Canada's Top 40 Under 40
TM
Celebrating the BEST and
the BRIGHTEST since 1995
Each year, Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Awards are presented to exceptional Canadians under the age of 40 who are outstanding leaders in their chosen fields and who are shaping our country's future.
We are looking for nominations from across Canada and from every type of business and organization - private, public, not-for profit.
Top 40 Under 40 Awards
Celebrate Canadian Leaders
Globe & Mail Article here...
PROGRAM
Canada's Top 40 Under 40, established in 1995, is a national program that uniquely celebrates the achievements of 40 Canadians in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors, who have reached a significant level of success before the age of 40.
The program is designed to promote mentorship and professional development by introducing these leaders to the established business community and by promoting them as role models for young Canadians. By building awareness and support across Canada for these outstanding individuals, this program serves an example of national unity.
ADVISORY BOARD
President Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Executive Chairman WestJet Airlines Ltd.
President & CEO Bell & Bernard Ltd.
Chief Executive Officer MTS Allstream Inc.
Corporate Director
Chairman of the Board Astral Media Corp.
Corporate Director & Professor Rotman School of Management
Founding Partner SECOR Consulting
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner Quorum Funding Corporation
Dr. Alain Beaudet
President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Mr. John Kim Bell
President & Chief Executive Officer
Bell & Bernard Ltd.
Mr. Pierre Blouin
Chief Executive Officer
MTS Allstream Inc.
Dr. J.-Pierre Brunet
Mr. Clive Beddoe
Executive Chairman
WestJet Airlines Ltd.
Mr. André Bureau
Chairman of the Board
Astral Media Corp.
Mr. Brendan Calder
Corporate Director & Professor
Rotman School of Management
Mr. Marcel Cote
Founding Partner
SECOR Consulting
Ms. Wanda Dorosz
& Managing Partner
Quorum Funding Corporation
Mr. Guy Dufresne
President & CEO Teranet Inc.
President & CEO National Post
President & CEO TD Canada Trust
President & CEO ENMAX Corporation
Co-Chair Goodmans LLP
Chief Executive Officer Canadian Interuniversity Sport
President & CEO ATB Financial
President & CEO Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation
President Procter & Gamble Canada Inc.
President & CEO Viterra Inc.
Mr. Jay Forbes
Teranet Inc.
Mr. Tim Hockey
TD Canada Trust
Mr. Gary Holden
ENMAX Corporation
Mr. Paul Godfrey
National Post
Mr. Dale Lastman
Co-Chair
Goodmans LLP
Ms. Marg McGregor
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Mr. Dave Mowat
ATB Financial
Ms. Marie Mullaly
Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation
Mr. Tim Penner
President
Procter & Gamble Canada Inc.
Mr. Mayo Schmidt
Viterra Inc.
President & Chief Executive Officer Yellow Pages Group, Inc.
President Shelter Canadian Properties Limited
Chairman Prairie Merchant Corporation
President Woodcorp Investment Ltd.
Mr. Doug Stewart
Mr. Marc Tellier
Yellow Pages Group Inc.
Mr. Arni Thorsteinson
Shelter Canadian Properties Limited
Mr. W. Brett Wilson
Chairman
Prairie Merchant Corporation
Mr. Kip Woodward
Woodcorp Investment Ltd.
Canada's Top 40 Under 40 independent National Advisory Board is composed of industry and community leaders from across the country. Each Director is a leader in their field and was recommended by the program partners. Recipients are also represented on the board by several Alumni. The role of the Board is to provide guidance on program execution and to select the recipients. Each Advisory Board Member donates his/her time to the program.
NOMINATIONS
Nominations for Canada's Top 40 Under 40 program are solicited through a national campaign. People are invited to submit names of individuals whose achievements will be measured by our Selection Committee with the five criteria for nomination:
Nominees must be under 40 years of age as of December 31, 2010 and must be of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status. Amateur or professional athletes, artists, musicians and publicly elected government officials are not eligible for this award.
NOMINATIONS FOR 2010
Go to the Nomination Form page, complete the form and submit to us.
Complete the nomination form if you would like to nominate someone. In response, the person you nominate will be contacted by us directly with a Nominee Kit and asked to complete material in order to be considered. This completed material will be assessed by our Selection Committee.
