Our annual breakfast in early October in downtown Toronto starts bright and early, and attracts a large gathering of students and alumni eager to hear from a government representative or senior official from the Ontario Public Service on the latest provincial policy and administration priorities. Strategic direction, vision and leadership play a crucial role in any initiative, and effective management and innovation are a must in the ever-changing and challenging environment faced by policy-makers and the public service. Always interesting for seasoned public servants and our faculty, and a valuable window into the practice of public service for new students, the event is an exciting opportunity for discussion between academia and practitioners.
Featured Events
2024 Ontario Public Service (OPS) Breakfast
Keynote Speaker: Shannon Fuller – Deputy Minister, Policy and Delivery, and Associate Secretary of Cabinet. The Cabinet Office, Government of Ontario
2023 Ontario Public Service (OPS) Breakfast
Event highlighted the SIU: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.
Keynote Speaker: Joseph Martino, Director – Special Investigation Unit, Ministry of the Attorney General.
2022 Ontario Public Service (OPS) Breakfast
Event focused on Indigenous justice with a special talk by guest speaker Kate Forget, legal counsel, Indigenous Justice Division (IJD) at Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.
The event hosted a number of faculty, students, invited guests and alumni in-person at a downtown location. Forget delivered a keynote speech titled “Advancing Indigenous Justice” and shared her experience and work on both MMIWG (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls) and inquiries into racism and policing in northern Ontario, as well as discussing the real and lived consequences of colonialism on organizations and individuals.
2021 Ontario Public Service (OPS) Breakfast
Event focused on anti-racism with a special talk by guest speaker Nosa Ero-Brown, Assistant Deputy Minister at Ontario’s Anti-Racism Directorate (ARD)
The event took on a hybrid form, hosting a number of faculty, students and alumni in-person at a downtown location and also virtually over Zoom. Ero-Brown, with over a decade of experience in promoting the values of equity, fairness and justice across government platforms, delivered a keynote speech titled “Anti-Racism in Ontario: Strategy and Action” and shared an overview of the ARD, anti-racism challenges, as well as best practices and strategies for organizations and individuals.
2020 Virtual OPS Breakfast
Event focused on creating the conditions for public service innovation and excellence by building an engaging workforce culture enabled by talented, inclusive leaders
Brian Fior, Ontario’s Chief Talent Officer and Associate Deputy Minister, Office of the Public Service Commission Treasury Board Secretariat, served as the keynote speaker at the event and provided an insider’s perspective into a new strategy for the public service titled The OPS Inclusion and Diversity Blueprint. The Blueprint is a roadmap to harnessing diversity to create a public service workforce for the future.