Boardroom Media (CFO News)
At CFO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Canada based CFO’ operating in the Finance space. If you think a CFO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected]
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Francois Gauvin
Partner & CFO of Inovia Capital
François is iNovia’s Chief Financial Officer. He is a Chartered Accountant with over twenty-five years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, international tax planning and venture capital. Prior to iNovia, François was the Investment Director at the Quebec Solidarity Fund QFL, a $7 billion Montreal-based labor-sponsored fund, where he was responsible for all of the QFL’s investments in the venture capital area. Prior to the QFL, Mr. Gauvin held senior executive positions with Steinberg, Teleglobe, and BCE, where he took part in merger and acquisition transactions. François started his career at Coopers&Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers), where he practiced as an income tax specialist. François holds a Chartered Accountant designation, a BComm from Concordia University, and a Diploma in Accountancy from McGill University.
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About Inovia Capital: Inovia Capital is a full-stack venture firm that invests in tech founders.
Richard Smith
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Acasta Enterprises
Richard has served as COO and CFO of AEI since its inception in 2015. Previously, Richard was the Executive Vice-President of Finance for Cosma International, an operating group of Magna International Inc. Cosma operates 73 manufacturing facilities and 21 product development and engineering centers in 18 countries worldwide, and designs, manufactures and sells a comprehensive range of metal body systems, components, assemblies and modules including complete vehicle frames, chassis systems and body-in-white systems to automotive original equipment manufacturers. Prior to joining Cosma, Richard was the Chief Financial Officer of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust and previously the Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of MI Developments Inc. (now Granite REIT). He holds a bachelor of commerce (honours) degree from the University of Ottawa, and a juris doctor degree and MBA from the University of Toronto.
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About Acasta Enterprises: Acasta Enterprises operates as a special purpose acquisition company.
Jeannette Wiltse
Operating Partner & CFO of Relay Ventures
Jeannette is Operating Partner and CFO at Relay Ventures, an early stage venture fund exclusively focused on mobile software. Jeannette manages fund reporting, finance and operations and also assists the investment teams in establishing governance and financial infrastructure for portfolio companies. Previously Jeannette spent ten years as Director of Finance and Administration for RBC Venture Partners, managing finance and operations for its direct investment portfolio and fund investment portfolio, with responsibility for financial and operational due diligence for fund investments. Prior to joining RBCVP, Jeannette served as Secretary-Treasurer of Euro Brokers Canada, Ltd., a global interdealer broker where she established finance, operations and governance infrastructure for the Canadian operation. Jeannette is a member of the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association’s (CVCA) CFO Taskforce, and also serves as a Trustee and Treasurer of the Heather L. Main Memorial Scholarship for women in the capital markets. Jeannette is a Certified General Accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Jeannette is based in our Toronto office.
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About Relay Ventures: Relay Ventures specializes mainly in startup, seed and early stage investments and provides support throughout the lifecycle of a startup.
Darrell Cox
CFO of Vena Solutions
As Chief Financial Officer, Darrell designs the forward-looking business strategies and long-range financial plans that sustain Vena’s growth. With more than 15 years of senior leadership experience in finance and business development, Darrell is adept at assembling, directing and managing knowledgeable, dynamic Finance teams for such Fortune 500 companies as Virgin Mobile and Rogers Communication. As the former VP of Finance at FreshBooks, Darrell built a high performance Finance team and led the development of key business strategies, management KPIs and an entire system conversion. Darrell is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto, with a focus on Finance and Economics.
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About Vena Solutions: Vena connects people, existing systems, and data to power finance-led business planning and real-time reporting.
Jeffrey Yim
CFO of Borrowell
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About Borrowell: Borrowell offers free credit scores, education, and weekly credit monitoring, as well as innovative financial digital tools.
Leen Li
Chief Financial Officer of Wealthsimple
She have over ten years of experience in accounting, finance, and process improvement in the software and investment banking industries. Improving efficiency and process automation is her passion at work. Her goals at Influitive are to ensure all employees have a worry-free working environment, provide the management team with financial and operational information, comply with government and stakeholder requirements, and satisfy external customers’ and suppliers’ requests. She enjoy practicing Ashtanga Yoga and gardening. She also have a soft spot for Australian Shiraz.
