2025 Agenda - Day 1

Gain insight into today’s sessions so you can get the most out of your conference experience.

Gain the regulatory clarity and confidence needed to navigate new guidelines in Canada’s evolving food landscape.

2025 has been a big year for Generative AI, and many organizations are taking a hard look at whether the technology can really deliver on transformational change. This discussion takes a no-nonsense look at both the hype and the reality of emerging AI technologies for food and beverage brands, providing practical insights on goal setting and success measurement, data security, managing AI accuracy and choosing strong partners in a technology environment that continues to change rapidly.

• State of the industry for Generative-AI based solutions
• Applied AI Hype vs. Substance: Key Trends
• Goal Setting & Success Measurement
• Data Security and Information Privacy
• Driving Accuracy & Minimizing Hallucination Risk
• Partner Selection & Future-Proofing Investments

As global trade expands, aligning Canadian food regulations with international standards is key to market access and consumer trust. Explore how regulatory harmonization supports both compliance and competitiveness. Take away specific solutions to:

• Navigate Canada’s evolving food regulatory landscape in relation to Codex and other global frameworks.
• Identify key areas of alignment and divergence that affect exports and imports as well as engages regulators and stakeholders to shape a globally aligned compliance strategy.
• Leverage harmonized standards to streamline regulatory approvals and expand market reach.

Advance in the global marketplace by understanding the opportunities and challenges of regulatory harmonization.

Food claims can boost market appeal — but navigating the regulatory landscape is complex. From nutrient content to health claims, staying compliant while effectively communicating with consumers is critical. Master the success factors to:

• Understand the regulatory requirements for food claims under Canadian law and international standards.
• Differentiate between permissible claims and those that may trigger regulatory action.
• Ensure your marketing, labelling, and packaging align with the latest guidance and strengthen consumer trust through accurate, science-based communication.

Improve your ability to manage food claims with confidence, compliance, and credibility to build consumer trust.

This presentation examines practical strategies for managing foreign material risk with the clear objective of driving toward zero incidents in finished goods. We’ll look at:

• Where foreign material originates in modern processing environments, why legacy detection and manual inspection approaches struggle to meet today’s retailer and regulatory expectations
• How leading processors are redesigning their prevention, detection, and response programs to close the gap.
• Risk-based controls, realistic detection capability benchmarks, supplier accountability, and the importance of traceability and escalation discipline when incidents occur.

Ultimately, the session offers a practical framework to help QA and food safety leaders strengthen their programs, reduce business and brand exposure, and move confidently toward a zero-tolerance foreign material standard.

Regulatory processes in the food industry can be time-consuming, inconsistent, and costly — so where do industry leaders see real opportunities to streamline? Take back to your office strategies to:

• Identify the biggest bottlenecks in regulatory workflows across supply chains, product categories, and regions.
• Discover real-world examples of companies that have successfully streamlined audits, submissions, and approvals.
• Gain actionable strategies to scale your regulatory processes while maintaining accuracy, transparency, and trust.

Optimize your operations with practical insights that reduce complexity and strengthen compliance to stay competitive in an evolving global market.

From emissions reporting to sustainable sourcing, businesses must adapt to evolving standards while demonstrating environmental responsibility. Source your plan of action by:

• Understanding current and emerging sustainability and climate risk regulations that impact the food sector.
• Integrating climate resilience and sustainability into risk management frameworks and day-to-day operations.
• Learning from industry leaders aligning business strategy with environmental responsibility.

Advance your organization’s ability to meet rising stakeholder and regulatory expectations to actively mitigate climate-related risks.

As the United States shifts focus away from food regulation, Canada faces new challenges in ensuring food safety and trade stability. With cross-border food trade decreasing, the CFIA is stepping forward to protect public health, support domestic industry, and uphold global standards. Master the success factors to:

• Assess the implications of a deprioritized FDA on Canada’s import controls, inspection regimes, and risk assessments, and understand how Canada is adapting regulatory oversight in response to weakened U.S. collaboration and declining trade volume.
• Strengthen internal food systems to reinforce domestic resilience and consumer confidence.
• Explore opportunities for Canada to lead globally in science-based food regulation and innovation.

Amplify Canada’s leadership in food safety and trade resilience to reinforce domestic oversight and global credibility.

Selling food across provincial lines in Canada can be more complicated than international trade. With each province applying its own rules, businesses must navigate a complex patchwork of regulations that can stall growth and innovation. Source practical tips to:

• Understand the regulatory fragmentation that affects interprovincial food trade and what this means for producers and retailers.
• Examine real-world case studies from sectors like alcohol, dairy, and meat, and identify emerging opportunities and efforts to harmonize provincial standards.
• Develop strategies to navigate compliance barriers while expanding market reach within Canada.

Achieve mastery of the regulatory realities of interprovincial trade to confidently expand market access and drive business growth.

Examine the balance between effective marketing and ethical responsibility when targeting young audiences. Stay compliant while building brand trust with families. Master the success factors to:

• Navigate regulations and advertising standards for child-focused marketing.
• Develop responsible messaging that encourages healthy eating habits.
• Leverage digital platforms while maintaining transparency and accountability.

Advance ethical, transparent, and compliant marketing to children to strengthen brand reputation and earn the trust of families.

Review the key solutions and takeaways from today’s sessions. Source a summary of action points to implement in your work. Discuss tomorrow’s highlights!

• Relax and unwind with tasty cocktails after a long day of learning.
• Don’t miss your chance to win fun prizes by scanning your badge at our exhibitor booths.
• Make dinner plans with your new connections and explore the best of what Toronto nightlife has to offer. Just be sure to set your alarm for Day 2!