CANADA'S GROWING COMPANIES No. - The Globe and Mail

BALZAC’S COFFEE ROASTERSDIANA OLSEN,

PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER

CANADA’ S

G ROW I NGCOMPAN I E S

ANEXCLUSIVERANKINGOFTHECOUNTRY’S

BOLDESTBUSINESSES

No.

339

THE MAGAZINE FOR LEADERS

OCTOBER 2019

INSIDE STELCO:THE STRATEGY BEHINDITS STUNNING COMEBACK

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37OCTOBER 2019 /REPORT ON BUSINESS 1

2 EDITORS NOTE

3 FEEDBACK

5 TL;DREight sharp ideas ona page, including whatemployee tattoos tellyou and how to reducegender bias

Needtoknow

7 BIG IDEAThe share price bumpfrom corporate socialresponsibility seemsto be short-lived,but is that the onlymeasure that matters?

10 ASK AN EXPERTHow can a CEO separatethe forest from the treesand the weeds? Andshould you be tweeting?

15 TURNING POINTDriving to big-citymegamalls becameso much of a pain thatRioCan REIT CEOEd Sonshine realizedhe had to transformhis to mixed use

16 THE EXCHANGEBrazilian private equitymachine 3G bought TimHortons and plungedit into turmoil. It’sAlexandre Macedo’s jobto soothe frayed nerves

80 WEALTHStar fund managerNoah Blackstein onhow he has trouncedthe S&P 500 overthe past two decades

120 LAST WORDMandy Rennehan,founder of Freshco(the contractor,not the grocer), onhow a lesbian inReitmans pantssucceeds in the retailfacilities business

Contents

CANADA’S TOP GROWING COMPANIES

38 PROFILES A last-mile delivery specialist, asocial-media-savvy tattoo shop and snapshotsof other honorees in our inaugural rankingof Canada’s 400 top growing companies

54 CHARTS The top 400 by the numbers:what they do, where they are and how rapidlythey’re expanding

72 PRODUCTS Just some of the cutting-edgestuff the top 400 make, including high techgas-line safety sensors and the coolest icecream scoops, wheelchairs and mukluks ever

20FORGING STEEL ISTHE EASY PARTAfter being bashedaround byU.S. Steel for adecade, Stelco was neardeath. Now an unlikelyalliance of two Floridafinanciers and a localunion leader say they’vefound away forward./By Joe Castaldo

28CATCHING AIRBrainiac physicistDavid Keith launched aB.C. company that canextract carbon fromthe atmosphere. Isthere a business in this?Bill Gates and otherheavyweights think so—they’ve bought in./By Richard LittlemoreC

OVERPHOTOGRAPHSHOTEXCLU

SIVELY

FORROBMAGAZIN

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MARALÉ

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O)ANYACHIBIS

2 OCTOBER 2019 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

No easy answers

Editor’sNote

October 2019, Volume 36,No. 3EditorialEditor JAMES COWANAssistant Editor DAWNCALLEJASenior Editor JOHN DALYCopy Editor LISA FIELDINGResearch CATHERINE DOWLING,ANNA-KAISAWALKER

ArtArt DirectorDOMENICMACRIAssociate Art DirectorBRENNAN HIGGINBOTHAMDirector of PhotographyCLARE VANDERMEERSCH

ContributorsSTEVE BREARTON, JOE CASTALDO,TREVOR COLE, SARAH EFRON, TIMKILADZE, JASON KIRBY, IANMCGUGAN,JOANNA PACHNER, JUDITH PEREIRA,RITA TRICHUR, LUISMORA

AdvertisingChief Revenue Officer, VP AdvertisingANDREWSAUNDERSManaging Director, Creative Studiosand Ad InnovationTRACY DAYSenior Manager, Special ProductsANDREA D’ANDRADEProductManagerRYAN HYSTEAD

ProductionManaging Director, Print ProductionSALLY PIRRIProduction Co-ordinatorISABELLE CABRAL

Publisher PHILLIP CRAWLEYEditor-in-Chief, The Globe andMailDAVIDWALMSLEYManaging Director, Businessand Financial ProductsGARTH THOMASEditor, Report on BusinessDEREK DECLOET

Report on Businessmagazine ispublished 10 times a year by The GlobeandMail Inc., 351 King Street E., TorontoM5A 0N1. Telephone 416-585-5000.Letters to the Editor:[email protected] next issuewill be on Oct. 25.Copyright 2019, The Globe andMail.Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index.

Advertising OfficesHead Office, The Globe andMail,351 King Street E., TorontoM5A 0N1Telephone 416-585-5111 or toll-free1-866-999-9237Branch OfficesMontreal 514-982-3050Vancouver 604-685-0308Calgary 403-245-4987Email: [email protected]

United States and countries outside ofNorth America: AJRMedia Group,212-426-5932, [email protected]

Publicationsmail registration No. 7418.The publisher accepts no responsibilityfor unsolicitedmanuscripts,transparencies or other material.Printed in Canada by TranscontinentalPrinting Inc. Prepress by DMDigital+1.Report on Business magazine is electronicallyavailable through subscription to Factiva.comfrom Factiva, at factiva.com/factivaor 416-306-2003.

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How often have you read that a company is taking off because they give theiremployees a free lunch?”Thatwas Bill Gates, the founder ofMicrosoft, decryingthe state of modern business writing. The remark came as part of an endorse-ment for a book he actually enjoyed—BusinessAdventures by John Brooks, pub-lished in 1969—but he argued Brooks’s work stood apart from itsmodern breth-ren. Too often, writers offer “pat how-to lessons for success,” Gates said, ratherthan actual scrutiny of why companies thrive or fail.It was an offhand critique, but it rattles around my head, particularly after

reading yet another article about how the secret to success is sleeping four—orthree or seven ormaybe 12—hours each night. Too often, business leaders seek-ing to improve their management practices and company strategies are offeredthe equivalent of a fad diet. Just as you’ll never get thin by eating only grapefruit,you’ll never improve your corporate culture by adding a foosball table.And yet, we live in a time when corporate leaders desperately need strategic

insight and trustworthy advice. According to a global survey released earlierthis year, CEOs’ confidence that their own companies will continue to growhas fallen to the lowest levels since the financial crisis. Meanwhile, there’s beena fivefold increase in the belief that the global economy is headed for decline.Fromblockchain and artificial intelligence to protectionism and climate changeto cybersecurity and currency volatility, business leaders face a dizzying arrayof risks and opportunities.Starting with this issue, we’re honing the focus of Report on Business to

concentrate on management strategy and corporate leadership. To serve thispurpose, we’ve introduced a new section, Need to Know, highlighting the bestanalysis coming fromCanada’s business schools, think tanks and other thoughtleaders. In this month’s edition, you’ll find a high-level look at corporate socialresponsibility, practical advice for dealing with duplicitous employees and afrank conversation with Ed Sonshine about how he reshaped RioCan’s corpo-rate strategy.This issue alsomarks the debut of Canada’s Top Growing Companies, a rank-

ing that spotlights the country’s next generation of corporate superstars. Withthis package, we celebrate entrepreneurial excellence while sharing the secretsthat allowed these firms to skyrocket.We undertake these new initiatives while remaining committed to the in-

depth storytelling and commentary that’s been central to the magazine’s mis-sion for 35 years. Today’s business leaders don’t need easy answers. They needideas to answer theirmost complexquestions.Wearehere tohelp. /JamesCowan

Send feedback [email protected]

For someone who grew up inHamilton in the ’60s, workedin the hot mill, dropped zincingots into the pot on thegalvanizing line, watched thebasic oxygen furnace up closeand saw the dumping of slaglight up the Dofasco skyline,this history of the foundingfamily brings back manymemories. Those immigrantlabourers formed the heart ofthe city and the company, andreflect the corporate motto:“Our product is steel. Ourstrength is people.”Like so many successful

family histories, “shirt sleevesto shirt sleeves in threegenerations.” However, successis not always measured inmonetary terms.—Lowell

It reads like a real-lifeenactment of BleakHouse.It seems like the promise oflarge inheritances can justas often be a curse as a blessing.—Al-Petten

OCTOBER 2019 /REPORT ON BUSINESS 3

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MORE)PEPPA

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/TRUTHANDBEAUTY.CA

Feedback

Contributors

I live in “District 2” of Toronto,where GFL has the contractto collect waste. In fact, GordPerks is my councillor. GFLis doing a stellar job, as far asI’m concerned.When Torontowould collect waste, the servicewas terrible.With GFL, the guysactually do their jobs and collectgarbage.—ChandlerDay

HeavymetalZander Sherman’s personal storyabout Dofasco’s founding familyresonatedwith readers.