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About Wealthsimple: Wealthsimple offers financial tools to help investors grow and manage their money.
Julie Plouffe
CFO of White Star Capital
As Chief Financial Officer of White Star Capital, Julie brings years of experience in financial management from the Business Development Bank of Canada, the largest venture capital financing company in Canada. At BDC, Julie served as a deputy to the CFO and managed teams responsible for overall accounting, financial planning and analysis, reporting and risk management. She was also closely involved in the financial operations of its venture capital division. Julie began her career with the accounting firm KPMG and then TVA Group, a publicly traded communications company. She holds a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation and has a graduate degree from HEC Montreal. Julie is based in our Montreal office.
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About White Star Capital: White Star Capital is an international venture and early growth-stage investment platform in technology.
Jeff Lucassen
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Northleaf Capital Partners
Jeff leads Northleaf’s Corporate team and is responsible for the financial and operational activities of the firm. Jeff manages and provides strategic oversight for key business functions, including Investor Operations, Finance & Corporate Operations, Human Resources, Tax, Technology and Corporate Development. Jeff is a member of Northleaf’s Management Committee and is actively involved in Northleaf’s global investment, asset and risk management, and investor relations activities. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2017, Jeff was a Partner of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager, and Chief Operating Officer of Carlyle Liquid Markets, formerly Diversified Global Asset Management (DGAM), a diversified hedge fund manager. Jeff was a co-founder of DGAM in 2004 and served as DGAM’s Chief Operating Officer until its acquisition by Carlyle in 2014. Previously, Jeff served as the Controller, Investment and Corporate Finance, at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan where he built the portfolio, risk management and compliance systems as the pension plan grew to more than $100 billion in assets and expanded its investment activities in alternative assets globally. Jeff began his career as an auditor with KPMG where he focused on the financial services and asset management sectors. Jeff received a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Windsor and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Western Ontario. He holds the Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst designations.
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About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Jonathan Simmons
Chief Financial Officer of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System
Jonathan Simmons became OMERS Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer in January 2014. Jonathan brings more than 20 years of experience in financial services to this role. As Chief Financial Officer, Simmons’ duties include OMERS financial reporting, serving as the lead executive for the OMERS Administration Corporation Board’s Audit Committee, and preparation of the annual operating plan. He is also a member of the Transaction Approval Committee. Prior to joining OMERS, Jonathan was a Partner at PwC for more than a decade. He led PwC’s insurance practice, which comprised a team of over 200 auditors, actuaries, tax specialists, management consultants and deal experts. At PwC, Jonathan provided clients both in Canada and internationally with advice covering areas such as audit, financial reporting, internal controls, risk management, capital raising, regulatory advice and due diligence. Jonathan is a graduate of the University of Warwick (England) and a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario. His contributions to the community extend to serving as a director for various non-profit organizations, including the Canadian Youth Business Foundation.
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About Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System: We manage a diversified global portfolio of stocks and bonds as well as real estate, infrastructure and private equity investments.
Catherine A. Spackman
CFO & Treasurer of Central Fund of Canada
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About Central Fund of Canada: Gold, Silver, Investments
Jason Futko
Co-Founder, CFO of KoreConX
CFO at KoreConx.
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About KoreConX: Empowering Private Markets
Steve Fray
Chief Financial Officer of Goldmoney
Steve is Goldmoney’s Chief Financial Officer. Steve is an experienced fintech executive with over 20 years of experience in finance and auditing. As SVP of Finance, Steve oversees the global accounting, business support, financial planning and analysis, treasury, internal audit, and tax functions at Goldmoney. Steve joined Goldmoney in early 2017 as Director of Finance, and has worked closely with Goldmoney’s senior leadership since his arrival. Steve has over 20 years of experience building and leading finance teams in global companies with significant operating scale and complexity. Prior to joining Goldmoney, Steve was VP of Finance at Guestlogix, senior finance manager at Accounting General’s Department of Bermuda and numerous audit roles at KPMG. Steve holds several designations and professional affiliations namely a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from the University of Manchester, Certified Professional Accountant, Certified General Accountant, (CPA, CGA), Fellow of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants, (FCCA-UK), Certified Public Accountant (CPA-USA), Certified Internal Auditor, (CIA-USA), Certified Fraud Examiner, (CFE-USA).
