PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY 2025!

November 20, 2025     08:30am to 5:00pm     via ZOOM

Watch this space for details of the speakers and topics to be discussed

CPIO Professional Development Day 2025

Thursday, November 20, 2025 – Virtual Via Zoom 

EARN 6 CPE CREDITS

CPIO MEMBERS $75 ** NON-MEMBERS $95 ** STUDENTS $35

TIME	DETAILED AGENDA
8:30 am	Virtual Registration
8:40 am – 8:50 am	WELCOME by CPIO President James Meadway
8:50 am – 9:00 am	Sponsorship Promos, CPIO Video
9:00 am – 10:00 am	Elicitation Shawn Stevenson,-Private Investigator, Project Manager, Business Analyst and Security Consultant
10:00 am – 10:15 am	BREAK
10:15 am – 11:15 am	Threat Levels in Canada and The Means That Some Foreign Players Use to Obtain Information, What Can Be Done About It and How PI’s Can Help Canadian Security Services
11:15 am – 11:30 am	BREAK
11:30 am – 12:30 pm	Intelligence Tradecraft: Principles for Advanced Investigations Garret McGinn-Partner at Digistream Investigations and Upstream Intelligence and Megan Kohls-Partner at Digistream’s sister company Upstream Intelligence
12:30 pm – 1:15 pm	LUNCH BREAK
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm	Addressing AI Solutions in Digital Forensics: Challenges and Solutions David McKay-President of Blackstone Forensics
2:15 pm – 2:30 pm	BREAK
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm	How Forensics Play an Important Role in the Workplace Dwayne Strocen-President of Docufraud Canada
3:30 pm – 3:45 pm	BREAK
3:45 pm – 4:45 pm	Virtual Workplace Interviews: Challenges, Opportunities & Other Timely Tech Issues Michael Arntfield, PhD-Corporate Investigation Services, Professor: Western University
4:45 pm – 5:00 pm	Closing Remarks & Designations/CPE Credits Discussion

REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.CPIONTARIO.CA

Elicitation

Shawn Stevenson-Private Investigator, Project Manager, Business Analyst and Security Consultant

Private investigators need to be able to get people to talk. Strategically using conversation and setting to put a subject at ease rather than making them feel interrogated can be a very effective means to gather reliable information. This talk will focus on the purpose of elicitation as well as how to plan, develop and execute an elicitation effort. Focus will be placed on choosing an elicitation technique, conducting pre-research on a subject, tailoring your approach and best practices to get the best elicitation results. Participation and questions are welcome.  

Recognized as a current and future leader, Shawn has been awarded a CBC Future 40 for being identified as a future change maker within his professional and larger community. He has been asked to present at international conferences (Building Business Capability, BA World) and has travelled to Kenya and Nigeria in a consulting role.  

Threat Levels in Canada and The Means That Some Foreign Players Use to Obtain Information, What Can Be Done About It and How PI’s Can Help

Canadian Security Services

This session with the Canadian security service is informative, instructional and could save lives.

Intelligence Tradecraft: Principles for Advanced Investigations

Garrett McGinn, Partner at Digistream Investigations and Upstream Intelligence and Megan Kohls, Partners at Digistream’s sister company Upstream Intelligence

The breadth of modern investigations has grown rapidly over the past decade. Traditional social media and background checks, one-crew surveillance and interviews are no longer the only tools at a professional’s disposal. More information than ever before is available to the end-users of intelligence and yet traditional investigative patterns have persisted. This has wasted client money, lead to unimaginative investigations with unimpactful results, and has fostered a divide between what clients need and what investigator deliver. Understand how the private intelligence community has evolved via an examination of geospatial and geosocial investigations, device forensics, video and imagery upscaling, international investigations, multi-crew and unmanned surveillance operations and how to leverage these capabilities to maximum effect. Many investigative solutions which are considered “advanced” are far more accessible and affordable than many believe. This session will provide clarity to professionals and improve their understanding of a variety of modern techniques for uncovering and leveraging information. Specifically, the session seeks to educate the attendee on the four main disciplines of private intelligence gathering: Open Source Intelligence, Geospatial Intelligence, Signals Intelligence and Human Intelligence. By utilizing a more diverse set of tools, the end-user of intelligence enables themselves and their organization to deliver a compelling defense against high-value litigation and threats.