My father was a proud employeeof Dofasco from 1937 to 1983. Hespoke fondly of the Shermanfamily, and the opportunities hewas given to etch a successfulcareer and solid family life. Mydad worked hard, with bothpride and gratitude. It tookguts and a lot of soul searchingto share such a personal story.I hope writing this piece hasafforded Zander and his fathersome solace for the grief theyshare.—Jayne A. Sanger

I read this story with mixedfeelings, ranging from sympathyto disdain. Regardless, thankyou for a very personal andthoughtful piece. Definitely acautionary tale for every one ofus. Never take for granted whatyou have, and always work toimprove your life.—JamieSees

Zander’s story was powerful andinsightful and resonated deeplywith me. My heart goes out tohim. As his late mother advised,“Just keep going.”—Bob Scott

Let’s get highIanMcGugan argued that citieshave no choice but to build up.

I always thought NYC had“built up”? Housing is stillprohibitively expensive there.Purchasing is for millionaires,and renting is painfullyexpensive unless you are luckyenough to find a rent-controlledapartment. Perhaps greaterregulation of the rental housingmarket is part of the solution.—Sandor Hunyadi

Provide tax advantages forcompanies to create jobs in thesmaller cities. Toronto’s qualityof life is degrading fast. Transitis full up, andmost parts of thecity have long andmiserablecommutes on city buses packedto the gills. The roads are pastcapacity almost all day. If Iwere a young person, I wouldlook long and hard for a job in asmaller city with a pleasant wayof life, instead of fighting for ahome in an increasingly crowdedcity that has not plannedproperly for the massive influxof newcomers over the past 25years. —Sceptical1

Families want to live in single-family homes in single-familyneighborhoods. A better solutionis “hub and spoke”—high-densityzoning within 500metres ofeach transit hub, with low-rise,low-density in the surroundingneighbourhoods.—pondus

Trash talkJason Kirby’s profile ofPatrick Dovigi—the manbehind Green for Life—traced his rise to garbage king

Send us yourthoughts [email protected],tweet us@robmagca

Joe Castaldo (“Forgingsteel is the easy part,”page 20) is a businessreporter for The Globeand Mail. Previously, heworked as a reporter forMaclean’s and CanadianBusinessmagazine.

Garçons (“Object lesson,”page 72) are an award-winning Montreal-basedduo that shoots forpublications and brandssuch as enRoute, Food andDrink, Canadian Living,Ricardo, Liberté and theDairy Farmers of Canada.

Richard Littlemore(“Catching air,” page 28)is an award-winningauthor, journalist andscience writer based inVancouver. He specializesin academic affairs,sustainable urban develop-ment, and climate changescience and politics.

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Anger ismorepowerfulthan fearIndividuals who shop while angryare more likely to accomplish theirgoal than those feeling scared orsad, according to the Journal ofAssociation on Consumer Research.Brands generally try to avoid upsettingtheir customers, but “anger can be aneffective way to motivate consumersto pursue goals made salient bya firm’s messaging,” researchersconclude. It helps if the anger isdirected—say, at a rival firm.

Take it down tosix to eliminategender biasUsing a six-point scale instead of a 10-point one significantlyreduced the gender gap in performance evaluations, accordingto University of Toronto professor András Tilcsik. Working witha colleague, Tilscik found gender bias is more likely to occurwhen evaluators are asked to make tiny distinctions; a shorterscale eliminates that need.

TL;DR

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Hold meetingson TuesdaysA survey of 400Canadian workersby Robert Half, astaffing agency,found the start ofthe week was themost productive.

Employeeswith tattoosare moreimpulsive“Those with tattoos, especiallyvisible ones, are more short-sighted and impulsive thanthe non-tattooed … Even theexpressed intention to geta(nother) tattoo predictsincreased short-sightednessand helps establish the directionof causality between tattoosand short-sightedness.”—Bradley J. Ruffle & Anne E. Wilson,Journal of Economic Behavior& Organization

Overworkerslike their jobsIndividuals who work more than50 hours per week and wish theycould work less still report an averagejob satisfaction of 7.1 out of 10.

Ambition fades

Peoplewhocheat on theirspouses aremore likely to bedishonest atworkResearchers at the University of Texas found police officers, financial advisers and seniorexecutives who used the Ashley Madison adultery website were more likely to haveprofessional misconduct complaints against them. “A possible implication of our findingsis that the recent focus on eliminating sexual misconduct in the workplace may have theauxiliary effect of reducing fraudulent workplace activity,” the researchers concluded.

75%

10/19

58%LIKE

18%MEH

NOWAY 7%

17%LOVE

35%

WOMEN

26%

WOMEN

32%

MEN

28%

MEN

would describe themselves as“ambitious” in a job interview

would use the same word duringa performance review

of non-vegetarians either likedor loved the taste of plant-basedproteins, according to a poll bythe Angus Reid Institute

Meat eaters are plant curious

Too long; didn’t read Eight ideas you need to hear

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35%

MONDAY

25%

THURSDAY

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WED

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TheBig Idea

Saints ofthe marketWill investors reward a goodcorporate citizen?New researchon how to help shareholderswhile helping theworld

Not long after AlanJope, a 54-year-oldUni-lever lifer, took overas head of the Dutch-

British consumer products giant,he announced he might divestthe popular Marmite brand if itdidn’t start earning its keep. Hewasn’t talking about financials:Though not much of a presencein Canadian kitchens, the yeastyspread is enormously popular inthe more salt-loving parts of theCommonwealth.Rather, Marmite—along with

Unilever’s Magnum line of icecream—needed to demonstrateits ability to fit within the com-pany’s environmentally and so-cially responsible world view.“Can these brands figure out howto make society or the planetbetter in a way that lasts for de-cades?” he has asked.Jope inherited Unilever’s cor-

porate and social responsibilitycampaign from his predecessor,

Need toknow


T H E B R A I N S C I E N C E B E H I N D

C O N S U M E R C H U R N

WHEN ITCOMES TOINVENTORY,DON’T GOBY GUTINSTINCT

TheBig Idea

Paul Polman, but has doubled down on it.He inveighed against “woke-washing” andordered up an all-brand promotional cam-paign. Those ads show how some of the400 products made by the US$73-billioncorporate behemoth make the planet bet-ter, with measures ranging from skinnierplastic packaging for Hellmann’s mayo tousing themarketing of Ben& Jerry’s BakedAlaska ice cream to advocate against cli-mate change.The company casts these changes not

only as a matter of altruism, but also fi-nancial growth. “The data now shows thatbrands with a purpose—where the brandschampion and take action on a causewhich has a positive impact on society orthe environment—are growing faster thanother brands,” says Katharine Williams, aUnilever Canada spokesperson. Last year,Unilever’s 28 Sustainable Living Brands,the products with clear corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) goals, grew 69%faster than the rest of its business.Unilever’s stock has marched steadily

north since Jope took over. But is the firm’sCSR push attracting investors, or doesJope just have an understanding of how tomarket to the millennial consumer?Fresh research shines a new light on

the complicated dynamic between CSRand stock performance. According to IraYeung, an assistant professor of account-ing at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, anew study he has co-authored found thatinvestors are drawn to corporate CSR ini-tiatives, but the bump tends to be short-term and more pronounced when societyis paying more attention to CSR, like rightnow. There’s also a feedback loop: Whenfirms see capitalmarkets responding posi-tively to CSR activities, they’ll increasetheir commitment, a dynamic that raises

all the obvious questions about motiva-tion. “Investors should be wary of compa-nies claiming to be investing in CSR, be-cause theymay just be looking to increasethe stock price,” he cautions.A French study published in Strategic