Please note:
NOMINATION FORM
ONLINE NOMINATION
FORM
NOMINEE
SUBMISSION FORM
Nominees may download the Nominee Submission Form.
You can save data typed on to this form.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVERS
2009 Recipients
DR. IKE AHMED
Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences
University of Toronto
Dr. Ike Ahmed is Director of the Glaucoma and Advanced Anterior Segment Surgical fellowship at U of T, Faculty of Medicine. He diagnoses, treats patients, conducts high quality trials and research and teaches medical trainees and practitioners.
He is also a partner in two private clinics, which also conduct research and employ 15 physicians and 80 employees.
Dr. Ahmed has developed essential microscopic instrumentation and devices for complicated cataract surgery and glaucoma treatment. He has co-authored Canada's first Cataract Guidelines resource document.
He has supervised 34 major clinical trials, presented his work in 25 countries and serves as a consultant on 15 major eye-related private companies.
WILLIAM ANDREW
Elevate Sport Inc.
William Andrew joined Trimark Sportswear in 2005 and a year later led the company's successful bid for licensed apparel for the 2010 Olympic Games. This was done through a newly created subsidiary Elevate Sport Inc..
Elevate has generated over $30 million of revenue, 10 employees, 10 sales reps and over 500 accounts to Trimark's already solid business.
William has had a significant impact on the company. He assembled a new management team, created an eBusiness portal and developed new sales tools. A full 10% of orders are now placed online with response time reduced to just a few hours.
He introduced a program of Corporate Social Responsibility to manage the company's social, economic and environmental impact.
BRIAN BOULANGER
Senior Vice President
ARC Financial Corp.
Brian Boulangers was one ARC Financial Corp.'s original Partners when it launched its Private Equity group in 1997. Today, it is one of the worlds leading energy-focused private equity firms managing over $2.7 Billion.
Among its fewer than 20 investors are a variety of prestigious funds, including Ontario Teachers and Yale University.
As Senior Vice President, Brian is creating the vision and leading the execution of the firms team approach to investing in Energy Development and Infrastructure sectors. He has done over 20 deals ranging from $3M-$75M with return rates in excess of 25%.
He has been a director of over 10 of the firms portfolio companies and chaired various board committees. He was also the youngest Chair in the history of Calgarys United Way.
DOMINIQUE BROWN
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Beenox
In 2000, when Dominique Brown's employer left Quebec City for Montreal, Dominique seized the opportunity to create his own company, surrounded himself with talented locals and went after the international market. His goal: to conquer the world!
Beenox, a video game developer with franchises like Spider-Man had explosive growth and five years later was acquired by Activision. Today, it has 350 employees developing games on world-known licences such as Marvel and Guitar Hero.
In order to stay on top of the fast-moving market, the Beenox team has created a technology department of over 20 researchers that develops and refines secret proprietary technology in an environment that challenges current conventions.
Dominique is also President and Co-founder of the National School of Interactive Entertainment designed to keep the next generation of video game developers in Quebec.
KENT CAMPBELL
Deputy Minister
Saskatchewan Ministy of Energy and Resources
Kent Campbell was appointed Deputy Minister, of Saskatchewan Energy and Resources in 2008 after a steady 12 year progression through the civil service. The ministry is not only the primary regulator of the provinces non-renewable resources sector but is a facilitator and promoter of oil, gas and mining sector development.
One-third of the world's potash and one-fifth of its uranium comes from Saskatchewan. Kent's mandate includes promotion of investment opportunities to foreign investors and successful efforts in China, Japan and Korea have realized over $60M over the past three years.
Kent sits on the boards of directors of various resource sector innovation and research organizations, including the Petroleum Technology Research Centre. He also helped create the Entrepreneurial Fund and Foundation to assist with early stage risk capital.
LINDA CAMPBELL
Canada Research Chair in Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Associate Professor
Queen's University
Linda Campbell has been leading global initiatives on environmental contaminants, including the understanding of mercury bioaccumulation and biomagnification from the Arctic to China to Argentina.
Closer to home, her work with her students in Kingston's harbour led to changes in its remediation strategy.
She holds a joint position as Canada Research Chair in Aquatic
Ecosystem Health and Assistant Professor at Queens University's
School of Environmental Studies and Department of Biology.
