MONTRÉAL REGIONAL FORUM & CITT/ICTS EXPO-SCÈNE
April 15-17, 2025 | Montreal, Quebec
Join us in Montréal!
Event Safety Alliance Canada's new Montréal Regional Forum will provide a slate of relevant safety topics, presented by experts in the field, as well as an opportunity to share event safety experiences with colleagues. You’ll learn directly from like-minded professionals – their experiences, expertise and perspectives.
This forum is planned to provide practical insights for production suppliers, event production companies, festivals and roadhouses, municipalities, colleges and universities, labour organizations, and all those who provide support to the live event industry
Join us for a day of inspiring speakers and the opportunity to connect with colleagues.
SESSIONS
Great idea! Now what? How to Set Event Safety Planning Priorities | Janet Sellery
In the dynamic world of live events, ensuring health and safety is paramount but when we consider all the potential hazards involved in arts, entertainment and live events, the list can be daunting. What should be done first and how do we begin? Based on her experience with a wide range of venues, shows and festivals, Janet will kick off the day with a discussion about how to prioritize health and safety when planning for any event.
"Stranger in the Room" to "Valued Event Partner" | Martin Deslaurier
Driven by a lifelong passion for risk management and security, cultivated since the early 1990s, Martin Deslaurier transitioned after 25 years in the cash-in-transit sector to a unique challenge: becoming the inaugural and dedicated Security Director at Place des Arts, Canada's largest cultural hub. This is the story of his journey, from navigating the 'stranger in the room' syndrome to establishing himself as a trusted business partner. He'll share the strategies, tools, and insights that facilitated this transformation, addressing the challenges and opportunities encountered along the way.
Peer to Peer Conversations | Janet Sellery and Friends
This is an opportunity for across the sectors to connect with their peers to discuss key topics. These conversations will dig into specific health and safety challenges that we face every day.
Building Safety Culture: Practical Ways to Lead From Any Role | Kate Hough
Safety isn’t just the responsibility of managers or safety officers – it belongs to everyone. Learn how every team member can contribute to a safer work environment, no matter their role. From speaking up about hazards, to leading by example, small continuous actions can make a big impact. We will look at how to start building a safety culture, using the buy-in of natural safety leaders, whilst leveraging off practical safety tools like pre-starts, toolbox talks, and hazard reporting systems.
Critical Power for Live Events: Ensuring Reliability When It Matters Most | Antoine Leblanc-Michel
This session will dive into the essentials of critical power management for events, covering topics such as identifying and securing power sources, backup power systems (UPS/BESS), generators and transfer switches, emergency site lighting, and the importance of reliable communication networks. We’ll explore how to prepare for potential failures, and the hidden hazards of power outages.
Enhancing your Team’s Preparedness & Resilience to Adverse Events: 5 essential SOPs that every team member should know! | Peter Ashwin
During this 30 min session, Peter will outline what he considers the 5 essential safety and security SOPs that form the foundation of preparedness and resilience for event teams in today’s uncertain, complex and volatile environment. Utilizing a checklist approach for SOPs, Peter will share his lessons learnt from delivering the safety and security training program for the On Location hospitality team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Game, and from the other end of spectrum, for the Levitt Foundation, a non-profit organization who funds communities across the USA to activate underused outdoor spaces, creating welcoming, inclusive destinations where the power of free, live music brings people together and invigorates community life.
The Happy (And Safe) New Year’s Eve where 100,000 people showed up | Stéphanie Cléroux and Mikael Frascadore
Session Description Coming Soon!
The forum will feature English and French speaking presenters. Although the majority of the presentations will be in English, everyone is encouraged to participate in order to have a well-represented group of professionals.
SPEAKERS
| Peter Ashwin, MSc, F. ISRM, MSyI Peter Ashwin is the principal and founder of Event Risk Management Solutions (ERMS), a consulting practice committed to enabling event organizers, host cities, the private security sector and public safety authorities meet the challenges of delivering safe and secure events in today’s uncertain and complex world. Peter’s professional career has spanned 35 years including 15 years’ military service as an officer in the Australian Army & Special Forces, and as a major event security professional, he has led multi-national security teams across ten countries including seven Olympic Games. As a practitioner-academic, Peter graduated with a MSc Security and Risk Management from the University of Leicester, UK in 2022, where his dissertation ‘Mitigating Lone Actor Terrorist Threats to Events in the United States: Risk Informed Counter-Terrorist Strategies for Event Organizers’ was awarded the ‘Best Dissertation’ by Criminology Examination Board. As a global citizen, Peter is based out of Montreal, Quebec but also happens to call Boise, Idaho and Australia ‘home’. |
| Stéphanie Cléroux Director of Production Services at Multicolore, Stephanie leads the execution of some of Montreal’s most iconic events, including Piknic Électronik, Igloofest, and more recently the city’s New Year’s Eve celebration. She ensures that every production balances strategic objectives, creative vision, technical precision, and safety—delivering memorable experiences for hundreds of thousands of guests each year. |
| Martin Deslauriers, CPP.PSP.PCI Risk management professional with over 30 years in corporate security, asset protection and risk management. Having worked within two large international corporations since 1994, he is now exercising his passion by acting as Director of Security at the Place des Arts. |
| Mikael Frascadore Speaker Bio Coming Soon! |
| Kate Hough Co-Founder / Director of Operations at In Situ, Kate is a project and site manager, with an engineering background and experience working on complex projects, She specializes in project planning, site risk management, environment, sustainability, and safety. With 10 years' experience in major construction operating both on site and corporately, Kate brings a passion for solving problems, attention to detail and delivery of top tier project work. |
| Antoine Leblanc-Michel Co-Founder / Director of Projects at In Situ, Antoine is a site, operations, and project manager in the entertainment and special event industry. Antoine specializes in overlay, temporary infrastructures, and utilities locally and internationally. Past experiences range from world renowned music and arts festivals, large scale concerts, international sporting events, ceremonies, automobile racing to high end fashion shows. |
| Janet Sellery, CRSP, CHSC Janet Sellery, Event Safety Alliance Canada Founding Board Member and Programming Chair, started her career in stage management and moved into health and safety after a critical injury involving an actor. Janet pioneered the health and safety program at the Stratford Festival, Canada’s largest repertory theatre, and one of her favourite projects was working as the Health & Safety Manager for the Opening, Closing and Victory Ceremonies at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Janet is an active volunteer with the Ontario Ministry of Labour Live Performance Health & Safety Advisory Committee, the Scott Johnson Working Group, the Event Safety Alliance and the Event Safety Working Group. As a Health & Safety Consultant (Sellery Health + Safety), Janet focuses on customizing programs, training, and resources to reflect the constantly evolving and unique demands of the live event environment. |
SPONSORSHIP
Event Safety Alliance Canada is supported by dozens of dedicated, safety-focused organizations from across the live event industry. By becoming a sponsor, you will be telling organizations, employees, clients and colleagues throughout the industry that you’ve made a corporate commitment to safety and that you believe preventing injuries and incidents is a priority.
COFFEE BREAKS
