The Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) is the foremost independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada. Since 1954, the Board has been committed to researching innovative practices, designing new strategies and providing our members with the most up-to-date information, analysis and expertise to help them excel in Canada and around the world. The CBoC builds leadership capacity by creating and sharing insights on economic trends, public policy and organizational performance.

Director, Leadership and Human Resources Research – The Conference Board of Canada

The Conference Board of Canada is the foremost independent, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada. The organization is funded exclusively through the fees we charge for services to the private and public sectors. As a result, we are objective, non-partisan, and do not lobby for specific interests. Even though the organization is not a government department or agency, we are often hired to provide services for all levels of government.

Employees of The Conference Board of Canada are experts in running conferences, as well as conducting, publishing, and disseminating research; helping people network; developing individual leadership skills; and building organizational capacity. More specifically, we are specialists in economic trends, as well as organizational performance and public policy issues.

Every year The Conference Board of Canada hosts over 250 meetings, produces hundreds of research documents, answers over 4,500 information requests and holds more than 80 leadership programs.

Since 1954, The Conference Board of Canada has provided senior decision makers from public and private-sector organizations with opportunities to share ideas on operations and strategies, learn about next and best practices, and explore practical business solutions to the challenges faced by Canadian business leaders. Our focus is on:

- Learning from best practice organizations and industry experts
- Sharing practical business experiences and solutions
- Networking and interacting with peers, colleagues and thought leaders

The Conference Board of Canada is independent from, but affiliated with, The Conference Board, Inc. of New York, which serves nearly 2,000 companies in 60 nations and has offices in Brussels and Hong Kong.

The guiding mission of the organization involves building leadership capacity for a better Canada by creating and sharing insights on economic trends, public policy and organizational performance.

The Conference Board of Canada

Karla Thorpe is a Director with the Leadership and Human Resources Research Division of The Conference Board of Canada. Since joining the Board almost five years ago, Karla has been actively involved in research in the area of compensation, benefits, health and wellness, workforce planning and labour relations. 

Most recently, she co-authored a research report entitled Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces: Perspectives of Canadian Workers and Front-Line Managers which provides guidance to employers on how to support the mental health and wellbeing of employees in the workplace. Karla has research currently underway on managing the drivers of absenteeism and lost productivity and substance abuse and dependency in the workplace.

Prior to joining the Conference Board, Karla worked at several national research firms where she conducted qualitative and quantitative research engagements for clients in the public and private sectors.

Karla has earned a Master of Science in Statistics from Queen’s University as well as a Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University.  She is also an active member of WorldatWork and the Ottawa Region Rewards Association.

Labour Relations

Workplace Health and Wellness

Compensation and Benefits

Labour relations profession faces challenges: Survey

Building Mentally Healthy Workplaces: Perspectives of Canadian Workers and Front-Line Managers

Warning: labour strife ahead

Mental health issues taboo in the workplace, despite efforts to destigmatize: report

Karla Thorpe – The Conference Board of Canada

Recruiting, Engaging and Retaining Mature Workers

Building a healthy workplace

Results of the Compensation Planning Outlook Survey

Research Finding In Workplace Mental Health

Minding What Matters—Original Workplace Mental Health Research

Survey of Employer-Sponsored Benefits

Wellness ROI—Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth?

The Conference Board of Canada is undertaking research that will provide employers with guidance on how to calculate the ROI of workplace health and wellness programs. The focus is on practical, research-supported approaches, and explores tools & metrics that can be used to demonstrate the overall effectiveness of health and wellness initiatives.

Karla will share the results of this research, providing a new evidence-based perspective to help you assess your health and wellness investment.

Many Canadian employers are facing challenges in attracting, retaining and engaging key employees. These challenges will become increasingly prominent as the wave of highly skilled and experienced baby boomers start to retire. In this session, Karla Thorpe will share highlights from research studies on the aging workforce. Participants will learn the strategies that leading Canadian organizations have in place to recruit, retain and engage mature workers.

This discussion will address the casual absence / sick leave provisions and practices, as well as short- and long-term disability program coverage in Canadian workplaces. In addition, this workshop will provide details of research in the areas of tracking employee absenteeism, the cost and productivity implications and the steps that organizations can take to better manage their programs. Hear about actual lessons learned from HR practitioners.

Beyond Benefits: Absence and Disability Management

Karla Thorpe will provide an overview of the key messages arising out of The Conference Board of Canada’s recent research with managers and employees across the country on mental health in the workplace.   How widespread are mental health issues?  What are the challenges facing workers with mental health issues?  What can organizations do to create inclusive, healthy work environments for people with mental health issues?  These are just some of the questions that our speaker will address.

Select Inquiry Type