Room: Mississauga AB
Sponsor(s)
 
Session Description
Stream: Operations Stream
Chair & Moderator: Nouraiz Akbar – City of Brampton
Agenda
1. Welcome and Introductions – Chair Nouraiz Akbar, Brampton Transit
2. Call for Nominations to fill Vice Chair of Operations position
3. Attendance Management Policy Best Practices – Discussion – Russell Groves and Emily Kroboth, Dentons LLP
– Review of existing policies at Brampton, MiWay and TTC – what works, what doesn’t work, and what are the pain points. The Committee’s plan is to create an annotated policy that allows transit agencies to adopt or select particular provisions that could improve their current approach.
4. Recap of Monday Leadership Panel Topic: “Leap of Faith – Taking the Gloves Off for a Shared Vision” – Moderator Catherine Baldelli will share highlights of the panel discussion from the concurrent session, with perspectives from both union and management.
5. Other/ Round Table Topics
– Brampton Mystery Shopper Survey
Speaker(s) / Presenter(s)
Russell Groves – Employment and Labour Partner, Dentons Canada
Bio:
As a partner in the Employment & Labour group at Dentons, Russell’s practice focuses on providing Canadian employers with pragmatic advice on a wide range of both labour and employment law topics. While he has enjoyed over a decade of providing day-to-day HR advice to his clients, Russell’s specific areas of specialization include grievance arbitration, responding to union certification applications, collective bargaining, human rights litigation, and wrongful dismissals.
Dentons is the largest law firm in the world. We are able to leverage that size to quickly connect our clients with skilled lawyers in different jurisdictions across Canada and around the globe. Our Ontario Employment & Labour includes about 20 dedicated and exceptional professionals. We leverage our teams’ combined experience to create practical and common sense legal solutions for all labour and employment issues.
With background in science Russell worked in the Canadian engineering and technology sector prior to law, and also played a key role in the start-up of Engineers Without Borders.
Emily Kroboth – Senior Associate, Employment & Labour Group, Dentons
Bio:
Emily Kroboth (She/Her/Hers) is a senior associate in the Employment & Labour group at the Toronto office of Dentons Canada LLP. Emily advises clients in all areas of labour and employment law, including employment contract and policies, discipline and termination, human rights and workplace accommodations, labour relations and occupational health and safety.
Nouraiz Akbar – Senior Manager, Transit Operations, City of Brampton
Bio:
Nouraiz Akbar is a transit professional with over 11 years of progressive experience in the public transportation industry. Throughout his career with Brampton Transit, Nouraiz has demonstrated a strong commitment to operational excellence, safety, and customer service, supported by extensive experience in both operations management and labor relations. He began his career as an Operator, gaining valuable frontline experience and a deep understanding of daily transit operations. Building on this foundation, he advanced into leadership roles including Supervisor of Service Delivery and Senior Supervisor of Operations, where he played a key role in overseeing service performance, supporting frontline staff, managing complex operational challenges, and fostering effective labor relations through collaboration and communication.
Most recently, Nouraiz has taken on the role of Senior Manager of Operations, where he leads a diverse team of transit professionals while providing strategic leadership and direction to support organizational goals, enhance service delivery, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Nouraiz is recognized as a strong driver of positive change, consistently seeking opportunities to improve processes, strengthen team performance, and deliver reliable, customer focused transit service.
Moderator(s)
Nouraiz Akbar – Senior Manager, Transit Operations, City of Brampton
Bio:
Nouraiz Akbar is a transit professional with over 11 years of progressive experience in the public transportation industry. Throughout his career with Brampton Transit, Nouraiz has demonstrated a strong commitment to operational excellence, safety, and customer service, supported by extensive experience in both operations management and labor relations. He began his career as an Operator, gaining valuable frontline experience and a deep understanding of daily transit operations. Building on this foundation, he advanced into leadership roles including Supervisor of Service Delivery and Senior Supervisor of Operations, where he played a key role in overseeing service performance, supporting frontline staff, managing complex operational challenges, and fostering effective labor relations through collaboration and communication.
Most recently, Nouraiz has taken on the role of Senior Manager of Operations, where he leads a diverse team of transit professionals while providing strategic leadership and direction to support organizational goals, enhance service delivery, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Nouraiz is recognized as a strong driver of positive change, consistently seeking opportunities to improve processes, strengthen team performance, and deliver reliable, customer focused transit service.