Ontario Girl Guides of Canada

A comedian, writer, speaker, mother of three and actress, Kate Davis has the unique ability to find humour in any situation. Kate’s generous insight and outspoken character are a powerful combination that helps organizations empower their staff with effective tools for managing stress and sustaining motivation.

Theatrically trained in England, Kate returned to Canada to a successful run on the Canadian stage. From the theatrical stage to the many stages of motherhood, Kate found her newest passion at an open mic one night at a local comedy club. Now, a twelve-time nominee at the Canadian Comedy Awards including the prestigious Phil Hartman Award and the star of her own hour-long comedy special on CTV and the Comedy Network.

Kate stars in, writes and produces the web series Best Before which won at the Canadian Comedy Awards and was chosen for Standup and Pitch at Just for Laughs Comedy Pro. Kate has appeared on Breakfast Television, Star TV, Toronto 1, Prime, WTN and TVO and is on Sirius XM radio. Kate can also be heard on CBC Radio One’s The Debaters, which she also wrote and was grateful to be a part of the Debaters Live theatre tour in 2018 with Live Nation.

Kate taped a gala at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, The Hubcap Comedy Festival and the Kitchener Waterloo Comedy Festival and headlines across the country. Kate has shared the stage with Lewis Black and Seth Meyers and is a favourite at corporate events. Kate tours globally with her comedy and speaking tours which have allowed her to open for President Bill Clinton and Barbara Walters, to name a few. During the 2008 season of Last Comic Standing, Kate’s sense of humour endured and carried her to the finals in Canada.

Kate’s new comedy album Tested Positive and her first album, House Arrest are available on all platforms. Kate has been published in Today’s Parent magazine and Mom and Caregiver magazine. Her first book, The Breast-feeding Diaries, won the iparent media award and her second book which came out in April 2019 called Second Best Mom – Stories, Tips and Okay Advice is now available on all platforms.

Marcia Powers-Dunlop - Identifying and Coping with Youth and Leader Anxiety in Guiding
Marcia has been a part of GGC in many senior-level roles including Provincial Commissioner. Currently, she supports Guiding as a Trainer, DEI Facilitator, Chair of the Accessibility Committee and Girl Protection Adviser. Professionally, Marcia is a Registered Social Worker and has worked with CAS and the Toronto District School Board.

Patti Carson - DEI, Belonging and Mental Wellness
Suggested read
Suggested watch 

Patti is a Diversity and Inclusion Facilitator and Trainer within Guiding. She is interested in exploring and contributing to capacity-building opportunities to hone all of our inclusion lens and gain skills and knowledge to deliver GGC programming and live our lives in more inclusive ways.

The Provincial Training Committee, Danielle Thurgood – Understanding Our Connections
Here is your opportunity to connect with the Provincial Training Committee members. Join them for a session that is based on scripted interactions with a focus on Connecting and Building Bridges.

Christina Garriock: Fitness and Nutrition in a Busy Life
Christina is the owner of Elevate Fitness by Christina Garriock . Day to day, she is a mom of two busy boys, a full-time local municipal government worker, and owner and trainer at her local studio. What started as an outlet for her mental health and overall well-being postpartum quickly skyrocketed into a passion for wanting to share her love of health and fitness with all women. She continued taking various certifications including personal training, nutrition and more to set her on her mission to help women feel their best mentally and physically. Christina started teaching fitness classes for a friend and decided to go out on her own in 2020, weeks before the first lockdown. She quickly pivoted online and gained clients for her classes that year from BC to Nova Scotia and everywhere in between. She started online, then moved to local parks, and rentals and opened her own studio in April 2023. She continues to work with her clients in the studio and provides one-on-one coaching to those near and far. Leading a busy life herself, she focuses on helping other women find a way to health that works for them. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram @elevatefitnesscg/christinagarriock or by email at christina.garriock@gmail.com.

Erica Gittens: Guided Mediation and Yoga
Erica Gittens (she/her) is a Toronto-based mindfulness artist and founder of AURA BODY+HOME for Mindfulness, Meditation, Yoga and more. Through movement and stillness, Erica creates imaginative, mindful experiences to support the connection of mind and body as an act of self-love.

Sessions are infused with the heart of music and entwine elements of mindfulness, breathwork and visualizations that transport you beyond space and time.

Plus an additional session:

Avoiding Burnout 

This session is for Rangers, by Rangers! The goal of this session is to establish even more of a connection with your Guiding sisters, prepare for the coming years and have fun and important conversations. At the end of this time together, Rangers will have a better understanding of themselves and how to manage their future life goals.

Unit Guiders will have the opportunity to have a discussion with youth members about what they like about Guiding and what they hope to get from Guiding. Through these discussions, Guiders will learn how they can best support the girls in their journey through Guiding.