 

Addressing AI Hallucinations in Digital Forensics: Challenges and Solutions

David McKay- President Blackstone Forensics

This presentation explores the impact of artificial intelligence on digital forensics, with a particular focus on the challenges of evaluating and authenticating multimedia evidence. Attendees will learn how AI technologies can manipulate or generate video content, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between genuine and AI-created material. The session will also cover practical techniques and emerging tools for detecting AI-generated videos, providing forensic professionals with strategies to identify signs of synthetic media and maintain the integrity of digital evidence.

Since 2002, David has worked on hundreds of cases and testified as an expert in both Canadian Provincial and Supreme court for both criminal and civil cases, and provided evidence in US courts through depositions.  He has been qualified as an expert in forensic video analysis, forensic data recovery, digital recording authentication, CCTV systems, and video and digital image analysis.

In addition, David is the Program Head of the Forensic Science & Technology Department at BCIT and the instructor of the “CCTV & Forensic Examination” course.  He presented and guest lectured on many occasions regarding the forensic examination and authentication of video and digital evidence to many different investigative organizations & police agencies throughout Canada.  David is also a former Coroner for the Province of BC.

How Forensics Play an Important Role in the Workplace Investigations

Dwayne Strocen-President of Docufraud Canada

Dwayne Strocen is a former member of the RCMP and President of Docufraud Canada. Docufraud was first established in 2017 to provide document related forensic services across Canada. Our examiners are certified forensic experts and court qualified. We have even testified before the

Supreme Court of Bahamas and Barbados.

Docufraud Canada is this country’s sole provider of forensic laboratory services for the examination 

of physical evidence. Our services are sought after by Criminal defence and Immigration Lawyers,

Private Investigators and Workplace Investigators. We’ve taken part in high profile investigations

widely covered by CBC, CTV and Global News

Dwayne will discuss how forensics play an important role in Workplace Investigations. Document

and handwriting examinations related to threatening letters and offensive writing on notes or property.

We’ll also cover the need for forensics to augment an investigation in a workplace injury or death.

We’ll review employers liability concerns and insurance investigations.

Virtual Workplace Interviews: Challenges, Opportunities & Other Timely Tech Issues

Michael Arntfield, PhD-Corporate Investigation Services, Association of Workplace Investigators, &Professor: Western University. Author: Workplace Violence & Harassment: A Forensic Investigation Handbook, 2022.

Since March of 2020 when the world pivoted to and then normalized virtual meetings,

the question over whether to conduct workplace investigations in-person or to instead

defer to this still ongoing trend, often at the request of the client as a cost-saving measure, is one faced by investigators in nearly every new investigation. This seminar discusses the pros and cons as well as the dos and don’ts of virtual interviews in the context of the Best Evidence Rule while also ensuring procedural fairness and parity for interviewees amid this ongoing new reality. Additional technological best practices and emerging trends will also be discussed, including the digital recording of interviews in either virtual or in-person investigations, as well the role increasingly played by generative AI; specifically, its use by employees when drafting their workplace complaints in order to ultimately compel full investigations.

DISCLAIMER

The educational material presented at all Council of Professional Investigators Ontario (CPIO) seminars is for general educational information purposes only and is solely the opinion of the presenter, based on their proficiency, experience and cumulative knowledge of the topic(s) addressed. No seminar is intended to provide personalized advice. It is left to the discretion and judgment, and it is the sole responsibility of each attendee to determine what is appropriate for their own circumstances and to comply with any applicable laws regarding the use of the material presented. In implementing or utilizing any part or portion of the information contained in this presentation, participants agree to do so at their own discretion and their own risk, and to not hold, nor attempt to hold the presenter or host liable for any loss, liability, claim, demand, damage and all legal cost or other expenses arising whatsoever in connection with the use, misuse or inability to use the materials or learnings.

The CPIO and Bernardi HR Law proudly present:

CPIO - Workplace Investigations – 2-Day Virtual Course

Course Overview

This intensive two-day virtual course equips participants with the skills and knowledge required to conduct fair, unbiased, and legally sound workplace investigations. Ideal for private investigators, and professionals seeking to expand their expertise in this field.

