About Speakers Bureau of Canada

The Speakers Bureau of Canada operates as a national intermediary between organizations and professional speakers, supporting conferences, leadership programs, and strategic corporate events across Canada. We manage speaker research, qualification, selection, fee alignment, agreements, and engagement logistics through a standardized process designed to ensure consistency, transparency, and fit.

With defined criteria for speaker evaluation, we build and maintain a roster aligned to societal trends, industry needs, and organizational demand. We meet organizations where they are, aligning speaker recommendations to criteria, scope, format, budget, and event requirements, so teams can move from search to shortlist with confidence. We also centralize the operational details that protect delivery: contracts, scheduling, logistics, and payment workflows. The result is simple: organizers get reliability, speakers get clarity, and audiences get an experience that delivers.

Why We Are Here

We believe organizations make better decisions when new ideas enter the room—shared by speakers who understand the audience, align to goals, and deliver insight that becomes action. With the right speaker and a disciplined process, organizations can activate mindset shifts, accelerate learning, and move forward with clarity, prepared for what's next.

When we looked at the speaker market, we saw a gap that Canadian event planners felt every day. Many bureaus were built to serve only the largest organizations and prioritized popularity and budgets over actionable outcomes. We also saw an increasing tilt toward only bigger-name speakers—reducing access to diverse perspectives, new-age content, and emerging experts with fresh ideas and practical solutions.

At the same time, discovery was inefficient, speaker types were often misaligned to what organizations actually needed, and standards varied widely between speakers and hosts. The result was predictable: more administrative burden, more risk, and inconsistent delivery, where one operational miss could compromise the entire event. We built the Speakers Bureau of Canada to solve those problems with a Canadian-first roster, disciplined standards, and an operating model designed to protect alignment, outcomes, and delivery.

What We Do

The Speakers Bureau of Canada operates as a national intermediary between organizations and professional speakers, supporting conferences, leadership programs, and strategic corporate events across Canada. We help teams identify the right speaker for the moment—and then ensure the engagement is structured, protected, and delivered to standard.

No Extra Fees

Speakers accessible to organizations at no extra cost. We connect you with top-tier talent without charging additional agency fees.
Curated Recommendations

Speaker research, recommendations, and comparative shortlists. Our experts curate precise recommendations tailored to your event's objectives.
Speaker Qualification

Speaker qualification, evaluation, and roster standards. Every speaker undergoes a rigorous vetting process to ensure quality and relevance.
Transparent Fee Alignment

Fee alignment based on scope, format, and engagement requirements. We negotiate clear, transparent fees that match the value delivered.
Extensive Speaker Sourcing

Speaker sourcing through Canadian and international networks. We leverage extensive connections to find the ideal voice for your audience.
Client Process Flexibility

Flexibility to align with each client's process. Our services adapt to your organizational workflows for seamless integration.
Clear Agreements & Terms

Agreements, terms, and engagement structure (clear and consistent). We manage all contractual details to ensure predictable and reliable delivery.
Logistics Coordination

Logistics coordination and event readiness support. From scheduling to tech checks, we handle the operational complexities.
Representation Standards

Ongoing representation standards that support long-term relationships. We foster enduring partnerships with both speakers and clients for continuous success.

"The Speakers Bureau of Canada consistently deliver exceptional value and insight, enhancing our events with their speakers and services."— Canada Post

Where the Work Lives

We work where outcomes matter, timelines are real, and delivery has to hold up across sectors and event formats in Canada. That means we operate inside the constraints event teams actually face: compressed decision cycles, fixed budgets, high-visibility stakeholders, and zero tolerance for operational misses. We expand access for speakers, reduce complexity for clients, and centralize the research, recommendations, and booking execution required to secure qualified speakers through a standardized process built for reliability, speed, and attention to detail. We function as an extension of internal event planning teams, so organizers can focus on the program and its outcomes. We manage the work that protects delivery and impact: speaker research and comparative shortlisting, fit and fee alignment, clear terms, and centralized coordination across scheduling, logistics, and payments.

Who We Serve

We serve both sides of the engagement. Event and meeting planners that need a speaker experience that is aligned and execution-ready, and professional speakers who want structured representation that protects credibility and supports long-term positioning. In both cases, the goal is the same: reduce friction, streamline the process, protect quality, and strengthen learning outcomes, so engagements hold up under real event conditions.

For Organizations

We support corporate, government, association, non-profit, and community teams that need a speaker who can align quickly, deliver credibly, and strengthen the event's purpose, without adding administrative burden.