Linda has been deaf since birth. Today, she is one of Canada's first tenured deaf female professors and has broken barriers and changed attitudes. She is President of the International Association of Great Lakes Research. She has published over 28 papers and spoken in the U.S., China and Argentina.
ERIC CHOUINARD
Co-founder, President & Chief Executive Officer
iWeb.com
Montreal's Eric Chouinard is President, Co-founder and Chairman of the iWeb Group, a global provider of IT infrastructure and internet hosting services.
iWeb has 4 data centres in Montreal, currently hosting 12,000 servers leased to 20,000 clients in 145 countries. The company went public in 2004 and has already given its shareholders 6 consecutive years of organic growth, from $1.4M in revenue to over $27M last year.
Often compared to a sparkplug, Eric lays the groundwork for creative developments, and encourages his staff to pursue ideas, innovation and opportunity.
Eric is the public face iWeb.com, and oversees strategic planning. He intends to grow iWeb into a $100M company, in both revenue and market cap.
The next phases of iWeb's growth will be achieved through a unique corporate culture that stimulates people, promotes innovation and attracts top talent, ultimately creating opportunities and advantages for its customers.
FRANÇOIS DESJARDINS
President & Chief Executive Officer, B2B Trust and Executive Vice President
Laurentian Bank
François Desjardins joined Laurentian Bank in 1991 as a Customer Service Representative. Today he is on the bank's Management Committee and responsible for nearly one-third of its revenue as President & CEO of B2B Trust a wholly-owned subsidiary of Laurentian Bank.
B2B Trust is the premier third-party provider of investment & RRSP lending products in Canada. It is the leading supplier of wholesale deposit products and long-time provider of self-directed products, banking solutions and mortgages solely to the financial intermediary community.
Since 2005, François has improved net profitability by 81% and increased revenues by over 25%. He increased the workforce by 10% while weathering the financial crisis with strategies implemented to prudently manage credit risk.
B2B Trust has become an industry leader in just 5 years due to innovative products and services delivered by his motivated team.
JOHN DI BERT
Vice President, Finance & CFO
Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
Pratt & Whitney Canada, a United Technologies Company, has a world product mandate to design, develop, manufacture, market and support gas turbine engines for the global aerospace industry.
As VP Finance and CFO, John Di Bert and his global team of 300 are responsible for profitable growth, delivery on financial commitments and sustaining world-class controls.
After his appointment in 2007, John developed a clear vision for Finance, focused on preserving and creating shareholder value based on timely reporting, solid accounting, stringent controls and compliance.
Over the past three years, John successfully led the company through one of its most challenging economic periods by launching strategic investments and sustaining strong financial performance to maintain Pratt & Whitney Canada's leadership position.
ROBERT DRYNAN
Executive Director
Camp Oochigeas
When Robert Drynan volunteered his time at Camp Oochigeas, a camp for children with cancer, it literally changed his life. In 2004 he became Executive Director of this inspiring charity that also assists bereaved children whose siblings have been impacted by this terrible disease.
Robert is responsible for all aspect of Ooch's operations. The camp runs its programs at its outdoor site near Lake Rousseau in the Muskokas as well as at the Hospital for Sick Children. Since taking over, he has increased fundraising revenue 68%, camp days 213% and has introduced day camps for kids 3-8.
There have been $3.5M in capital improvements at the camp, including an all-season recreation space, while in Toronto a site near Sick Kids is scheduled to open this year. He helps deliver fun, enriching, challenging and magical experiences.
DANIEL DUROCHER
Senior Investigator, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute
Mount Sinai Hospital
Daniel Durocher leads a research team investigating how normal cells become cancerous and how healthy cells detect and repair damage to their DNA.
He is Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and an Associate Professor at the U of T.
His work has increased the fundamental understanding of the genetic underpinnings of cancer, pointing to new treatments. He and his peers are screening thousands of possible drugs that may be beneficial to cancer care.
Daniel has raised millions in research funds, secured grants to create his lab, recruited trainees, built a culture of research excellence and is helping to reverse the brain drain.
PHILIP FAYER
Pivotal Payments Corp.
In 2003, a regulatory change made Philip Fayer's electronic payment processing operation obsolete. So he redrew his business plan to focus on a different and larger segment of the market and founded Pivotal Payments Corporation. Today, this Montreal private company is a runaway success.
Pivotal Payments helps over forty thousand merchants accept close to $7 billion dollars of electronic payments more cost-effectively, more securely and in more customer-friendly ways than ever before.