Management Journal last April added onemore layer: that stock markets have “atmost, limited” responses to high-profileCSR news. The study looked at when afirm was added to or removed from theDow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI),arguably one of the most high-profile reg-isters of responsible corporate citizenship.When the authors looked at a decade’sdata, they foundmarkets didn’t really careif a stock was on the DJSI.Unilever, of course, is not alone in its

desire to cast its corporate lot on the sideof the angels. In late August, almost 200prominent American CEOs signed anopen letter from the Business Roundtablecalling on corporations to be responsibleto all stakeholders (including the Earth),not just investors.Strategic management expert Sarah Ka-

plan argues in a new book, The 360˚ Cor-poration, that expecting corporate CSRto justify itself financially is asking thewrong question. “That will only take youso far,” she says. “The companies that getstuck always think of CSR as an add-on,as opposed to an essential part of the waythey do business.”Kaplan counts herself among those who

are impressed by what Unilever is try-ing to do and reads Jope’s threat to divestMarmite as “a stake in the ground.” “It’sa way to signal to the whole corporationthat [Unilever’s mission]matters,” Kaplancontinues. “It says CSR isn’t a side busi-ness; it’s central to our conversation abouthowwemakemoney.” /John Lorinc

For retailers andwholesalers, the flow ofinventory managementcan seriously affect profitmargins. Restock tooquickly, and inventorycould go stale; allowshelves to sit empty, andyour customers will turnto a competitor. Makingthese decisions based onmanagerial instinct canresult in a large loss inprofits, according to newresearch from the SmithSchool of Business atQueen’s University.Researchers havelong understood thatprocurement managerstend to understock.But previous studiesdidn’t consider acompetitive environment,showing a profit loss ofonly 1% to 5%. The Smithresearchers pitted humaninventory managersagainst three science-basedmodels—one usingstatistics, one based ongame theory and a hybridof the two. They found afirm relying onmanagerialintuition might lose 15%to 20% of its potentialprofits, according toAnton Ovchinnikov, astudy co-author anddistinguished professorof management analytics.“Just relying on theintuition of a procurementmanager will put thefirm in a vulnerableposition, where a firmthat had implemented ananalytical system couldeasily take advantageand earn quite a bit moremoney,” he says. / L.A.

In industry parlance, “churn” describes seemingly random switches in consumer prefer-ences, like when a dedicated Coke drinker changes to Pepsi. New research suggests thateven themost loyal customerwill occasionally switch preferences—not for any fault on thepart of the business but because of the way our brains are wired.Researchers at the Rotman School ofManagement and Tel Aviv University had volunteers

play a series of lotterieswhile lying inside a functionalmagnetic resonance imagery scanner,whichmeasures neural activity. The results showed that the regions of the brain responsiblefor seemingly randomchoices are the sameones involved in rational decisionmaking. “Sincethis building block of your decision-making system that has some randomness in it, thenthere’s going to be some inherent randomness in your decisions,” says RyanWebb, an assis-tant professor at Rotman. /By Liza Agrba

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Needtoknow

First, a question:Where didyou get this ridiculous notion?“The idea that the big picture isseparate from the little details issalacious and even dangerous,”explains HenryMintzberg,a professor in the DesautelsFaculty of Management atMcGill. The author of BedtimeStories forManagers has endlessexamples of howwise CEOsthought small to go big: SteveJobs, for one, spent his morningsin the lab developing products.“Most CEOs don’t do this, butthe best ones, like Jobs and[Amazon’s Jeff] Bezos, aredeeply personally engaged,”saysMintzberg. “That’s actuallywhat makes them effective andwhat ultimately lets them seethe big picture.” Rememberthe old cliché about forests andtrees? If you look at a forestfrom a helicopter, it lookslike a fuzzy green carpet, says

Mintzberg. That’s neither usefulnor helpful. “You don’t have tobe everywhere all the time, butyou do have to be on the groundto see what’s happening.” Stopbelittling the weeds and insteadsee them as the brush strokesthat form the big picture.

I suspect one of myVPs isa jerk to his subordinates,but he’s always lovely tome.What should I do?“A CEO needs hard data, sinceit’s difficult to make any realjudgment on gut feelings oranecdotes,” explains ShelleyBrown, founder of BromelinHRConsulting. The best wayto gather info is by hiring anoutside consultant to conducta 360-degree assessment.This increasingly commonprocess involves sending anonline survey to the executive’sdirect reports and peers, who

answer questions about hismanagement style. If it feelsawkward to focus on just oneindividual, then don’t single himout. “This is a very good time tohave the whole leadership teamassessed. You’ll have benchmarkinformation that shows if it’sthis particular VP or a biggerproblem,” says Brown.If the results confirm yourhunch, do not immediately firethe jerk. “Everybody deservesa chance to get better, andsome people have low self-awareness,” says Brown. “If he’sjust lacking these skills, youcan work on him. But if he lacksmotivation to change, that’s awhole other story.”

My communications teamwantsme to join Twitter. Should I?Toomany bosses—particularlythose who are members of GenX and older—shy away fromTwitter and other social media,says Jana Seijts, a lecturer inmanagement communicationat the Ivey Business School.Yet very few have a legitimatereason for this avoidance, otherthan fear of the unknown.“Social media is a wonderfulmegaphone, and it’s at yourdisposal,” Seijts says. Thebenefits outweigh the slightchance you’ll make a Twittermisstep. You just need toconsider who you are, themessage you want to send andwhat you’re willing to share.If your account is all business,you’re not doing it right. “We’rein a time of storytelling andpersonal relationships,” shesays. “Think about your passionsapart from business.” Steer awayfrom politics (to start, at least)and toward crowd-pleasers likefilms or sports. “Allow yourselfto be vulnerable and authentic,”says Seijits. But you’re notalone in this. “Sit downwiththe communications team andcome upwith a solid personalbranding strategy,” she says. Putsome trust in their judgment.That’s why you hired them.

Send yourquestions [email protected]

ASK AN EXPERT

Theweeds are agreat place to beI know I’m supposed to spend timereflecting on the big picture, but Ispend most of my time in the weeds.How do I pull back?

Meet the inaugural TSX30, the companies that have created the best return forinvestors on Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) over the past three years. The rankingof the top 30 performers from June 2016 to June 2019 is based on dividend-adjustedshare price appreciation.

Nearly 600 companies qualified, with 30 representing the fastest-growingcompanies on TSX.

Despite their size and performance, these companies aren’t on the radar for manyinvestors, says Rob Peterman, Vice-President of Global Business Developmentfor TSX and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV). This list tells an important story aboutthe performance for small and mid-cap companies, and the evolution of theCanadian markets.

“The Canadian economy continues to diversify and investors can look beyond thelargest companies to understand this story and find new investment opportunities,”Peterman says.

“We believe the TSX30 offers investors unique insights intoimportant market trends and offers investors opportunities forportfolio diversification.”

Of the 30 companies, the smallest market capitalization is $250-million, andthe largest is $39-billion. Together, these companies have created more than$116-billion of market cap in the past three years.

The TSX30 ranking suggests the potential around the companies that have gonepublic in recent years, says Rich Goodman, Head of Capital Development for TSX andTSXV. His advice to investors: “Look at the TSX with a little more of a critical eye.”

This is what $116-billionin gains looks like

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11 Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. | LIF | 282% | ON, CanadaLabrador Iron Ore Royalty Corp. (LIORC) owns interests inthe Iron Ore Company of Canada, which operates a majoriron mine near Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labradoron lands leased from LIORC. Through a Statutory Agreementwith Newfoundland, made in 1938 with a predecessorcompany, LIORC has extensive exploration and mining rightsin Labrador West.

12 Ballard Power Systems Inc. | BLDP | 232% | BC, CanadaBallard Power Systems’ vision is to deliver fuel cell power fora sustainable planet. The company builds fuel cell productsthat reduce customer costs and risks, and helps customerssolve difficult technical challenges or address new businessopportunities.

13 Pollard Banknote Ltd. | PBL | 210% | MB, CanadaPollard Banknote is a leading lottery partner to more than60 lotteries worldwide, providing high quality instant ticketproducts, licensed games, merchandising solutions, and a fullsuite of digital offerings. The company is a proven innovatorand has decades of experience helping lotteries to maximizeplayer engagement, sales, and proceeds for good causes.

14 goeasy Ltd. | GSY | 209% | ON, Canadagoeasy Ltd. offers leasing and lending services in thealternative financial services market to everyday Canadians.The company’s operating divisions are supported by anomni-channel business model, which includes over 400easyfinancial branches and easyhome stores across Canada.

15 Anglo Pacific Group PLC | APY | 185% | UKAnglo Pacific Group PLC is a global natural resources royaltyand streaming company with a diverse portfolio centred onbase metals and bulk materials. The company is focused onaccelerating income growth through acquiring royalties oncash flow-generating projects.

