LiveWorkPlay Honoured to Host Australian Secretary of Social Services Windsor 2026 Conference Site Visit

LiveWorkPlay was honoured today to host an official Windsor 2026 Conference site visit, welcoming Michael Lye, Secretary of the Australian Government Department of Social Services, to our headquarters at Cours Bayview Yards in Ottawa.

The Windsor Conference is an international forum, held every 18 months to two years, bringing together senior public-service leaders from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States for discussions on employment and social affairs.

For Windsor 2026, Employment and Social Development Canada organized site visits to provide first-hand insight into Canadian approaches to labour market services and inclusive workforce development. LiveWorkPlay was invited in connection with disability employment and workforce transitions.

Because the visit fell on September 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we began by reflecting on the day and offering a land acknowledgement specific to where we were meeting: the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg, with Kitchi Zibi, Pimisi, Kìwekì Point and the Chief William Commanda Bridge part of the Indigenous history and presence around Bayview Yards.

LiveWorkPlay Co-Leaders Julie Kingstone and Keenan Wellar then shared our approach to inclusive employment, from getting to know jobseekers and employers and finding the right match through onboarding and long-term retention.

We also wanted Michael to hear directly from different sides of the employment relationship. LiveWorkPlay member Daniel Pinsonneault, a longtime Costco Wholesale Canada employee, shared his private-sector experience, while member Heather McAdam, who has worked with multiple federal departments, shared her public-sector experience.

Brett Woods of DHL Express brought the private-sector employer perspective. We shared a video featuring DHL Express’s inclusive hiring of two LiveWorkPlay candidates.

Daniel Carleton of Indigenous Services Canada, who also volunteers with our Federal Employment Strategy Group, contributed the public-sector perspective.

Another dimension came from LiveWorkPlay joining The BUSY Group in June 2026. With Paul Miles, Kerry Gibb and Rod Booth in Canada this week and available to attend, the discussion developed into a systems-to-systems exchange about how Australia and Canada structure, fund, and deliver employment supports, and what each system can learn from the other.

The morning felt very much in the spirit of the Windsor Conference: connecting individual experience, employer practice, service delivery, government systems and public policy in the same conversation.

Michael’s Windsor 2026 program continued this afternoon with another Ottawa site visit hosted by our friends at CCRW.

Our thanks to Mr Michael Lye, Secretary of the Department of Social Services, the Windsor Conference Secretariat at ESDC, and everyone who joined us for such a thoughtful exchange.