Through his vision, leadership and perseverance, the company continues to grow even through the recent economic downturn. While on-line spending decreased, their business grew 40%. Pivotal outperformed all rivals.
If Philip continues this growth he may be the CEO of a billion dollar company by the time he is 40, thats just eight years away.
BRADLEY P. D. FEDORA
Canyon Services Group Inc.
Publicly traded Canyon Services Group of Calgary helps improve production and overall reserves recovery for its oil and gas clients that range from small cap companies to multi-nationals oil and natural producing companies.
President and CEO Bradley Fedora joined Canyon in 2007 when the company was experiencing the first stages of a multi-year decline. Since then he has set a new strategic course for the company and led a financial restructuring. He also completed a $97M of new equity financing in the past year targeted for state-of-the-art equipment that will quintuple its well fracturing capacity. Revenue is on course to increase by over 100%.
Potential expansion into the Middle East and Mexico is next on Brad's to do list.
CAMERON FOWLER
Executive Vice President, Head of Strategic Management and Corporate Marketing
BMO Financial Group
In 2009, Cameron Fowler joined BMO Group from Barclays in London UK where he helped lead the transformation of its fastest growing business by integrating 8 groups and making it the top domestic player in wealth management.
At BMO, as Executive Vice President he is a member of the bank's senior leadership team and is accountable for strategy and corporate marketing efforts globally as well as several of the bank's key Change Management programs.
He has helped drive the radical rebranding of BMO Financial Group, with a focus on bringing clarity to financial matters. Success has contributed to internal culture change and strong commercial growth.
Cameron is also Chair of the Advisory Committee of Greening Canada Fund which aspires to help position the country as a leader in carbon finance.
CHRIS GOWER
Regional Vice President, Central & Eastern Canada
PCL Constructors Canada Inc.
PCL Constructors is Canada's largest contracting organization and one of the largest in the U.S. It has 27 North American offices and Chris Gower is responsible for over $1.3B of their work in Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces.
Chris' progress has been remarkable having gone from an estimator to Regional Vice President in only 14 years. No secret to that, he gets results. In Toronto alone, over the past three years, Chris has overseen net profit records of 107%, 148% and even 9% in the economic downturn.
He is one of 7 executives within the PCL family of companies that are an advisory group seeking ways to continuously improve the company. He is also leading a team seeking expansion opportunities in Australia.
FRANÇOIS GRATTON
Senior Vice President, Business Markets
TELUS Quebec
François Gratton has been responsible for major progress in the field of electronic healthcare. Since 2005, he has helped to take Emergis, now TELUS Health Solutions, from a finance and insurance-based company into a leader for IT solutions for healthcare.
During that time he dramatically improved acquisition integration at Emergis by creating an innovative process to address due diligence, integration planning and execution. The result is 11 successful acquisitions, 7 under François' supervision.
In under 4 years, this new business within TELUS Health Solutions went from 0 to over $80M in revenues, 450 employees and an compound ed annual margin growth rate of 33%.
François was invited to join the board of ITAC Health which goal is to improve the health of Canadians and efficiency of the healthcare system through the implementation of information and communications technologies.
Now working as Senior VP, Business markets, he is merging his knowledge of applications and infrastructure to manage all aspects of TELUS business activities in Quebec.
TED HASTINGS
Moxy Media
Since 2007, Ted Hastings has been President and CEO of Moxy Media, an online company with over 300 websites in five categories: technology, finance, education, home & garden and lifestyle.
Ted is responsible for strategic and tactical performance and the results have been impressive. During the recent global financial meltdown, the company grew in value by over two and a half times.
Moxy Media excels at new product development with its fully integrated advertising platform which extends from ad text creation to marketing and analytics. Revenue has increased more than tenfold in the past two years.
Before joining Moxy, in previous executive positions, Ted closed Canada's largest private equity financing in 2007 at $160M US and successfully completed 9 acquisitions in three years without outside capital.
CHRISTINE HEALY
Commercial Advisor, Department of Natural Resources
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Christine Healy has strategized, planned and negotiated agreements to generate more than $35 Billion. That's billion with a b for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Christine Healy is Commercial Advisor for the province's Department of Natural Resources and co-leads an inter-disciplinary team that negotiates with multi-national companies developing the provinces offshore oil resources.