Keynote speakers (hybrid, virtual, in-person) for events with complex stakeholder needs

Motivational speakers for AGMs, conferences, summits, leadership programs, and strategic meetings

Professional speakers and experts for talent, culture, and transformation initiatives

Relationship-led guidance and a standardized process from selection through delivery

Speaker sourcing and contracting through our network of 100,000+ top speakers

For Professional Speakers

We support speakers who want structured representation, consistent standards, and engagements that protect and strengthen their credibility and long-term positioning by building relationships and advancing their careers.

Personalized, structured and expert representation to increase positioning, access and standards for bookings

Career-aligned opportunities, extending relationships and credibility beyond transactional bookings

Consistent standards for contracts, logistics, travel arrangements and timely payment

Expert guidance on fees, terms, profile positioning, trending topics and industry best practices

Access to high-impact events not always reachable through ongoing advancement, marketing and direct bookings

What We Protect

When a speaker engagement goes wrong, the cost is rarely just financial; it's reputational, operational, and cultural. Our rigorous standards exist to protect the outcomes and relationships that organizations and speakers rely on. Through our process, we proactively safeguard every critical aspect of your engagement from inquiry to booking, including meticulous vetting, transparent communication, and robust contract management, ensuring all parties are aligned and risks are mitigated effectively.

Event outcomes and stakeholder confidence

(alignment before delivery)

Client confidentiality

(controlled communication and clear accountability)

Speaker integrity

(fit, expectations, and professionalism protected)

Contract clarity

(cancellations, promotions, recording, IP, payment, travel)

Operational reliability

(timelines, confirmations, readiness checks)

Professional reputation

(trust, credibility, and brand image)

Our Measurable Impact

The Speakers Bureau of Canada delivers impact by serving as a national platform through which ideas, expertise, and lived experience are introduced, scaled, and sustained across organizations and communities. Our role is to enable reach, maintain engagement standards, and ensure consistent delivery of speaker engagements that influence individuals, organizations, and society at large.

20K+

Speaking Engagements

Delivered across Canada

100K+

Speaker Network

Access to qualified professionals

4M+

Canadians Reached

Replacing: Annually through events

Some of the Speakers Bureau of Canada Major Accomplishments:

More than 20,000 speaking engagements delivered across Canada
Millions of Canadians reached annually through speaker-led events
National reach with corporate, government, association, non profit, and community events
Highest number of speakers booked annually in partnership with Indigenous communities
Engagements that influence individuals, organizations, industries, and public discourse
Speakers addressing workplace, leadership, and societal issues of national relevance
Consistent delivery across in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats
Long-term national relationships reflected through repeat engagements
Advanced speaker careers supported through structured representation
Established a diverse team of experts who are professionals at recommending speakers, event planning and booking events
Life changing experiences that influence outcomes across Canada

The Future of Events in Canada

The future of planning, executing, and speaking at events is moving faster than most organizations can adapt. Technology and digital transformation are changing roles, organizational needs, and culture faster than job descriptions can be rewritten. Hybrid work has turned teams into distributed systems, with employees working across different locations. Politics and policy have created division among individuals and society as a whole. That means events must adapt and function as operational infrastructure: a way to transfer knowledge, build capability, and create alignment at speed. The next era of events won't reward bigger stages. It will reward execution: the right message, delivered by the right speaker, in the right format, to the right people at the right time, measured by not only the event experience but what changes after the session.

What is Changing in the Events Industry

Technology is compressing timelines while raising expectations: AI is reshaping roles, hybrid work is reshaping attendance, and event outcomes are being measured less by applause and more by what changes after delivery.

AI and robotics compress reskilling cycles, shifting jobs across various industry sectors

Leadership, change, and performance move from "soft skills" to operating requirements

Audience engagement declines, forcing higher interactability and shorter durations

Generic keynotes lose ground to relevance, specificity, and role-based value tied to real work

Speaker supply expands faster than qualification; visibility and fees diverge from expertise

Inflation pushes speaker costs up while organizations face fixed or reduced event budgets

Event tech expanding formats with new event technology rising and increasing disruption

Hybrid speakers and production adapt to new presentation formats that engage attendees

What We Are Building to Adapt

If events are becoming operational infrastructure, the system behind them has to behave like one: reduce noise, protect fit, and make delivery repeatable across formats and timelines. We're building a bureau model designed for speed under pressure, without trading away standards.

Decision support that compresses shortlisting without sacrificing alignment

Qualification standards that separate expertise from profile, fee, and visibility

Audience inputs that translate context into customization and learning outcomes

Speaker–organizer workflows that increase alignment from selection through prep

Performance signals and topic demand tracking that sharpen recommendations over time

Delivery playbooks for interactive engagement for keynote, virtual, and hybrid presentations

Stakeholder resources to improve speaker skills, event production and audience experience

Post-event reinforcement options that extend learning into action

Our Story

The Speakers Bureau of Canada is a family-run business built for execution under the pressures of real conditions - real events, real constraints, and ongoing timelines that are required to be a success. Long before we launched nationally, we built our foundation producing speaker-led events across Western Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, contributing to more than ninety million dollars raised for non profit organizations and establishing early standards for speaker qualification, fee discipline, and audience impact.

