more complexity and uncertainty than ever before, from risk to talent challenges, technology shifts to tightened margins—and just as one transformation lands, the ground shifts again. Amidst constant disruption, how do professionals steer the future of finance, let alone help it flourish? 

Diving into the dynamics of transforming challenges into opportunities, this session explores the tools and strategies needed to skillfully navigate the future of finance in the age of agentic AI.

Anna Stuart FCPA, FCMA

Up to 4 CPD hours

This workshop begins by establishing a strong foundation based on the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants code, reviewing the five fundamental principles of ethical behaviour: integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour. The workshop then explores the real-world obstacles—defined as threats—that professional accountants face daily. Through realistic case studies, participants will be introduced to three mindsets that counter these threats and enable ethical decision-making.

Tim Chan CPA, CIA, Lead Principal, WAI Professional Corporation

Up to 4 CPD hours

This workshop is organized in three tiers so participants of different comfort levels all leave with something. Beginning with a focused refresher on the importance of data storytelling that sets the foundation for learning how to use generative AI to build powerful visualizations, participants will unlock data communication techniques that effective senior leaders will rely on for critical decision-making.

Tammy Towill FCPA, Partner, Learning Driven Solutions

Up to 4 CPD hours

Participants will leave with the ability to evaluate how language and the structure of our communication influence ethical decision-making, power dynamics, and inclusivity; recognize unintended opportunities and barriers created by organizational language and communication norms, including their impact on diverse teams and stakeholders; and reflect on personal communication habits and biases to better understand their influence on workplace interactions and outcomes.

Andrew Woods, Founder, Ask Us Consulting

Up to 4 CPD hours

As AI is transforming work, the value of human skills has never been more critical.

This insightful workshop will provide practical strategies for blending the power of AI with human brilliance—with a focus on soft skills development. Participants will explore how legendary customer service, emotional intelligence, and empathy can be the differentiating factors that take teams and organizations to new levels.

Blair Cook CPA, Founder and Partner, Executive Finance Partners Inc.

Up to 4 CPD hours

In this workshop, participants will learn how to successfully navigate capital markets, identify the right financing instruments to meet their organization's needs, guide a financing process, and negotiate terms from interested capital providers. The session will also address best practices for managing covenant compliance and reporting and what to do when the terms of the agreement cannot be met. From strategic planning to execution, this workshop will guide a financial leader every step of the way.

Tim Chan CPA, CIA, Lead Principal, WAI Professional Corporation

Up to 4 CPD hours

This is not a beginner “how to write a prompt” workshop; it targets the AI literacy leaders actually need: enough fluency to be credible and enough governance perspective to set guardrails. Participants will explore real cases and gain practical takeaways to implement immediately.

Registration for EVOLVE 2026 includes access to all live-virtual sessions on November 17 and access to on-demand recordings for 30 days following the event.

EVOLVE 2026 qualifies for up to 7.5 verifiable CPD hours, including up to one ethics hour, plus up to 4.5 non-verifiable CPD hours if you revisit the conference recordings.

CPAs must continually enhance their knowledge and expertise to remain at the forefront of today’s competitive market. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is learning that develops and maintains professional competence to enable members to continue to perform their professional roles. Any learning and development that is relevant and appropriate to a member’s work, professional responsibilities, and growth as a CPA will qualify for CPD. CPA Alberta does not predetermine how much CPD is gained at an activity, nor does the organization predetermine what qualifies as CPD for each individual attendee.

To earn up to one hour of ethics CPD, you must attend the live-virtual ethics session on November 17.

Find more information on CPD reporting here or email cpdreporting@cpaalberta.ca.

Early access: Registration is discounted until October 2 for early access.

EVOLVE group registration: Groups of five or more receive one complimentary registration. All attendee names must be provided at the time of registration, and the deadline for group registration is 4 p.m. on November 6. To register, email pdregistration@cpalberta.ca.

Corporate Savings Program: Corporate Savings Program participants can save on their regular non-member EVOLVE 2026 registration. Learn more about the program and save on EVOLVE and other premium PD opportunities.

Tip! Group registration and the Corporate Savings Program reduced rate can be combined for even greater value!

Breakout sessions do not require pre-registration. You can catch up on any session you miss with access to the EVOLVE recordings for 30 days (for up to an additional 4.5 non-verifiable CPD hours).

Store credit will be granted if the conference withdrawal request is received more than seven (7) days before the final registration close date.

Once the registration deadline for a live-virtual conference has passed, withdrawals and refunds are not permitted.

Group registrations are not eligible for a refund.

We recommend using the latest version of Zoom and closing all additional tabs, apps, and VPNs for best user experience. Once in the EVOLVE lobby, you can test your device, which will then display recommendations for the best Zoom experience.

If you have followed the link you received in your email, tested your device, downloaded the latest version of Zoom, closed all other tabs, apps, and VPNs, and are still experiencing issues, please email pdregistration@cpaalberta.ca.

Zoom’s automatic captions will be available throughout EVOLVE. If you have further accessibility requirements, please email pdregistration@cpaalberta.ca.

To view and use captions as an attendee of a Zoom event, select “Show Captions” or “Captions” on the bottom meeting toolbar and select your preferred language. You can adjust size, font, or colour through the Zoom desktop app’s accessibility settings, which can be accessed by selecting your profile picture>Settings>Accessibility.

Your certificate of completion will be available to download after the EVOLVE conference via learn.cpaalberta.ca. Once logged in, navigate to the EVOLVE session and select "Download Your Certificate" to retrieve your completion certificate.

For EVOLVE attendees, recordings of conference sessions will be available for 30 days following the conference.

The live-virtual EVOLVE post-conference workshops are your opportunity to continue your learning. They are not included in regular registration for EVOLVE 2026, so be sure to register separately before they sell out!