Following parameters set by government, she has achieved the highest royalty rates the province has ever seen, along with equity participation for the province in three offshore projects.
These deals mean thousands of jobs, along with hundreds of millions of R&D investment in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Christine and her team also secured ground-breaking gender and equity commitments for the vital Hebron project, opening up doors for women in the oil and gas industry.
DAVID HENDERSON
Managing Director
XPV Capital Corporation
David Henderson is a recognized expert in water technology investing. He is the Founder and Managing Director of XPV Capital, a highly specialized investment firm 100% focused on the water sector.
At XPV, David focuses on identifying and investing in companies capitalizing on the significant opportunities created by the new water economy a concept he developed.
Interest is high. During the past year, XPV secured commitments in excess of $100M from institutional investors and is now well on its way to establishing itself as a global water investment leader.
He co-initiated the Ontario Clean Water Initiative to help set water strategy and to develop a water technology cluster for the province. He has also helped to empower entrepreneurs and students find innovative solutions to the world water crisis through his work with Imagine H20 and Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship.
SEAN IVENS
Medic North Emergency Services Ltd.
In just 12 years, Sean Ivens has grown Medic North Emergency Services Ltd. into a company offering Medevac and Air Ambulance services to all communities in the Northwest Territories while also providing on-site medical personnel to remote industrial sites throughout Canada.
He is providing services unmatched in history to some 34 remote communities and is the largest employer of Physicians Assistants outside the Canadian Armed Forces.
When his business appeared to reach capacity in 2005, he set and met a new goal of 50% growth for the next year. He increased that by 70% in 2007 and jumped another 30% in 2008.
Sean believes in mentoring his employees and encourages professional development and community involvement, offering flexible schedules to assist.
DR. PAUL KHAIRY
Director, Adult Congenital Heart Center and Canada Research Chair, Montreal Heart Institute
University of Montreal
Dr. Paul Khairy is Director of the Montreal Heart Institute Adult Congenital Heart Centre and a tenured Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal. He is Canada Research Chair in Electrophysiology and Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Research Director at Harvards Adult Congenital Heart Service.
He has pioneered cutting-edge strategies to treat heart arrhythmias and has won a major $7M grant to support creation of a National Centre for Excellence. He received an additional $10M in grants over past 5 years.
He oversees 15 top trainees and was Professor of the Year in 2008. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles, 80 abstracts, 20 book chapters and a textbook.
His strategic plan for the future involves melding Canadian, U.S. and European strengths to provide the best opportunity for progress.
JAMIE KING
Verafin Inc.
Jamie King is a crime fighter. Verafin, the company he co-founded in 2003 and now heads as President & CEO, is one of North America's leading Compliance and Fraud Detection software providers.
Verafin's advanced artificial intelligence technologies excel at detecting suspicious activity. Their customer base includes hundreds of financial institutions operating on 30 different core banking systems.
Jamie's team, located in St. Johns, has grown to 90 employees. They help banks and credit unions throughout Canada detect and prevent financial crime.
Jamie's goal is to be the North American leader in financial crime-detecting software by 2011 and then move on to global expansion. Little wonder the federal government has named Verafin a Canadian Innovation Leader.
OLGA KOVALCHUK
Associate Professor, Board of Governors' Research Chair, CIHR
Chair in Gender and Health
University of Lethbridge
Living close to Chernobyl inspired Dr. Olga Kovalchuk's research into radiation on living organisms.
Dr. Kovalchuk is a cancer researcher and teacher as well as the co-leader of the Alberta Epigenetics Institute and Network. Her work is devoted to uncovering molecular mechanisms of cancer development and using new approaches to cancer prevention, diagnostics and treatment.
The University of Lethbridge lacks a medical school but that didnt stop her from taking an empty room and turning it into a cutting-edge lab.
Among her achievements is work in trans-generational mutation, whereby children of irradiated parents may have a higher cancer pre-disposition 6 to 8 times higher for leukemia.
She has built a rigorous collaborative international network of research and clinical centres and has received funding from both Canada and the U.S..
MARTIN LAVIGNE
Senior Vice President, Third-Party Business Solutions
National Bank Financial Group
Martin Lavigne was a professional baseball player in the LA Dodgers minor league organization before going to the financial sector where he is knocking it out of the park.