When we became a national agency in 2016, the industry started breaking in unpredictable ways: disruption accelerated, formats multiplied, and expectations shifted from "a great keynote" to audience experience and measurable outcomes. The pandemic made cancellations, reschedules, and virtual delivery operational realities. Social movements shifted most in demand topics. At the same time, the market got louder, discovery became harder, standards drifted, fees rose, and technology reshaped how teams work and how events create value. Navigating this complex landscape required constant adaptation and strategic evolution.

We sustained growth by tightening the system: reducing risk, building repeatable workflows, investing in internal training, and operating with standards designed for relevance, professionalism, and delivery that holds up under pressure. We are not built for perfect conditions. We are built for disruption, so we can protect standards, adapt quickly, and keep delivery intact. Through our approach, organizations move faster, reduce risk, stay current with evolving trends, and execute with confidence. We are proud to have grown with organizations and organizations to have grown with us.

Our Timeline

1980s–1990s: Produced speaker-led events across Western Canada; contributed to more than ninety million dollars raised for non-profit organizations; established early standards for speaker qualification, fee discipline, and audience impact.
1999: Founded as the Speakers Bureau of Alberta through a network of Alberta-based organizations.
2000–2010: Expanded recurring bookings across Alberta; strengthened speaker relationships, execution standards, and long-term client trust; Gordon began attending events with Roger and learning delivery on the ground.
2014: Entered a business continuity period following a health crisis; Gordon assumed operational responsibilities while completing studies in sociology; stabilized operations and delivery.
2014: Began reassessing the Canadian speaking industry through direct experience with event planners, speakers, and organizations.
2014–2016: Conducted industry research and consultation; identified limitations in existing speaker representation models and requirements for consistent national delivery; designed a national operating model.
2016: Launched as the Speakers Bureau of Canada; transitioned from regional coverage to a national roster and operating framework built to reflect Canadian organizations, industries, and audiences, focused on relevance, professionalism, and execution.
2019–2022: Built workflows and internal training to support virtual and hybrid engagements at scale; sustained delivery through widespread disruption; onboarded and secured new speaker talent amid uncertainty, accelerated demand, and inconsistent in-person event conditions.
2022: Joined the International Association of Speaker Bureaus; a boutique association compiled of the top speaker bureaus in the world.
2023: Restructured operations and scaled systems; launched new website to support national discovery, shortlisting and service delivery.
2023–2024: Built and hired a national team to expand coverage and execution capacity; increased operational consistency across contracting, scheduling, logistics, and engagement readiness.
2024 to Today: Operates as a national intermediary with standardized workflows, a growing roster, and repeatable delivery across in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats; Roger and Gordon have overseen more than 20,000 speaking engagements across Canada.

Our Founders

The Speakers Bureau of Canada is led by Roger Breault and Gordon Breault, a father-and-son team built on decades of hands-on event production, speaker representation, and operational execution. Their leadership combines continuity and adaptation: experience earned in live environments, and a disciplined approach to standards that has scaled the bureau into a national operating model that shifts and adapts with the markets. Roger and Gordon have overseen more than 20,000 speaking engagements across Canada and now lead a national team who are event industry experts.

Meet Our Founders

Gordon Breault
CEO & Co-Founder

Gordon assumed operational leadership during a business continuity period in 2014, while completing studies in sociology, stabilizing delivery, strengthening internal operations, and helping rebuild the bureau's model and roster for the realities Canadian organizations face. He then led the shift from a regional bureau to a national agency in 2016, overseeing national operations, roster strategy, systems, and long-term growth—while adapting workflows and delivery standards for engagements at scale and building a team to support the growth.

History & Accomplishments

Assumed operational leadership during a business continuity period
Led the transition from a regional agency to a national bureau
Built and led website, brand, marketing, and reputation initiatives
Scaled standards across in-person, virtual, and hybrid formats
Oversees national operations, speaker relationships
Leads scaling systems, service improvement and innovation
Drives long-term growth, continuity, and impact delivery

Roger Breault, MSc
Director & Co-Founder

Roger founded the organization in 1999 as the Speakers Bureau of Alberta, building it through long-term relationships with speakers and event planners and a practical understanding of what actually works on stage. Before the bureau, he produced speaker-led events across Western Canada in the 1980s and 1990s, contributing to more than ninety million dollars raised for non profit organizations, an era that shaped the bureau's early focus on speaker qualification, fee discipline, and audience impact.