Make sure to stop by the virtual booths for an opportunity to meet a variety of vendors relevant to your work. Please note some of our exhibiting booths will be static displays offering product and contact information, while others will be staffed to answer your questions.

Don’t miss out on the opening ceremonies where we will kick off the 2020 National Conference – Virtual Edition, “Fueling the Engines of Change”! Be officially welcomed to the virtual stage, and join us as we pay tribute to our great land by joining in the signing of O’Canada, and paying tribute to the sacred Indigenous land we build on. The opening ceremonies will set the stage for three days of true inspiration!

We are excited to welcome Ines Casanova, Grade 4 grand prize winner from Toronto to the virtual stage to read her winning entry titled Home. The Endless Possibilities.

You can view her illustrated book here, Home. The Endless Possibilities. Illustration credit to Mazie Lovie.

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. ” - Arundhati Roy

We are currently living through a global crisis unlike anything we have experienced in our lifetime. The pandemic has shown us that we are each an apprentice to change. No matter how accomplished we are, we have learned we are not masters. It has also shown us that in the midst of negative impacts, we can look for the opportunities that are available to serve our organization and the planet. We are not the people we were a year ago. We are being called upon to expand the vision of who we are and what we, and our organizations can do. Our full presence, wisdom and action is required to create the magic of change we know is possible. In this engaging experience, we will answer the following questions:

• Who do I need to be to step into my highest potential and shift to the new vision that the challenge is asking of us?
• What is the critical mindset and what are the skills I need to build my resilience and engage in change rapidly? 
• How can I accomplish more and be innovative during these times? 
• What are the practical strategies I can use to help create positive change in my work, life and community?

Six affiliate consultations. Countless one-on-one discussions. Feedback surveys.

Habitat Board leaders, EDs, CEOs, and staff nationwide joined forces with the actively involved Advisory Committee to answer one question, “How can the federation, working directly or with partners, contribute to a significant increase in the availability of decent, safe and affordable housing for everyone?”

Habitat Canada will unveil Framing the Future, the framework for a new Habitat Canada strategy that capitalizes on federation-generated ideas to support its work to help more families in need of housing. The new framework, developed with an Advisory Committee made up of Habitat Canada and affiliate board chairs, EDs and CEOs from coast to coast, features high-impact initiatives suggested by the federation for inclusion in Habitat Canada’s next three- to five-year strategy. Habitat staff nationwide are invited to attend this informative session to learn how the federation is going to scale-up Habitat’s impact on families in need of housing across the country.

Social oppression is a term we have all heard but that we may not fully understand. It is infused into the norms of our everyday lives, so it’s a difficult aspect of experience to separate and recognize.  For this reason, diversity and anti-oppression are generally experienced as incendiary topics of conversation and people can often enter discussions about them with preconceived notions that drive tension, negativity, defensiveness and sometimes even fear.

This presentation will increase your understanding of the reality of social oppression relative to your own personal biases, fears, and comfort levels. Coming out of it, you will be on the way to understanding why anti-oppression reform initiatives are both necessary and beneficial to you, our federation and our communities.

One of the many traditions of an East Coast Kitchen Party is bringing together friends to share songs and stories while guitars, fiddles and voices crowd around the kitchen table. While we can’t be together in-person this year, we can still join in the fun with fellow EDs and CEOs in this virtual party. So mark your calendars, grab your instruments and if you’re feeling very East Coast throw a pot of fish chowder on the stove!   

Be sure to join us for the “Social Hour” after a day of virtual meetings! The atmosphere will be relaxed – with the conversations being driven by you and the rest of the participants! Be sure to have your favourite beverage and appetizers on hand to sustain the conversations.

The holidays are a time to come together, engage in age-old traditions, and make new ones! The kitchen truly is the heart of the home, which is why this makes it the most appropriate place to gather with your Volunteer Services colleagues for fun, laughter, and the opportunity to learn a new recipe or two that may very well become a new family favourite, and a new tradition to add to your holiday celebrations! 

Recipes will be “no-bake”, so feel free to prep right alongside your colleagues, or just grab a drink and join in the fun by observing this fine art form. We will also show you how to individually package, and serve these items. We will also engage in a holiday movie quote game, so start watching all of your favourites in preparation of our time together, because “nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas”.

Recipes will be made available prior to the session so you can pick up your supplies well in advance! This information will be made available to registered delegates only, so make sure you register for this social in order to be well prepared before joining us for a rendez-vous in the kitchen!

We could all use some fun in the sun right now! So crank up the heat, put on your best beachwear, grab your favourite tropical beverage and join us for a virtual “Beach Blanket Bash”. Seas the day, and don’t flip flop on this one! We promise contests, games and laughter that will make you as happy as a clam. The best part is you won’t be finding sand for weeks after it’s over.

Bonus: Show us your favorite Zoom beach background!

Grab a beverage and join your construction colleagues across Canada to share experiences that offer an opportunity to boast a bit, or to add a bit of levity, and reveal a blunder or two from 2020.

In advance of the session on Wednesday, November 18, attendees are asked to send Terry Petkau, Director, Safety Awareness & Construction, via tpetkau@habitat.ca, a photo, or a short description that offer a hint of an experience you would like to share. If possible, the photo or description should not be too obvious as, each submission will be revealed one at a time, and attendees will be given fifteen seconds to guess the affiliate who submitted it. From there, the affiliate rep will have three to five minutes to share more detail about their submission. This is also an opportunity to boast about members of your construction team, a specific volunteer, a construction technique, or simply a funny experience on your construction site that took place in 2020. Hoping this will be a great opportunity for everyone to get to know their counterparts from across the country in a unique and fun virtual way.

This will be a fun and interactive session hosted by a few of our very own ReStore leaders, Lisa Voycey and Tracey Langley. This social session is intended to let us get to know each other better, and have some FUN! Look forward to connecting with you during this social session!

Make sure to stop by the virtual booths for an opportunity to meet a variety of vendors relevant to your work. Please note, some of our exhibiting booths will be static displays offering product and contact information, while others will be staffed to answer your questions.