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About Goldmoney: Goldmoney is a financial services group that combines the unique attributes of gold with technology-driven innovation.
David Yoo
CFO of Roadman Investments
David Yoo (柳 珍) is the Chief Financial Officer of Urban Select Capital Partners Corp. and managing director of China Select Capital Hong Kong. From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Yoo served as a managing director and Head of the Americas at SF Investment Co., a Seoul-based private equity firm with assets of over US$500 million. Mr. Yoo was at EarlyBirdCapital from 2004 to 2008 as a vice president in investment banking, where he participated in over 40 public and private equity offerings, raising gross proceeds exceeding US$2.5 billion. He also was a vice president for Dalewood Associates, LP, a private investment fund in the technology, alternative energy, and consumer sectors. Mr. Yoo was previously at Ardour Capital, KPMG International, and the Doosan Group in Korea. He has served as a director and member of the audit committee of Tremisis Energy Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE Amex: TGY) since 2008. Mr. Yoo earned a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
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About Roadman Investments: Roadman Investments is an investment issuer that focuses on investing growth capital in private and public companies.
Adam Conyers
CFO of The Canadian Securities Exchange
Adam Conyers is the chief financial officer and senior Vice-President of CNSX Markets Inc.
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About The Canadian Securities Exchange: CSE is the only exchange in Canada providing trading and market information services for all domestically listed instruments.
Sean Bromley
CFO of Cosigned
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About Cosigned: Non-recourse, secured small business acquisition loans for new high school graduates.
Daniel Lazzer
Chief Financial Officer of Harvest Portfolios Group
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About Harvest Portfolios Group: Harvest Portfolios is a Canadian Investment Fund Manager based in Oakville Ontario.
Gregory D. Tretiak
Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Power Financial Corporation
Mr. Tretiak was appointed Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Power Financial and Power Corporation in May 2012. He is a director of Power Financial’s subsidiary companies Great-West Lifeco and IGM Financial and a number of their subsidiaries. Mr. Tretiak joined Investors Group in 1988 and was Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of IGM Financial since 1999. In this role, he was responsible for all financial functions at IGM Financial and its subsidiaries: Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial and Investment Planning Counsel.
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About Power Financial Corporation: Power Financial Corporation is a diversified management and holding company.
Mano Thiyagarajah
CFO and Corporate Secretary of Terra Firma Capital Corporation
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About Terra Firma Capital Corporation: Publicly-traded real estate finance company that provides customized debt and equity solutions to homebuilders, developers & property owners
Enio Lazzer
COO & CFO of Espresso Capital
Enio brings over 20 years experience in finance, capital markets, operations and technology. Prior roles include divisional CFO/COO and Managing Director of CIBC World Markets, where he also served as Head of Prime Brokerage and Trading Services, and Vice President & CFO of The Northern Trust Company, Canada, where he was part of an executive team that established the first foreign owned trust company in Canada, successfully growing it to over $40 billion of assets under management.
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About Espresso Capital: Espresso Capital offers lines of credit and term loans to enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
Donald Gibbons
Chief Financial Officer of FreeBalance
Donald is responsible for the administrative, financial, legal and risk management operations of FreeBalance.
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About FreeBalance: FreeBalance is the only public financial management solution built exclusively for government.
Ken MacAskill
CFO of Fusebill
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About Fusebill: Fusebill is a company that provides automated invoicing, billing and collections for subscription-based companies.
Ken MacAskill
CFO of Fusebill
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About Fusebill: Fusebill is a company that provides automated invoicing, billing and collections for subscription-based companies.
Kiya Hushyar
Chief Financial Officer of Progressa
Kiya Hushyar is the Chief Financial Officer at Progressa.
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About Progressa: Millions of Canadians have had their credit rating impacted by overdue bills and items that have gone to collections.