After experience with other firms, Martin was named President & CEO of National Bank Securities in 2008 before his appointment as Senior Vice President of Third Party Business Solutions. He is responsible for development, management and co-ordination of all the banks product and service distribution to investment advisors outside the bank.
Third party sales that were negligible are now over $40M by generating 260,000 new clients from over 12,000 independent advisors. Despite the tough economic climate, assets have grown by 14% while profits are up 17%.
New strategic partnerships will double the business in next five years.
DR. IAN R. MANN
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Space Physics
University of Alberta
Dr. Ian Mann provides scientific leadership and service in the Canadian and international Space science community.
He heads CARISMA, the Canadian Array for Real-time Investigations of Magnetic Activity, which studies how the sun affects our space environment with a view to predicting changes to space weather. These changes can cause interruption of high-frequency communications, GPS location errors or radiation impact on satellites and airlines.
Ian has built 13 industrial and 21 international partnerships to facilitate continued research and commercialization. He has received $9M in grants in six years from sources such as the Canadian Space Agency. His research will help further diversity the Alberta economy into aerospace.
Ian is taking his expertise to the next generation and the public through the creation of space camps for grades 7-9 and the creation of the AuroraWatch service.
MARGARET MCGEE
Vice President, Business Innovation
Margaret McGee was a television journalist and the owner of her own media consulting firm before joining the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation in 2005 as VP Prevention Programming & Public Affairs.
Her background served her well, as Margaret's rebranding strategy improved public opinion by 26% in just 18 months. Three years later she was appointed VP of Business Innovation responsible for developing new opportunities and launching new products.
She broke new ground in social responsibility, pioneering North America's first Social Responsibility Charter in the gaming industry and creating the world's first blocking software aimed at preventing underage online gambling. In fact, she helped put the small jurisdiction of Nova Scotia on the global stage by achieving six world-firsts in social responsibility.
JEFF MELANSON
Executive Director and Co-Chief Executive Officer
Canada's National Ballet School
By the age of 36, Jeff Melanson had led two of the world's most significant arts organizations - The Royal Conservatory of Music and the National Ballet School.
In 2001, Jeff was named Dean of the Community School at the Royal Conservatory and created innovative programming that touched ethnic communities, children, at-risk youth, isolated seniors and the underprivileged. He also oversaw RCMs expansion into China.
As Executive Director of the National Ballet School since 2006, he is responsible for a $20M budget, capital fundraising completion of $106M and an endowment campaign of $50M.
Two thirds of the National Ballet of Canada company is comprised of the schools grads who also dance or lead in 60 companies around the world.
Jeff has personally raised over $80M for the arts in our country.
ROB NORMANDEAU
President & Chief Operating Officer
Clarke Inc.
Rob Normandeau is a lawyer and an MBA. From 2000-2005 he practiced law for a New York-based firm specializing in corporate finance and M&A, terrific experience for his present day responsibilities as President and COO of Clarke Inc. of Halifax.
Clarke Inc, traded on the TSX, owns a number of wholly-owned operating companies in the freight transportation space but is also any activist investor in distressed businesses.
Rob developed and won board approval for the firm's strategy which is to focus capital and management efforts on distressed business that can be turned around. Holdings have included a fine art reproduction company and the largest garden products retailer in Canada.
The results are impressive: comprehensive income was over $36M in 2009, compared to a sizable loss in 2008.
CLIVE OSHRY
Co-founder
Globex Foreign Exchange Corp.
In order to build a great company you must surround yourself with great people and Clive Oshry has done both with Globex Foreign Exchange, one of the world's leading foreign exchange brokers with offices across Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.
In 1998, he was one of the two founders of the company, and grew it from nothing to 215 employees, 21 international offices, all with the head office in his hometown of Edmonton.
Globex serves a wide variety of clients with transactions ranging from $5K to $5M. Throughout the growth curve and economic cycle, Clive focuses on hiring top performers, giving them the latitude to succeed and motivates them to grow the business through outstanding service and individualized relationships.
Although its a private company, employees can buy dividend-paying units.
ALI PEJMAN
Managing Director, Mining, Investment Banking, Head of Public Venture Capital
Canaccord
As Managing Director of Investment Banking, Ali Pejman works with executives at Canada's most prestigious mid-capitalization resource companies, developing strategies relating to acquisitions, capital structuring, and finance.