16 North American Palladium Ltd. | PDL | 183% | ON, CanadaNorth American Palladium is the world’s only pure palladiumproducer. Its mine northwest of Thunder Bay has a unique orebody and world-class exploration portfolio. New managementimproved operations, profitability and ROI to achieve revenueand production growth year-over-year since 2016.

17 Gran Colombia Gold Corp. | GCM | 178% | ColombiaGran Colombia is a Canadian-based mid-tier gold producer,with its primary focus in Colombia. There, it is currently thelargest underground gold and silver producer, with severalmines in operation at its Segovia and Marmato operations.

18 Resverlogix Corp. | RVX | 174% | AB, CanadaResverlogix is a late-stage clinical biotech company and apioneer in the landscape of epigenetics. Apabetalone is aworld leader in a new class of drugs designed to regulategene expression via BET inhibition. Apabetalone is currentlyin a Phase 3 trial (BETonMACE) for the treatment of high-riskcardiovascular disease patients with type 2 diabetes.

19 Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. | WDO | 172% | ON, CanadaWesdome Gold Mines has had over 30 years of continuousgold mining operations in Canada. The company is 100%Canadian focused, with a strategy to build Canada’s nextintermediate gold producer, producing from two mines inOntario and Quebec.

20 Cargojet Inc. | CJT | 166% | ON, CanadaCargojet is Canada’s leading provider of time-sensitiveovernight air cargo services, and carries over 1,300,000pounds of cargo each business night. Cargojet operates itsnetwork across North America via a fleet of all-cargo aircraft.

21 Theratechnologies Inc. | TH | 161% | QC, CanadaTheratechnologies is a specialty pharmaceutical companyaddressing unmet medical needs. The company brings tomarket therapies for people with orphan medical conditions,including those living with HIV.

5TRILOGY METALSINC.TMQ 503% BC,Canada

Trilogy Metals Inc. is ametals exploration anddevelopment companyfocused on the Amblermining district locatedin northwestern Alaska.This is one of the richestand most-prospectiveknown copper-dominantdistricts located in oneof the safest geopoliticaljurisdictions.

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22 Summit Industrial Income REIT | SMU | 160% | ON, CanadaSummit Industrial Income REIT is an open-ended mutualfund real estate investment trust, which grows and managesa portfolio of light industrial properties across Canada. Thecompany is focused on accretive acquisitions, innovativefinancings and selective property development opportunities.

23 Constellation Software Inc. | CSU | 158% | ON, CanadaConstellation Software is an international provider ofmarket-leading software and services to a number ofindustries, both in the public and private sectors. Thecompany acquires, manages and builds businesses thatdevelop specialized, mission-critical software solutions.

24 Tucows Inc. | TC | 152% | ON, CanadaFor over 25 years, Tucows Inc. has been hard at workmaking the Internet better. The company is the world’ssecond-largest domain name registrar and a top-ranked USmobile phone provider. Now Tucows Inc. is leveraging thosesuccesses to build and operate fiber-optic networks in citiesthroughout the United States.

25 Great Canadian Gaming Corp. | GC | 147% | BC, CanadaGreat Canadian Gaming Corp. is one of the largest and mostdynamic gaming and entertainment companies in Canada.The company, founded in 1982, has 25 properties acrossOntario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

26 CAE Inc. | CAE | 136% | QC, CanadaCAE is a global leader in training for the civil aviation,defense and security, and healthcare markets. Backed by arecord of more than 70 years of industry firsts, the companycontinues to help define global training standards with theirinnovative virtual-to-live training solutions.

27 Park Lawn Corp. | PLC | 131% | ON, CanadaPark Lawn Corporation is the largest publicly-traded andCanadian-owned funeral, cremation and cemetery provider.It is also the fastest-growing company in the industry inNorth America. The company is changing the way productsand services are delivered and how customers engage withthe marketplace.

28 TerraVest Industries Inc. | TVK | 131% | AB, CanadaTerraVest is a diversified industrial company that sells goodsand services to a variety of end markets. The company is amarket-leading manufacturer of home heating products,propane, anhydrous ammonia and natural gas liquidstransport vehicles, energy processing equipment andfiberglass storage tanks.

29 BRP Inc. | DOO | 131% | QC, CanadaBRP is a global leader in the world of powersports vehicles,propulsion systems and boats, built on over 75 years ofingenuity and intensive consumer focus. The company hasa work force of 12,000, and their industry-leading productportfolio includes Ski-Doo, Lynx snowmobiles and Sea-Doowatecraft.

30 Boyd Group Income Fund | BYD | 126% | MB, CanadaBoyd Group Income Fund, through its operating companythe Boyd Group Inc. and its subsidiaries, is one of the largestoperators (locations and sales) of non-franchised collisionrepair centres in North America.

APHRIAINC.APHA 479% ON,Canada

Aphria Inc. is one of theworld’s leading fully-integrated cannabiscompanies. Their portfolioof adult-use brandsis curated for a rangeof distinct consumersegments. Founded in2013, the company servesconsumers in 10 countriesacross five continentswho are seekingpharmaceutical-grademedical cannabis.

AIRCANADAAC 346% QC, Canada

Air Canada is Canada’slargest airline, andthe largest provider ofscheduled passengerservices in the Canadianmarket. In 2018, AirCanada, together withits regional partners,carried nearly 51 millionpassengers to more than220 destinations on sixcontinents.

NEPTUNEWELLNESSSOLUTIONS INC.NEPT 322% QC,Canada

Neptune WellnessSolutions specializes inthe extraction, purificationand formulation ofhealth and wellnessproducts. Leveragingits scientific andtechnological expertise,the company focuses onthe development of value-added and differentiatedproducts for the Canadian,U.S. and global cannabisand hemp markets.

IVANHOE MINESLTD.IVN 312% BC, Canada

Ivanhoe Mines is aCanadian miningcompany focused onadvancing three principal,joint-venture projectsin Southern Africa: thedevelopment of new minesat Kamoa-Kakula in theDemocratic Republic ofCongo (DRC) and Platreefin South Africa, andthe redevelopment andupgrading of Kipushi inthe DRC.

6 87 9 10NORTHAMERICANCONSTRUCTIONGROUP LTD.NOA 304% AB,Canada

North AmericanConstruction Group(NACG) has served asan industry leader in theheavy construction andmining industries for over65 years. The companyhas built a reputation asa reliable contractor thatcan complete projectsof any size and scope,earning the supportof many of the largestplayers in the Canadian

oilsands.

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Canada is viewed globally as a natural resources market, butthere’s a new reality emerging, says Loui Anastasopoulos,President, Capital Formation, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX)and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV).

If you think about the markets in terms of total marketcapitalization, the large financial companies dominate.“The TSX30 underscores the diversification and balance inthe Canadian market,” Anastasopoulos adds.

For a glimpse of the new Canadian economy, take a look atthe companies on the ranking.

Yes, eight of the 30 companies are in mining, which maysurprise some people, during a period seen as a bearmarket for the sector. But more than a third of the TSX30,11 firms, are from the Technology and Life Sciences sectors.And the other third of the companies are from ConsumerProducts and services (5), Industrial Products and Services(4), and Real Estate and Financial Services (2).

“In some ways this shows the changing face of the Canadianeconomy,” Anastasopoulos says. “We are proud of thisglobal strength in resources, but also the changing face ofthe Canadian markets.”

The journeys taken by the TSX30 are varied. “There’sdiversity, not just in an industry sense but in the ways thecompanies got here,” says Rob Peterman, Vice-President ofGlobal Business Development for TSX and TSXV.

Some have been around for decades, while others arerelatively new. Almost half (13) were initial public offerings(IPOs).

Of note, eight of the companies were graduates of TSXVenture Exchange, as are 20 percent of the companies onthe S&P/TSX Composite Index: “That’s an important growthengine for the Canadian economy,” says Peterman.

IPOs are a great thing, but recognize that eight of thesegrew up as smaller public companies fighting for capital andinvestor interest. Not only did they grow, they also createdan immense amount of value for Canadian retail investors,that otherwise would have gone to the select individualswho are able to invest in the private markets.

Another lesson for investors in light of the successes onthis list? Avoid becoming distracted by the day-to-dayeconomic news and market swings. “You can get lost init,” Peterman says. “But there are amazing growth storiesgoing on. It’s important to take a long-term approach toinvesting.”

