Gallery: OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026
From left: Melissa Gardner (Relax Massage Group), Karen Craft (CraftXecsa) and Deidre Desrochers (Relax Massage Group) at OBJ Best Place To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.
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Event Date: 10/06/2026 Organizer: OBJ and Disrupt HR
Ottawa’s HR and business community gathered at the Algonquin Commons Theatre on Oct. 6 for the 2026 Best Places to Work & DisruptHR Ottawa event, an evening that put the spotlight on the region’s leading employers and challenged guests to rethink the future of work.
Hosted by Ottawa Business Journal and DisruptHR, the event kicked off with a networking cocktail, giving HR professionals, business leaders and members of Ottawa’s corporate community a chance to connect before taking their seats for an evening of recognition and rapid-fire ideas.
The top 20 Best Places to Work were celebrated for creating workplaces where employees can thrive, while the DisruptHR portion of the evening brought a decidedly provocative edge to the program.
Ten speakers took the stage with five-minute presentations designed to get the audience thinking differently about hiring, leadership, workplace culture and employee engagement. Topics ranged from questioning whether employers are worthy of attracting great talent, to challenging traditional employee handbooks and examining the hidden costs of asking HR to act as a “moral shock absorber” for an organization.
Among the speakers were Victoria Cluney, Dr. Ali Shaker, Team Assent, Sanita Alias, Rabih El Khodr, Sarah Boardman, Alexandre Messager, Laura Townson, Josh Garellek and Katie Faloon-Drew.
With short presentations, bold titles and plenty of big ideas, the evening offered a fast-paced look at where Ottawa’s workplaces are headed – and what employers can do to keep up.
From the networking reception to the final presentation, the Algonquin Commons Theatre was filled with conversations about people, culture and the changing expectations of today’s workforce.
Lee Underwood (Trinity Agency), Lauren Curran and Catrina Curran (University of Ottawa) at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Jacinthe Rickman (Youth Services Bureau Employment Services), Suzanne Cyr (Cyrious Connections) and Susan Blain (Dare to be Vulnerable) at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJNegeen Yazdani and Kecia Podetz of Emond Harnden LLP at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Brij Bali (author), Alastair Summerlee (IBU), Asima Vezina (IBU) and Aliaksandra Karnaukhava (IBU) at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Avery Leprade speaks about DisruptHR’s charity for 2026, the Algonquin College Bursary Program, at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Congratulations to Relax Massage Group for winning first place in the small employers category at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Congratulations to Snowed In Studios for winning first place in the medium employers category at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Congratulations to Entuitive for winning first place in the large employers category at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Rabih El Khodr presents at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Laura Townson presents at OBJ Best Places To Work and DisruptHR Ottawa 2026 at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.Emcee Rick Chase (Gifford Carr Insurance Group) keeps the evening light at the Algonquin Commons Theatre, Oct. 6, 2026. Photos by Tia MacPherson-Abdulla/OBJ.