Unit Guiders will get to ask questions to members of council and high-level staff about Ontario Council’s vision, plans for the future, and operations.

In addition to the professional development sessions that are offered, the event will also include:

• Special guests from the Guiding community 
• Guiding marketplace
• Ranger swim
• Drop-in programs

For our service project for CONNECT 2023, we are asking for donations of period products (opened boxes are fine), new menstrual cups, cloth pads and new underwear.

There will be a table available at CONNECT Marketplace to drop off your donations. At the end of the event, all are welcome to fill a box with donations to bring back to their communities. Any remaining donations will be given to the local community.

All adult members will be required to have a completed Health Form (H.2) on their person – we recommend in the name tag holders that will be provided at the event. The form needs to be easily accessible should there be an emergency. 

All Rangers will be required to hand in a signed Safe Guide Form when they arrive at the Event registration desk. (SG.2).

General Registration is open.

Registration notes:

• All registrants must be current members. Registrations will be cross-referenced in iMIS and any individuals that are not in a unit support roll (Unit Guider, Community Guider, ACL, ACL Adviser) or Rangers (youth members) may have their registration cancelled.
• If you are registering as a Ranger delegate, please have your caregiver complete the form.
• Registration is payable by Visa or MasterCard only.
• It will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete this comprehensive registration form, but we promise you that CONNECT 2023 will be one for the books!

The deposit for this event is $75 plus HST and is non-refundable and non-transferable. Refunds for the balance payment will be considered if the request is submitted in writing to connect@girlguides.c a by 12:00 p.m. on August 10, 2023. After this time no refunds will be provided without medical documentation. Refunds are provided via the same method used to pay for the event. For this reason, if you paid using a prepaid Visa or MasterCard, we recommend that you retain the card for any future transactions.

Participants will be accommodated at the Delta Hotels Toronto Airport and Conference Centre. As this is the first return to an in-person event after the last several years, Ontario Council is providing single rooms to participants attending CONNECT 2023. This is not standard practice, and the booking of double rooms (for double occupancy purposes) will resume for future in-person events at the discretion of Ontario Council. However, we do have a limited number of double occupancy rooms available. BOTH parties will need to identify their preferred roommate for a double room during registration. 

Additional Details 

• Ontario Council reserves the right to determine final room assignments. 
• Limited double rooms are being offered for those comfortable with sharing. If you are requesting a double occupancy room, you must identify the name of your preferred roommate during registration. 
• Accessible rooms are available, and you may note on your registration form if you require one. 
• This hotel and conference centre is a non-smoking facility. 

Transportation to and from the event will be subsidized in part by Ontario Council.

The Delta is located very near the Toronto Airport, and as such, public transportation is an excellent option for those local to the area.

For those coming from further away, we suggest carpooling. Mileage will be reimbursed to the driver only at $0.25/km. On the registration form, you will have an opportunity to indicate whether you are offering or would like carpooling. In August, we will be sharing information about carpooling with all registrants who have provided permission for us to do so, so that you may organize a carpool with members in your community.

If you live more than 400km from the event, you may be eligible to fly in. There will be a spot on the registration form for you to indicate this selection. In August, staff will share your information with our travel agent who will contact you directly to make arrangements.

The final option for transportation to and from the event is via VIA Rail. Individuals that select this option on their registration form will be contacted in August to make these arrangements.

The menu for CONNECT will be healthy, filling and delicious! We are happy to accommodate food allergies and sensitivities, but we are not able to accommodate food preferences. Please tell us about any of your requirements on the registration form. Your registration fee includes the following meals:

• Friday evening snack
• Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner
• Sunday breakfast, with a lunch to go

Download the schedule now

You may choose not to stay overnight if you wish, but by doing so, you miss out on the opportunity to further connect with your sisters in Guiding. There is no discount for those that choose not to stay overnight.

Yes, please send an email to on-trips@girlguides.ca to get direction for using your restricted funds to register for CONNECT. Please also provide your iMIS number in the email.

Details about reimbursement will be provided at the event. Please remember to keep receipts for anything you purchase directly (i.e., public transportation pass).

Please contact connect@girlguides.ca and a member of our staff team will contact you to make arrangements.

Whenever possible, we will try to make sure an adult member is travelling with youth members. Arrangements like this will be discussed once registration is complete and we know who/how many participants will be travelling. Before making any travel commitments, Safe Guide requirements related to travel will be followed and consultation with families will take place to make sure everyone is comfortable with the suggested arrangements.

If you are travelling by plane, Ontario Council will not be covering the cost of checked luggage. We suggest that you try to limit your luggage to carry-on only for the weekend. If you need to check a bag, you will be required to pay for it yourself upon check-in.

Ontario Council is paying for your plane or train ticket. We are not covering the cost of seat selection.