The companies on the ranking are integral to the Canadianeconomy. They create wealth, enrich local communitiesas employers, and provide a broad array of products andservices to domestic and international markets.

“Canada’s economy is strongest when we have a healthypublic market as well as a healthy private market to fundgrowth companies,” Peterman says. “The TSX30 tells thatstory.”

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio.The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.

Tech, Consumer Products, andLife Sciences highlight thediversity of Canada’s changingeconomy

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ILLU

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NKYLE

SCOTT


them into what appears to be themost viable type of real estatetoday, which is mixed use—pri-marily residential, with a littlebit of office and retail thrown in.We were fortunate that this

major strategic change alignedwithwhat is required on both thegovernment and the people sideof the equation. Every city has todensify, because with the popu-lation growth we’re seeing, youwon’t haveplaces for them to liveif youdon’t buildup. It’s as simpleas that. And people want to livewhere there’s action, transit, ser-vices. Because getting in the carin the city is aggravating.We findthe parking spots don’t get used.What younger tenants want—other than a gym—is a lockeroff the lobby so FedEx can leavetheir packages when they’re nothome.We’re even putting in coldstorage so you canhave your gro-ceries delivered without the icecreammelting.I did have some reluctance

from my own executives, butthen they realized there washuge opportunity in purpose-built rentals, because none hadbeen built for 40 or 45 years.Probably the most skeptical wasthe investment community andsome of our shareholders. Thatskepticismwasn’t based somuchon the strategy, because oncethey understood it, they liked it.It was a question of execution:Can you guys,who’ve beendoingnothing but retail for 20 years,can you really do this? We had afewyearswhere our stock under-performed, but now that we’restarting to have tenants move in,it’s slowly being accepted.A couple of my own directors

told me: ‘Eddie, you’re turningaround a big ship. You couldfail.’ I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely. Butthere will also be failure if we donothing.’ Is there a risk in chang-ing strategy? Of course. But it’s arisk well worth taking. So far, sogood. And the good news for mysuccessors is that we’ve got 25years of work left yet—at least./Interview by Dawn Calleja

All retailers, in their own ways, are going through sig-nificant changes, and so are real estate people who serveretail. Ten years ago, we started seeing twomajor trends.The first was that online retailing was growing by leaps

andbounds, so retailwas changing dramatically. Itwas a little slower inCanada, happily—theU.S. is, inmanyways, five, 10, 15 years aheadof us.On top of that, the vast majority of population growth was happen-

ing in big centres: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa andMontreal—what they callVECTOM. Municipalities with, say, a couplehundred thousand people or less weren’t growing anymore and wereactually starting to diminish. And the really small towns were, at best,flatlining. Plus, in all the major cities, no new roads were being built,particularly in Toronto. You can’t move around easily by car anymore.Sowe took a hard look at, what are RioCan’s real assets? Yes, we own

all these buildings, but the assets are thesewonderfully located piecesof land. Becausemost shopping centres are atmajor intersections.Thefirst change we made was to start selling off our assets that weren’t inVECTOM, which left us with 225 properties. Then we looked at whatwas missing in cities like Toronto, and that was purpose-built rentalhousing. Sowedecided to pick the top 25 properties and start to rezone

TURNING POINT

Mall is lostEdSonshine,whoseRioCanREIT has built 40millionsquare feet of retail space acrossCanada, on howhe cameto the realization that the shoppingmall era is over

EDWARDSONSHINEFounder & CEOof RioCan REIT

Founded in 1993

27 MILLION SQ FTunder development

2,700RESIDENTIALUNITS underconstruction (2,100more by 2021)

Needtoknow

OCTOBER /REPORT ON BUSINESS 17

THE EXCHANGE

In the holeWhenAlexandreMacedo becameTimHortons presidenttwo years ago, it was in themidst of a franchisee revolt.Can this hot shot Brazilian return the coffee chain to itsformer glory? /ByTrevorCole

Needtoknow

Macedo at Tim Hortons’new Innovation Caféin downtown Toronto

Youwere the head of Burger King.Why did you take this job?I don’t see myself as a BurgerKing or a Tim’s person. I workfor RBI. I think some of thechallenges we were having hereat Tim’s were not too differentfrom some of the challenges wehad at Burger King when webought the brand. And I felt thatI could help solve this—despitenot being too familiar with thebrand at the time. I have a verybig marketing and operationsbackground, and I learned howto work well with franchisees.It wasn’t easy. I became thepresident of Burger King when Iwas 35. It wasn’t easy for them toaccept me. I had no experience.It was tough, and I learned howto do that. So the challenge herewouldn’t be too different.Does RBI get its corporateculture from 3G?No. People have this thing about3G. 3G is a group of, I don’t know,six or seven people. I don’t thinkI’ve ever been to the 3G officein NewYork.We have our ownculture. It’s an RBI culture.Howwould you define it?We are people who have very bigaspirations for our brands, andwe don’t shy away fromworkingreally, really hard to achievethose big aspirations.Since 2014, when RBI boughtTim’s, it’s been a rocky ride.Would you agree?It’s been a rocky ride. Yes.What’s been the hardest part?It’s been loud in the press. Butbelieve it or not, the businesshas grown significantly sincewe acquired it. System sales aremuch bigger than they used tobe.We’ve built 450 restaurantsor more in Canada alone.Wegot into seven new countries. (1)Franchise profitability in Canadais much higher than it was in2014. Our restaurants in Canadaare some of the most profitablerestaurants in the world.So, it really should be a good-news story for Tim Hortons,and yet it hasn’t been.We had a tough time, the first

Fewpeoplewho roll up the rimhave any idea that, for thepastfive years, Canada’s favourite coffee and doughnut brand hasbeen the property of a Brazilian private equity firm called3G. When 3G bought Tim Hortons in 2014, it paired it with

its other fast-food acquisition, Burger King, and made them two armsof a company called Restaurant Brands International (RBI has sinceadded fried chicken brand Popeyes to the fold). It’s clear by now thatthe 3G-RBI team runs the same playbook with each acquisition: Clearout the old guard, clamp down on costs and install energetic youngexecutives willing to do what’s necessary to hit their numbers. Andnow you know why a Brazilian-born 42-year-old, Alexandre Macedo,prowls around the vast open-concept head office of Tim Hortons likehe runs the place. Not quite two years ago, fresh from helping turnaround Burger King North America, the marketing hot shot with anInsead MBA was parachuted in to fix what RBI’s first three years ofTim’s ownership had wrought—a franchise system in turmoil and aonce-sterling brand reputation heavily tarnished. Today, Macedo stillhaswork to do. But he has used his decisive charm to calm the franchi-see waters, and the expansion is picking up speed. Now the presidenthas another task—this interview—to tick off his list, and he attacks itwith the same smiling confidence.

1. Tim Hortonscan be found inthe Philippines,the U.K., Mexico,Spain, China andfive countries inthe Middle East.It plans to openstores in Thailandearly in 2020.P

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team that was here, in workingtogether with our franchisees.Some of my colleagues weren’texperienced with Tim’s, and thatled to a lot of unrest with thefranchisees. The relationship isat its best when you have goodresults and a good plan thatfranchisees understand they area part of. I’ve focused 95% of mytime in the past year trying tomake sure we were on that page.Last year you said, “We havedecided to communicate better.”Whywas that decision necessary?At Burger King, I learnedyou have to create a commonlanguage. If you don’t explainto the franchisees how youlook at the business, whatthings are going well and whatthings aren’t, it’s very difficultto communicate. It’s very dark.When people feel they don’thave information, they get veryanxious. If you build a commonlanguage, people understandwhat’s going on.That wasn’t happening beforeyou arrived?We didn’t have a cadence.Wedidn’t listen to the franchiseesin a structured way. So, I’ll giveyou a few examples of what wedid. Last week, the team cameback from travelling all over thecountry. I’ve travelled all overthe country three or four times.These are structured visitsin hotels, with content, withmicrophones, with a program.We ask franchisees about theirconfidence in the team and inthe plan before these meetings,and then we ask them again atthe end of the meeting.We havea biweekly webcast. We shareour results, what’s working andwhat’s not, what’s coming, whathas to be adjusted.Wemeetwith our advisory board everyquarter, and we have calls withour subcommittees every month.If you think about it, we haveabout 1,500 families that manageour restaurants in Canada. Onaverage, these families have beenmanaging restaurants for over10 years. That’s 15,000 years of