Head of Public Venture Capital, Ali was instrumental in the expansion of the practice unit, and oversees offices nationally as his team sources and fosters young Canadian companies.
Ali has led over 185 transactions totaling an excess of $1.7 billion in gross proceeds with the mining world's top names.
Ali sits on Canaccord's Global Executive Committee as a national representative of the Investment Banking Mining team.
He also lends his expertise to the BC Securities Commission and TSX Venture Exchanges Advisory Committees.
Ali supports numerous charities and is lead donor and fundraiser for the Sauder School of Business.
MICHAEL POWER
Chief Executive Officer, Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute and Vice President, Regional Cancer and Diagnostic Services
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
Michael Power was drafted, as a goaltender, by the Edmonton Oilers in 1990.
Since 2003, Michael has been VP, Regional Cancer & Diagnostic Services at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and VP for Cancer Care Ontario in the Northwest part of the province. He leads clinical and management services at the Northwestern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre. The Centre offers the shortest wait times for chemotherapy, radiation and surgical oncology in Ontario.
In 2008 he added CEO responsibilities at the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute, Canada's newest molecular imaging research program. He mentored the creation of the Institute and a $100M public-private partnership that has resulted in the appointment of 13 new Scientists and close to 100 new professional research staff.
Michael is also making a significant contribution to his community where he is the Chair of the Board for Canada's largest independent telecom - TBay Tel.
LEONARDO SIMON
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Waterloo
After earning his PhD in Materials Science in 2001 in Brazil, Leonardo Simon joined the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo where he now is a tenured professor.
His research deals with materials engineering, plastics and on using nanotechnology to modify their structure for improved performance. His work applies renewable feedstock from agriculture or forestry for developing sustainable and lightweight materials for manufacturing.
As a result, Ford implemented components of its Ford Flex 2010 in Oakville with the world's first lightweight, sustainable hybrid plastic created with wheat straw.
Leonardo founded Waterloo's Team of Sustainable Automotive Materials, a one of a kind student engineering team supported by industry investigating sustainable transportation and technology implementation.
RAHUL SINGH
GlobalMedic
Rahul Singh is a Toronto Paramedic who is making a significant difference around the world as founder and executive director of Global Medic, a volunteer specialty disaster response team.
Since 2005, GlobalMedic teams, comprised of professional rescuers like police, firefighters and paramedics, have responded to over 40 disasters in over 20 countries, including Haiti earlier this year. They can be anywhere in the world, ready to work in 12 hours and are often in place 4-5 days before other relief agencies.
Use of professional volunteers ensures that every dollar donated goes to operation programming. GlobalMedic has provided more than $10M in desperately needed relief supplies.
Rahul's winning formula of quick response, local empowerment and volunteer effort has been adopted by some of the largest international relief organizations.
BARRY SYMONS
Jonas Software
A successful 10 year stint as CFO of Constellation Software Inc. led Top 40 honouree Barry Symons in 2007 to the Chief Executive Officers post at Jonas Software, one of Constellation's largest Operating Groups.
Barry led CSI from a startup to the second largest software company in Canada with 3000 employees and over $500M in annualized revenues. He also led the launch of its $88M IPO.
Jonas is the leading provider of enterprise software solutions that automate all aspects of a clients business. It specializes in the following industries 1) Club 2) Construction 3) Food Service 4) Fitness and 5) Attractions Jonas has over 8000 clients in over 10 countries.
Barry reorganized Jonas and positioned it for growth. His 5 year plan to triple revenues and profits is half way to completion and on track.
LARRY TOMEI
Senior Vice President, Retail Markets
CIBC
Larry Tomei joined CIBC in 1994 and has had a steady climb through the ranks since then.
Since 2009, Larry has been the Senior Vice President responsible for CIBC's branch network in Central Canada where he leads a team of 6500 financial advisors and staff in 470 branches.
Larry takes enormous pride in his leadership team and his employee teams and their efforts to build a client-focused business that delivers financial advice and services to millions of Canadians.
Under Larry's leadership over the past five years his business units employees satisfaction and his clients satisfaction scores have increased steadily - one of Larrys greatest points of pride.
KEN TRAVIS
Strata Energy Services Inc.
Ken Travis started working on oil and gas rigs in Alberta twenty years ago and today he is President and CEO of Strata Energy Services, an international oil field services company specializing in superior technology and equipment.