Foundational Concepts and the Context of Workplace Investigations

•        Defining workplace harassment and violence within a legal and policy framework
•        Recognizing and addressing both investigator and party bias
•        Understanding racial and sexual harassment and overcoming misconceptions
•        Contributors to harassment – bystanders, supervisory approaches, organizational culture
•        Legal requirements for investigations

Procedural Fairness in Workplace Investigations

•        The mindset shift from investigating a “subject of interest” to a multiparty dispute
•        Key processes for investigating interpersonal conflict and how these differ from theft, fraud, misconduct, and other investigations
•        Principles of procedural fairness and applying them in workplace investigations
•        Trauma informed investigative processes
•        Responding to process challenges including anonymous complaints, union involvement, reluctant participants

Evidence Analysis, Credibility, and Making Findings on Interview Evidence

•        Key tools for weighing conflicting evidence and making factual findings from interview statements, without “hard proof”
•        Applying the “balance of probabilities” standard
•        Making credibility determinations – getting beyond “he said, she said”
•        The next step: legal and policy analysis expected of workplace investigators
•        Tips on investigation report writing 

MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR:

Suhaib Ibrahim

Call to the Bar: Ontario, 2011

Education

J.D., Osgoode Hall Law School, 2009

B.A. Humanities and Communication Studies, York University, 2006

•       Mental Health First Aid Certificate

•       Trauma Informed Interviewing

•       Advanced Investigation Report Writing

Industries and Organizations Served

•       Emergency services

•       Municipalities and their councils

•       Post Secondary and school boards

•       Unionized and Nonunionized environment

•       Private Sector and Services

•       First nations

•       Non -profit organization

Lawyer, Trainer, & Workplace Investigator

Professional Summary

Suhaib, an experienced lawyer and workplace investigator at our firm, believes that a work environment is most successful when there is a healthy culture where everyone feels respected and heard. He excels at listening to people and has a strong appreciation for different perspectives, backgrounds, and lived experiences. Suhaib takes a balanced approach to workplace challenges, addressing the core issues that drive conflict and lead to harassment.

 Suhaib also:

·       cochairs the Osgoode Advanced Investigations Program

·       conducts the comprehensive three-day Workplace Investigations Training and Certificate Program for the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA).

·       spoke at the OACP Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Symposium

·       successfully represented clients before the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Superior Court of Justice, Small Claims Court, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the License Appeal Tribunal, and labour arbitrators at grievances.

• Training and Transformation Services

  Suhaib views training as a transformative experience and considers it the most rewarding aspect of his work. His professional contributions include:

  •       facilitating training on workplace investigations for both beginner and advanced-level investigators

  •       conducting workplace culture assessments

  •       delivering one-on-one sensitivity training focused on sexual and gender-based harassment

  •     providing respectful workplace training

  •       offering training on stress and time management

  •       leading sessions on discrimination, systemic racism, and unconscious bias

  •       delivering training on employment law

  •       providing educational sessions on Islamophobia and Antisemitism

Investigation Services 

Suhaib has taken his strengths as a litigator and applied it to assisting workplaces with harassment and discrimination investigations.  

Suhaib takes pride in his ability to make complex matters understandable to people of all backgrounds. He takes an approach to resolving workplace challenges in which all solutions are explored; keeping at heart an appreciation for different perspectives and lived experiences.

Suhaib has investigated allegations of various forms of discrimination and harassment which includes:

•       racial discrimination and harassment

•       religious discrimination and harassment

•       sexual and gender-based harassment

•       workplace harassment bullying

•       workplace violence

•       harassment based on sexual orientation

Thought Leadership

While studying law, Suhaib collaborated with community organizations and elementary schools, delivering crucial educational sessions to youth in the Jane and Finch community about their legal rights.

Interesting Facts

Suhaib loves to travel, whether he is backpacking through the Atlas Mountains in Africa or the Western Ghats in Asia.  He is also fond of wildlife and has had interesting encounters with elephants, monkeys, and pythons during his travels.