HRPA Meeting Details

For more than 20 years, Rod has been a leader in business transformation in the private and public sectors. In his current role, he oversees all aspects of workplace health and safety programs, with a focus on innovation and creating a culture of health and safety in Ontario. In 2019, Rod led the launch of the Health and Safety Excellence program, which provides a roadmap for businesses to improve their health and safety culture. Shortly after this launch, the team won a Bronze Stevie award for Sales and Customer Service, under the COVID-19 response category.

Before joining Workplace Health and Safety Services, Rod spent four years as the WSIB’s Vice President of Human Resources. Under his leadership, the WSIB was awarded the Mental Health at Work Silver Level certification from Excellence Canada. In 2018, Rod was awarded with the Morley Gunderson Prize by the University of Toronto to honour his outstanding professional achievement and service to the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources. Most recently, he was appointed to the Prevention Council to provide advice to the Minister and Chief Prevention Officer.

Rod serves on multiple Board of Directors including National Institute of Disability Management and Research, the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences and Excellence Canada. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Concordia University and a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations from University of Toronto. Rod also earned the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP)® designation in 2020.

Craig Gosse, MD, FRCPC, has an extensive background in the mental health field particularly in the area of Occupational Mental Health. He has worked with various pharmaceutical companies, sat on their advisory boards and speaker’s bureaus, and been involved with pharmacological research projects. He has made numerous presentations to industry and to physicians on psychiatric topics, in particular on physician burnout and occupational psychiatry. He has also been a keynote speaker at various professional forums such as at the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine’s Annual General Meeting where he presented on Physician Burnout. He has been a Senior Staff Psychiatrist at the Queen Street Mental Health Center in Toronto, Director of the psychiatric outpatient department at Camp Hill Medical Center in Halifax, and Chief of Occupational Psychiatry for Homewood Health Centre. He has been on the Faculty of the departments of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Dalhousie University, and PCU-WHS, and Consulting Staff at QE II Health Science Center in Halifax. He currently maintains a practice in Occupational Psychiatry. He completed his Residency in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and is a of the Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

John Mutch is currently the Executive Director of the RTW Program at the WSIB. He has been with the WSIB since 1990 and has held several roles in delivering service to Ontario’s workers and employers.  John has been involved in RTW since 2005 and has worked with the research community in developing best practices for WSIB staff.  He is also the Chair of the Canadian Society of Disability Management Professionals, which aims to reduce the human, social and economic costs of disability by promoting disability management in the workplace. In his free time, John likes to run marathons.

Louise is an agile, purpose-driven management consultant, educator and coach with a 25-year track record of leading large-scale, complex operational and culture transformations that produce durable results. She has occupied multiple roles in the C-suite as a CEO, Chief Human Resources Officer, Executive Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Strategy Officer.

Recognized as an emotionally intelligent and values-driven leader, Louise ignites curiosity and commitment for a people-first agenda in her professional and volunteer endeavours. She has distinguished herself with a legacy of cultivating trusting, ethical, high-performing teams.

With diverse industry experience in aviation & hospitality, financial services, healthcare and professional regulation, Louise has leveraged her specialized skills in human resources, organizational design & development, agile change management, culture design and strategic planning to unlock human potential and deliver exceptional performance.

Louise is a regulated HR professional, a certified management consultant, a certified professional coach, a certified corporate director, and a certified positive neuroplasticity educator.

Outside of work, Louise is intentional about restorative and energizing activities. She practices hot yoga and meditation and loves to hone her skills as an amateur baker and cook.

Wolfgang is President of the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences, a statutory, not-for-profit, degree granting education institution focused on workplace safety, health promotion, return to work and disability management and rehabilitation. He is also Executive Director of the National Institute of Disability Management and Research, an internationally recognized not-for-profit organization committed to reducing the human, social and economic costs of disability through implementation of workplace-based disability management and return to work programs.

Following an industrial accident in 1977, Wolfgang retrained and continued working for his pre-disability employer. Since then, he became involved in the disability management field and has held various private and public sector appointments such as Chair of the Premier’s Council for Persons with Disabilities, Vice-Chair of the Employment Equity Board, Panel of Administrators for the BC Workers Compensation Board, Minister’s Council for Employment for Persons with Disabilities, National Advisory Board for Veterans Affairs, and has appeared before Parliamentary and Senate Committees as expert witness.

Wolfgang has received many awards and commendations for his work on disability prevention and rehabilitation including the Order of British Columbia, Federal Certificate of Merit, Employee of the Decade, U.S. National Employee of the Year Award, Governor General's Appreciation Award, Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, Lieutenant Governor's BC Community Achievement Award, to name just a few.