experience. Not tapping into thatis foolish and arrogant.Former Canadian Tire executiveDuncan Fulton was brought in lastyear to help repair relations withthe franchisees.What was he ableto do that youweren’t?I think Duncan has 20-plus yearsof experience in the landscapein Canada. He allowedme tounderstand a little bit moreabout how decisions are madeand how to communicate withthe franchisees on some of thetougher issues. Not so much onthe business side. His experienceisn’t in franchising, and it isn’tin what we do in restaurants.But in managing some of thetougher issues we had with thefranchisees, he was absolutelycritical for us to learn.You recently settled two franchiseeclass-action lawsuits. (2)They weren’t settled, becausewe didn’t admit to guilt. I mean,they were settled, but it wasn’tlike an admission of guilt. I seeit as something we had to putbehind us.Is there something about the RBIapproach that leads to conflictwith its franchisees?If you look at RBI, whenwe tookover at Burger King, we neverhad an issue.We bought Popeyes.Nothing. Internationally, itdoesn’t happen.We had an issuehere in Canada. I would attributeit to perhaps a lack of knowledgehere. This brand is such anamazing, beautiful, relevant, bigbrand that it’s different fromsome of the other brands we areused to working with. Andmaybethe leadership style of some ofthe teammembers here didn’tresonate very well. But I don’tthink it’s an RBI thing.That leadership was broughtin by RBI.Yes, yes, yes, yes.When RBI bought Tim Hortons,a lot of managers and executiveswere let go.Was anything lostin that process?We tried to keep some of themost relevant contributors. Thepresident for Canada was David

Clanachan. He remained. Thepresident for the U.S., DavidBlackmore, remained.We keptall of our field team.Most of thepeople who exited had commonback-of-the-house functions withBurger King. So there was a lot ofnoise, but we preservedmost ofthe business-function people.Yet you had trouble with the brand.I think we had trouble with thefranchisees more than the brand.Because as I mentioned to you,the business results, particularlyin the first two years, were very,very good.LégerMarketing reported thatTim Hortons’ brand reputationdropped from fourth to 50th lastyear. What explains that?A small group of franchiseesdecided to bring to the publicissues that, in general, arekept not in the public eye. Thenature of franchising is friction.Just enough friction betweenfranchisor and franchisee isreally good. But it’s not goodfor the brand to bring thosedisagreements to everyone. (3)That created another big waveof negative press. It was my firstweek here, in fact. That was atough one for us.You landed—I landed in the trough, yes.What did you do?I met with those franchisees who

2. The lawsuits,led by the GreatWhite NorthFranchiseeAssociation,alleged that RBImisused moneyfrom a nationaladvertising fundand interferedwith franchisees’right to associate.The settlementwas valued bya judge at $37.4million, includingnon-monetaryamounts,although TimHortons insistsit paid only $12million in cash.

3. In late 2017,in the wakeof Ontario’sminimum-wage hike, twofranchiseesdisregardedhead-officedirectives andmade cutbacksto employeebenefits andscheduledbreaks to offsetincreased salarycosts, promptinga widespreadboycott.

893 REST OF WORLD

3,979 CANADA

OCTOBER /REPORT ON BUSINESS 19

2 BILLION THAT’S HOWMANY CUPS OF COFFEETIM HORTONS SERVES EACH YEAR

were a little bit unhappy.Weput together a plan that the vastmajority of the franchisees werebehind. And the plan yieldedgood results. Is it exactly where Iwant to be? No. But we started toshow that the brand was strongand alive again.Sales growth for Tim Hortons isweak compared to Burger Kingand Popeyes over the first half ofthis year. Why? (4)So our focus is, we are goingto be here for a long time. TimHortons is by far our strongestbrand.We think the potential tomake it even better in Canada isbig.We can do wonders in theU.S. I am a believer. And we arejust starting to tap the potentialfor all over the world. There areno short-term tricks for a brandthis big.But what’s behind the strugglethis year with sales growth?Well, it’s not a struggle. I thinkwe have to upgrade a lot of theareas of our business so wecan start growing a lot. We aredoing things that should havebeen done a long time ago. Iwill give you an example: ourcoffee lids.We have had issueswith our coffee lids for 20 years.They spill; they pop off. Wechanged the coffee lids.Weare now changing our brewingequipment in every single

restaurant in Canada. (5) It’sprobably the biggest initiativeon product quality the brand hasever undertaken.I’ll ask onemore time if youwillacknowledge that sales growththis year has beenweak so far?I would’ve hoped to do a betterjob in driving sales. Yeah.Youmentioned the U.S. Youhaven’t been happywith how theexpansion into the U.S. is going. (6)I have not been happy. I thinkthe U.S. is challenged. Overthe years, I think TimHortonstreated the U.S. as an extensionof Canada. Our brand is sounique in Canada, so powerfuland so present in everyday lifethat I think the U.S. should betreated as a different market. Asan international market.We needto adjust the business model sowe can grow in the U.S. Becausein the U.S., we don’t have thepenetration, and we don’t havethe brand awareness.You’ve opened 16 stores in China,on your way to 1,500.What haveyou learned so far?That our beverages areextremely well accepted inChina. And that the combinationof being a café with freshlyprepared food is unique to us.Why is it unique?Perhaps our main coffeecompetitor in the world—we

don’t use names—they don’thave freshly prepared food. Sohaving the freshly preparedfood for breakfast and lunchactually is a big deal in China.The biggest success in China—Ithink we are winning on design.The restaurants are beautiful.We did something evenmorecontemporary andmore modernthan we did in our renovationhere in Canada. And that’s goingto be our image for most of themarkets outside Canada.RBI is a very data-driven company.What does the data say about thetypical Tim Hortons customer?We serve eight out of 10 cupsof coffee in Canada.We areso big that we are across theboard. That said, we have anopportunity to increase ourpenetration in a more urban andyounger consumer profile.Wecan do a better job of servingmore of themillennial guests andmore in urban situations. That’swhy we have the InnovationCafé. (7) It allows us to stretchthe limit of the brand a lot and tobe very playful without puttingthe franchise business at risk.We have to continue to innovatebeyond our doughnut platform.You can’t change very drasticallyin Canada, because people have adeep emotional affection for thebrand. So you have to be careful.We don’t have to blow anythingup.We just have to remaincontemporary.Whose idea was the hockey focusof the Innovation Café design?Our design team said, “Alex,considering we are TimHortons,I think we lack references tohockey in our restaurants.” Isaid, “Yeah, but just make surewe’re not cheesy about it.” Myfavourite is opening the doorwith a hockey stick. That, for me,is genius.We are actually goingto put the hockey stick in everyrestaurant in Canada.

5. The iconicglass carafes arebeing phasedout in favour ofstainless steel“FreshBrewers”to ensureconsistency.

6. There areapproximately700 Tim’s storesin the UnitedStates. Themost successfulare in Detroitand Buffalo. Arepresentativefor franchiseesin Minnesotasaid in May that,“all locations arebleeding money.”

7. This corporate-owned caféin Toronto’sfinancial districtwill allow Tim’sto test productsaimed at younger,more urbancustomers. Thecompany plansto put moreof these cafésat downtownlocations in otherCanadian citiesnext year.

Trevor Cole is the award-winning authorof five books, includingTheWhiskyKing, a non-fiction account of Canada’smost infamousmobster bootlegger.


Randy Graham, president ofUnited Steel Workers Local8782, and Stelco CEO DavidCheney at Two Cougarsand a Café in Hamilton

SEPTEMBER 2019 /REPORT ON BUSINESS 21

STELCO IS RIDINGONPEACE BETWEEN ITS

NEWOWNERSAND ITSWORKFORCE. INSIDETHEIR SURPRISINGLY

FRIENDLYRELATIONSHIPBY JOE CASTALDO

FORGINGRELATIONSHIPS

ISTOUGHER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANYA CHIBIS


SOMETHINGGREATHAPPENEDTO ALANKESTENBAUMON HISWAY TOWORK TODAY.