Strata's patented technology delivers production optimization to clients such as EnCana, Husky and Shell. In five years it has become #3 in market share globally and has grown revenue more than 2000%.
Ken's head office is in Red Deer but expansion has meant new Strata offices in the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates. Strata's technology and marketing initiatives have taken its brand and equipment into many countries of the world.
Strata's technology offering has been expanded to the Geo Thermal market as an environmentally friendly solution to energy demand.
DR. EVE TSAI
Doctor
The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and University of Ottawa
Eve Tsai completed a PhD in spinal cord repair while in residency training at the U of T and then a Spine Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic.
Today, she is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at U of Ottawa, a Neurosurgeon at The Ottawa Hospital and an Associate Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
In 2007, Eve created the Translational Spinal Cord Research Group to develop spinal cord repair strategies using advanced technologies. She also led the creation of a multi-disciplinary team to create a research program into MRI visualization of spinal cord tracts.
Eve is also involved with the exploration of biotechnology and stem cells in spinal cord repair. She is respected internationally-- with her work referenced in over 170 papers in top medical journals and conferences.
JOHN VALLIANT
Associate Professor, McMaster University and Chief Executive Officer
Centre for Probe Development & Commercialization (CPDC)
John Valliant did a Post-doctoral Fellowship in Radiology at Harvard before joining McMaster in 1999 where he is now an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Medical Physics. But John's contribution doesn't end with research and the classroom. In 2008, he became the Founding Scientific Director of the Centre for Probe Development & Commercialization. The centre is the world's first facility focusing on all areas related to the development and commercialization of molecular imaging probes which are chemical compounds used to non-invasively diagnose disease at its earliest stage.
Leveraging Canada's leadership in the medical isotope field, John proposed the Centre and raised $25M to bring it to life. It has created over 25 high tech jobs in Hamilton, where the centre provides physicians from across Ontario with probes to detect breast and other types cancers and he continues to educate over 500 undergrads and graduates students each year.
DR. SUBODH VERMA
Cardiac Surgeon, St. Michael's Hospital, Canada Research Chair in Atherosclerosis and Associate Professor
Dr. Subodh Verma is a cardiac surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital who performs some 200-250 open heart surgeries each year. He is also an Associate Professor U of T and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Atherosclerosis.
In addition to his teaching and clinical work, Dr. Verma's lab does internationally lauded cutting-edge research in cardiovascular disease, translates research to the bedside and offers dynamic, cross-disciplinary and innovative research training to national and international students and fellows.
His research group has made groundbreaking discoveries in determining the roles of genes and molecules on cardiovascular disease which will translate into new treatments for patients with heart disease.
ROBERT WILFUR
First Capital Management Ltd.
Bob Wilfur's assent in the merchant banking & private equity world has been anything but conventional. By the age of 18, he was advising the Vancouver Stock Exchange on content for their educational packages distributed throughout the province for high school students. By the age of 20, he was trading stocks, options and futures contracts for Marathon Brokerage in Calgary. Later he became the youngest ever director of Goepel McDermott Securities.
Bob's drive to find value where others had not has always been a fundamental focus, having raised millions of dollars to launch hybrid locomotive technology years before hybrids became commonplace was one of his early successes. This success enabled Bob to take on larger projects and in 2005 he became the founding investor for OSUM Oil Sands Corp a Calgary based oil sands company whose Net Assets Value exceeds $6 billion.
Bob's philosophy is simple: go against trends, look for niche opportunities and be a true capitalist. As a rule Bob always tries to have a greater percentage of his net worth at stake in each opportunity than his investing clients and partners.
2008 Recipients
Josh Blair EVP, Human Resources TELUS
Brian Chafe Chief Operating Officer Provincial Aerospace Ltd.
Michael Cole EVP & CIO Bell Canada
Michael Copeland Chief Operating Officer Canadian Football League
John Corley VP & GM, Canadian Operations Xerox Canada
Dr. Fiona Costello Assistant Professor University of Calgary, Hotchkiss Brain Institute
Dr. Sam Daniel Surgeon, Director, Pediatric Otolaryngology The Montreal Children's Hospital
Andrew Demchuk Director, Calgary Stroke Program, Dept. of Clinical Neurosciences University of Alberta
