NATIONAL: The LGBTQ2S+ Voices in IT celebration will take place June 23 during Pride Week. Produced by ITWC, the 100-minute conference will showcase and celebrate queer voices working in the IT field across Canada, and it will include a keynote presentation, a discussion on the importance of diverse teams, breakout rooms and more. The free, virtual conference is a collaboration with Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan.
Hilton has named Colette Baruth vice president and commercial director for All-Inclusive Hotels & Resorts in the Americas. As a travel and tourism industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Baruth will lead a newly formed cross-functional commercial team that will share direct reporting lines with sales, marketing, distribution and regional sales.
EDMONTON: The Edmonton Folk Festival has been canceled for the second consecutive year due to COVID-19. The festival, which was scheduled for Aug. 6-8, typically attracts close to 25,000 attendees. Organizers plan to feature some sort of online content and return in person in 2022.
TORONTO: The city’s High Park cherry blossom celebration will go virtual for the second year. While the entire park was shut down last year, just the 3 acres of the property housing the cherry blossom trees will be restricted to prevent gatherings this year. Instead, a 24-hour, 4K “BloomCam” will be installed, likely by the end of this month.
VANCOUVER: The city of Vancouver has purchased the former Best Western at 205 Kingsway; it will be renovated and converted into housing for 68 people by this summer. It’s the second purchase of a former hotel the city has made recently; a former Days Inn hotel at 2075 Kingsway was purchased in February and will house 65 people by this winter. The purchases were made from a pool of $51.5 million in funding from the government’s Rapid Housing Initiative.
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