Headed forthe Stelco Holdings Inc. offices in Hamilton, Ontario,he struck up a conversation with his Uber driver.The man had a PhD in chemical engineering fromhis native Pakistan and had been trying to get a jobat Stelco. Kestenbaum, a boisterous guy with a slightBrooklyn accent who also happens to be the compa-ny’s executive chair, gave the driver his email address.“So I took his resumé. I’m sure by now it’s sitting inthe HR department,” he says. “For six years, he’s driv-ing a car!”Kestenbaum mentions the banal interaction

because, for a long time, the outlook for Stelco wasbleak. The companywas burdenedwith debt and ulti-mately languished in creditor protection. Meanwhile,its workforce warred with management. Today, it’s adifferent story. “Everybody wants to work at Stelco,”he says.Kestenbaum and Stelco CEO David Cheney had

worked for the past two and a half years to restore thesteelmaker—if not completely to its former glory, thenat least into a sustainable, profitable business. The twoof them, seated next to each other in a Stelco board-room, are a study in contrasts. Kestenbaum, 57, is aperpetual optimist who delights in bad times. (That’swhen he scores his best deals, Stelco included.) Hebreezes into our interview late, wearing jeans and aStelco-branded golf shirt. He occasionally speaks insentence fragments, perhaps to save time. Cheney, 43,meanwhile, looks every bit the former banker he is.He’s dressed in a dark suit, takes notes and is morelikely to expound on shareholder returns than offer apersonal anecdote.Their results, however, are hard to dispute. Stelco

spent nearly three years under the Companies’ Credi-tors Arrangement Act (CCAA), which wiped away $3billion in debt and another $1.4 billion in pension andother obligations. Kestenbaum and his partners pur-chased the companyout ofCCAA in June 2017 througha firm called Bedrock Industries Group LLC, took it

public a few months later and have churned out aprofit in all but two quarters since then. He’s investedmillions to upgrade Stelco’s facilities, boosted steelproduction andweathered the era of punitiveU.S. tar-iffs without lasting damage. Labour relations, whichhave long been fraught, are the best they’ve been inyears. The company is pursuing new clients, fight-ing to win back old ones and attracting high-profilebelievers, such as Prem Watsa, the chair and CEO ofFairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., which holds a 14.6%stake. “Stelco may become, in the next four or fiveyears, a very large steel company,” Watsa says. “Andvery profitable.”The rest of themarket, meanwhile, is skeptical. Stel-

co’s share price has dropped around 36% since its IPOtwo years ago, and the company is largely dependenton a single, simple product—hot-rolled coil, a type ofsteel made when a slab is heated to an extremely hightemperature, pushed through rollers and cooled down(the finished product is typically used in the construc-tion and building trades). The company is trying tobroaden its product offerings, clean its balance sheetto make acquisitions and grow beyond its two mainfacilities in southern Ontario. Kestenbaum is doing soat a time of heightened political uncertainty (that newCanada-United States-Mexico trade agreement stillisn’t ratified) and a possible looming recession. Noneof that seems to worry him when it comes to Stelco,though: “This has to get bigger.”

IN 2015, ALAN KESTENBAUM was looking for a new ven-ture after working for more than a decade assemblinga global silicon metal producer. After it merged with aSpanish company in aUS$3.1-billion deal, Kestenbaumstuck around a little while but was no longer callingthe shots. He began hunting for investment ideas andgot in touch with Leo Gerard, then the internationalpresident of the United Steelworkers (USW).Kestenbaum had sought advice from Gerard before,

after he purchased a financially troubled ferrosiliconfacility in the U.S. “The guys who were running itbefore were really beating the hell out of the workers,”Gerard recalls. The previous management had forcedmajor concessions; Kestenbaum reversed the damageand restored wages. Gerard had never seen anythinglike it before—and he had seen a lot. Gerard, who wasborn in Sudbury, Ontario, is a lifelong union man. Hewas the Ontario director of the steelworkers’ unionin the 1990s, when labour unrest roiled Stelco, andbecame president of the USW in 2001 as globalizationgutted manufacturing industries. He’d dealt with steelexecutives for decades, both good and bad, and wasn’tafraid to tell someonewhowas unreasonablewhere tostick it. Sohe clearly had ahighopinionofKestenbaumif he could say, “I think you should look into Stelco.”Kestenbaum didn’t know much about the company

beyond what he read in the news. On the surface, thesituation was ugly. Stelco was in creditor protection,and not for the first time. Founded in 1910, Stelco


was once a powerhouse, serving as a source of localpride and good wages. At its peak in 1981, the com-pany employed 26,000 people, making it the largeststeelmaker in Canada. But Stelco fell victim to thesame forces plaguing so many other North Americansteel companies. It was undercut by more nimble andadvanced competitors. China flooded markets withcheap steel. Manufacturing moved offshore. Pensionliabilities ballooned.Stelco was put into creditor protection in 2004 and

ended up in the hands of private equity firms.Not longafterward, they flipped it to U.S. Steel Corp., head-quartered in Pittsburgh, which paid US$1.2 billion inequity and covered another US$785 million in debt.Thus began a dark time for Stelco.“Itwas a terrible, terrible, terrible place,” saysRandy

Graham, president of Local 8782, which representsaround 1,110 workers at Stelco’s Lake ErieWorks facil-ity. The American ownership, Graham charges, sawits Canadian workforce as second-class citizens andimposed a militaristic management style. Feedbackwas neither encouraged nor welcomed. For a once-proud company, it was demoralizing to be treated asa branch plant.The union leadership and company executives

constantly battled over issues like a random drug-testing regimen. Health and safety procedures causedanother rift. Graham says the American company’straining programswere inferior to Stelco’s, and it tookan entirely different approach to accidents by metingout discipline. “U.S. Steel’s version was that if some-one made a mistake, [you should] punish the guy whomade it,” he says.Grahamonce attended a training seminar inwhich a

U.S. Steel manager recalled an employee losing a fewfingers in an accident. “The safety manager for thatfacility was quite proud of the fact that once the indi-vidual got back to work, he ended up getting a sus-pension for four or five days,” he says. Graham wasappalled.The situation was similar at the plant in Hamilton.

Workers avoided reporting minor accidents for fearof getting disciplined, says Gary Howe, president ofLocal 1005. “You got a bunch of minor accidents, andall of a sudden you got a serious accident because noonewas reporting,” he says. Morale and truancywors-ened. “U.S. Steel has long held safety as a core value,dating back to the company’s invention of the term‘safety first’ over a century ago,” a company spokesper-son says, adding U.S. Steel also maintains a hotline for

Alan Kestenbaum in frontof Stelco’s Z-Line, or zinccoating line, at the Stelcoplant in Hamilton


employees to report concerns.Tensions intensified when

the recession hit in 2008. Thedire economic condi t ionsgave management leverageto demand steep concessionsduring contract negotiations,which the union rejected. U.S.Steel repeatedly locked out theworkers. Lake Erie employeeswere shut out for eight monthsin 2009, followed by their peersin Hamilton for almost a year. Ithappened again in Lake Erie forfour months in 2013.The company’s battles ex-

tended to the Canadian govern-ment. When U.S. Steel boughtStelco in 2007, it committed tomaintaining a certain level ofproduction and employment inCanada. (The exact agreementbetween the company and government was nevermade public.) But after U.S. Steel scaled back in thewake of the recession, Ottawa determined the com-panywasnot honouring its commitments and took therare step of launching a lawsuit to enforce penalties in2009. The two sides ultimately reached a confidentialsettlement two years later.Management permanently shut down all steel-

making operations in Hamilton in 2013, and the fol-lowing year, U.S. Steel placed its Canadian businessinto creditor protection, claiming cumulative lossesof approximately $1.5 billion over its tenure as owner.The company wanted out. The exit confirmed crit-ics’ worst fears. U.S. Steel had hoovered up Stelco’scontracts, allocated production to other facilities andleft behind a rusting metal husk. “I truly believe theywanted to run it for everything they could take out ofit,” Graham says. “The end gamewas just to close it upandmove on.”And that created the kind of opportunity Alan Kes-

tenbaumwas looking for.

