George Brown Polytechnic is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.
Building a Working Peoples' City
March 23rd – March 27th, 2026
The Labour Fair Events page showcases the full lineup of sessions, panels, and activities happening throughout this year’s Labour Fair at George Brown Polytechnic’s Tommy Douglas Institute. From discussions on workers’ rights to community‑driven initiatives, each event offers students and attendees the chance to engage with unionists, activists, educators, and artists on today’s most urgent social and labour issues.
At the bottom of the page, you'll also find this year’s theme—Building a Working Peoples’ City—which brings the Fair together under a shared vision of solidarity, justice, and collective action.
If ASL Interpretation is required for a specific event, please contact Labour Fair Coordinator Ben McCarthy — bmccarth@georgebrown.ca.
Monday March 16th – Friday March 20th
Promotional Event / Interactive Art Installation
- Reflecting on a Working Peoples’ City
Location: King’s Lounge, 200 King St. E.
Monday March 23rd
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Panel Discussion
- ‘Worth Fighting For’: Feminized Labour Justice with Candice Callender (OPSEU) & Mel Barnett (OPSEU)
Location: Online
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Panel Discussion (closed session)
- Skills Development Fund Research and Application with JJ Fueser (Metstrat) and Thorben Wieditz (Metstrat)
Tuesday March 24th
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Speaker Session (closed session)
- Media Literacy and Labour Reporting with David Gray-Donald (The Grind Magazine)
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Open Display
- Labour Fair Tabling Event featuring displays from rights-based agencies, i.e. Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), Workers, Action Alliance (WAC), GBP SNAP, Int’l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), GBP SA, OPSEU 556, Prevention Link, Migrant Workers’ Alliance, SpringMag, Socialist Project, and others
Location: King’s Lounge, 200 King St. E.
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Speaker Session
- No Arms in the Arts with Aliya Pabani (Canlit Responds), Matthew Fava (Musicians Against Artwashing), Adrienne Scott (Mapping Power)
Location: Room 494F, 200 King St. E.
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. TMU Panel Discussion
- Transformation Café x The Radical Labour of Care
Location: Room 455E, 200 King St. E.
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Speaker Session
- Global Precarity and Migratory Rights with Chris Ramsaroop (Justicia for Migrant Workers)
Location: Online
Wednesday March 25th
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Panel Session (closed session)
- Climate Justice Organizing with Tara Seucharan (Climate Action Network/Council of Canadians) & Sofia Baert (Climate Injustice Solidarity Network)
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Global Labour Research Centre, York U. Panel Discussion
- Histories of Solidarity: Migration, Deportation, & Organizing with Katherine Nastovski (York University), Adrian Smith (GLRC, York University)
Location: Room 809, 200 King St. E.
12:00 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Speaker session (closed session)
- Union Fundamentals in the Trades with Blago Blagoev (“Ethics for Construction Managers”)
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch and Learn*
- Food Sovereignty and Labour Communal Lunch with Sharita Henry (FoodShare) and Fred Ho (OPSEU)
Location: Student Success Hub, B155, 200 King St. E.
*first come, first serve
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Labour Fair Keynote Session
- New Modes of Organizing for Tomorrow’s Working Peoples’ City Featuring Sean Smith (Toronto Airport Workers Council) and Matt Whitfield (Parkdale Housing Justice Network)
Location: Room 128, 200 King St. E.
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Film & Speaker Session / CWP 50th Anniversary Event
- Labour Fair 2026 Short Film Program and Discussion with Narada Kiondo (Co-op Worker and Gig Worker Activist)
Location: Room 128, 200 King St. E.
Thursday March 26th
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Speaker Session (closed session)
- Intelligent Terrains: AI and the Environment with Luisa Ji [(UKAI Projects)
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Brock University Panel Discussion
- Wage Theft w/ Worker’s Action Centre
Location: Online
Friday March 27th
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Annual School of Social Service Worker Event - Panel Workshop
- Cutting Through the Polarization: Queer Demand Setting with leZlie Lee Cam (Pride Toronto, Buddies in Bad Times), Yasmeen Persad (TWIRI) and Rae Tuckey (Ontario DBT Centre)
Location: Room 128, 200 King St. E.
Limited number of non-SSW spaces
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Speaker Session
- AI, Labour & Human Rights with Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Location: Online
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Lunch and Learn
- Seeds of Collective Change Lunch Event
Location: Limberlost Student Centre,51 Dockside Drive
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Food Justice, Advocacy and Rights with Marial Addario (The Stop Community Food Centre)
Location: Online
This Year Theme:
In the close quarters of city-life, where the successes and failures of nation-states live side-by-side, cities have become the barometers of democracy, rights, and justice.
Yet, in these times of growing precarity and unpredictability, our cities are also sites of inequality and despair, increasing social insecurity and dwindling social policy.
Our governments enable corporate and billionaire power to rampage over labour, communities, and the common good.
Our politics increasingly resort to division, fear, and fascism.
But for those organizing for the rights and dignity of workers and communities, people and planet, our cities are also centres of solidarity, resistance and hope.
Under this year’s theme, Building a Working Peoples’ City, the 34th annual Labour Fair brings together unionists, activists, artists, and educators to explore an alternative vision of the city.
- How can we build an affordable and equitable city?
- How can we build a city of food justice and housing security?
- How can we build cities of peace and solidarity?
- How can we build a city that prioritizes the common good over the privileged few?
and
- What does a working peoples’ city look like?
This year’s labour fair will not only confront what would need to happen to build a working people’s city; we’ll also highlight organizations and movements who are already doing the work of change.
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IG: @gbc_labour_fair
Facebook: GBC Labour Fair