METAL RUNS IN KESTENBAUM’S FAMILY . He grew up inBrooklyn, New York, where his father worked as atrader at Philipp Brothers. Kestenbaum had a great-uncle, Ralph, another metals trader, who served onthe board of the LondonMetal Exchange. Kestenbaumspent a few summers at Philipp Brothers and studiedeconomics at Yeshiva University. He took a job withGlencore and then moved to Philipp Brothers, but hechafed at the bureaucratic environment. After a yearor so, he was fired. He remembers his boss chastis-ing him for his “aggressive” style. “He told me, ‘Look,you’re not going to become CEO of the company inthe next sixmonths,’” Kestenbaumsays. So he becameCEO of his own.Kestenbaum took some seed capital fromhis father-

in-law, Hal Beretz, who had recently stepped down aspresident and COO of Philipp Brothers, and startedhis own shop under the name Marco InternationalInc. in 1985. He shipped aluminum billets out of SouthAmerica, aluminum coils out of Romania and stillmore aluminum products out of Russia. Kestenbaummade his way to Asia and opened offices in Beijing,Hong Kong and Tokyo. He took advantage of China’srapid industrial expansion and travelled to the coun-try several times a year to build relationships anddevelop customers. “That really catapulted us for-ward into making a lot of money,” he says.He started putting some of that money into dis-

tressed assets and later formed a new company. (Hestill has an ownership interest in Marco.) The Asianfinancial crisis provided ample opportunity to snapuptroubled firms on the cheap, and in 2006 Kestenbaumbecame the owner of a bankrupt company calledGlobe Metallurgical Inc., which produced silicon intheU.S. The problems at Globewere easy to spot. Thecompany fulfilled orders and then held on to the prod-ucts until customers actually needed them, and waslax when it came to collecting payments. Kestenbaumput an end to the so-called make-and-hold programs,increased prices and ensured Globe was actuallypaid. “We turned it around in one year from a loss to aprofit,” he says, “and then started buying companies.”Over the next decade, the company, renamed Globe

Specialty Metals, grew to encompass facilities acrossthe U.S., with outposts in Canada, Argentina andSouth Africa. Globe went public in 2009, offering areturn of around 128% before a US$3.1-billion mergerin 2015. “In this business, typically, companies over-leverage, and then in the downturn, they get hurt andsell assets,” Kestenbaum says. His strategy was to dothe opposite: Avoid debt, move fast when times arebad, and always focus on profitability and returns.Treating workers fairly is part of his ethos too.

There’s an anecdote that often comes upwhen talking

Rolls of premium coatedsteel, destined for automotiveand construction marketsacross North America


about Kestenbaum; it’s one that caughtthe attention of Leo Gerard at USW.About a decade ago, Kestenbaum boughta silicon plant in Bridgeport, Alabama.Hewas taken abackby thepoverty he sawin the area and shocked when the hedgefund manager selling the plant braggedabout slashing the workers’ wages by 30to 40 cents an hour. “I said to him, ‘That’sdinner for some of these families,’” Kes-tenbaum recalls. After he bought theplant, Kestenbaum immediately restoredwages, which cost an additional $100,000a year at most.He’s no stranger to labour disputes,

though. After Globe purchased a siliconproduction facility in Bécancour, Que-bec, management demanded steep con-cessions from the union. When the twosides couldn’t reach an agreement, thecompany locked out 145 unionized work-ers. Kestenbaum says there was a largerstrategy at play. The wage structure wasunsustainable, and China was floodingthe market with cheap silicon imports.He wanted to secure the support of Uni-for, which represented the workers, andmake an anti-dumping complaint. “Iremembermeeting JerryDias andhavingdinner with him, and within 20 minutes,we basically settled the entire lockout,” he says. Themeeting helped them focus on the key issues thatwereimportant to both sides. “The rest was just noise.”

A spokesperson for Dias confirmed the meetingtook place as described but noted the lockout draggedon for nearly eight months. Though management atthe plant kept one of its three furnaces operating, thelockout still cost Globe approximately US$900,000every month. What ultimately resolved the dispute—without anywage cuts—was the federal government’sintroduction of anti-dumping duties on silicon metalfrom China, which allowed Globe to better compete.Unifor helped lobby for the measures too. Kesten-baum doesn’t have any regrets about the ordeal. “Lis-ten, nobody likes being out of work,” he says, “but as aunion, they understood the importance of getting thiscost structure down.”

RANDY GRAHAM, THE UNION LEADER, was skeptical whenhefirstmetwithKestenbaumandDavidCheney.Here,once again, were Americans with big plans for Stelco.And these two guys didn’t even have a steel back-ground. In one early conversation, Graham says Kes-tenbaummade a casual comment about idling Stelco’sblast furnace in the event of a downturn, seeminglywithout realizing the difficulties and costs involved.“That’s truly how green they were,” Graham says.(Kestenbaum does not recall the remark.)But after that, Kestenbaum and Cheney were quick

to impress, asking detailed questions about the busi-ness. The union leaders unloaded on U.S. Steel, andKestenbaum assured them he had never operated thatway. “He seemed like a person you could trust,” Gra-ham says. (Bedrock ultimately purchased Stelco for atotal of $350 million in June 2017, including paymentsto U.S. Steel and other creditors. It owns a 46% staketoday.)Kestenbaum had known Cheney professionally for

a few years. A former banker with stints at DeutscheBankandWells Fargo inNewYork,Cheneyhadworkedwith Globe SpecialtyMetals. Kestenbaum tapped himto help raise money for Bedrock, and Cheney eventu-ally asked to join full time. “There are some clientsthat hear what they want to hear, and there are thosewho reallywant honesty,”Cheney says.HeputsKeste-nbaum in the latter category. “It sometimeswas advicehe didn’t want to hear, but he respected it, and so wework well together.”The pair found a number of things appealing about

Stelco. The location was ideal for transporting prod-ucts, the assets were in good condition, and employ-ees were knowledgeable—though jaded. As he beganmeeting with workers, Kestenbaum hammered on thefact that he wanted to invest in Stelco again. “Theyactually liked hearing that there’s a future,” he says.“All of a sudden, people who had been asleep for sev-eral years got rebuilt.” At head office, Kestenbaum isa proponent of promoting employees based on merit,not seniority. In traditional industries, there is oftenan expectation that themost senior person, not neces-sarily the most qualified, will get the job. Emphasiz-ing talent helps attract a youngerworkforce and keeps“tension” in the company, he says, encouraging freshideas. Stelco has implemented some of those ideas,such as pursuing a co-generation project in Lake Eriethat would use excess industrial gas to produce elec-tricity, lowering power costs. Other small gestureshave helped too. Earlier this year, when the U.S. gov-ernment removed tariffs on Canadian-made steel,Kestenbaum issued a $1,000 cheque to every Stelcoemployee as a bonus for working through a tumultu-ous time.Overall, Kestenbaum and Cheney did not have a

grand strategy to win over workers. They’ve beenrelying on the union reps to be their emissaries andpass along their impressions. Graham, for one, is aconvert. “I’m in with a group that’s not so much wor-ried about survival now, but about how we becomecutting-edge,” he says. Both Kestenbaum and Cheney,despite living in Miami and New York, respectively,are responsive too. Graham still sounds amazed thatCheney swung by to have lunch with him one day. “Inall my career, that never happened,” he says. (Grahamisn’t naive, though. “The first time they screwmeover,that’ll be different. Phoneme then,” he jokes.)Cheney’s approach has been to be as transparent as

possible about decisions he’s made as CEO. “Whenyou explain to people why you’re doing something,they understand,” he says. “They may not agree withit, but there’s no concern around hidden agendas.”

WITHINTHREEMONTHS—THREEMONTHS!—OFEXPANDINGCAPACITY,WE WEREFULLYSOLD OUT


But what has really helped improvemorale are the investments in the com-pany since emerging from CCAA. About100employeeshavebeenhired in thepasttwo years, bringing Stelco’s head countto approximately 2,250.The research anddevelopment division had been whittleddown to eight people under U.S. Steeland is now up to 22.Much of Stelco’s equipment has got-

ten an upgrade too. The company’s blastfurnace in Lake Erie, the main engine formaking steel, is roughly 40 years old, andits ceramic liningwas starting todegrade.The company shut down the furnace inthe fall of 2017 to undertake significant repairs thatallow it to churn out more steel, increasing annualcapacity from twomillion to 2.7 million tons.Kestenbaum initially balked when employees told

him the process of modernization, and then market-ing the new capacity and increasing production,would take three years. To get it done faster, he exhib-ited characteristic impatience. “I said, ‘You’ve gottaexplain this to me, because Big River Steel was a farm12 months ago, and now they’re making 1.6 milliontons,” he says, referring to an upstart American pro-ducer. “The next meeting, the guy brought it down tosix months, which I said was still too long. The nextthing I knew, it was three months. So it’s just [about]pushing people.” The sales department was similarlysluggish in its estimation of how long it would taketo sell that excess production, so Kestenbaum toldthem to get more aggressive on pricing. “Within threemonths—three months!—of expanding capacity, wewere fully sold out,” he says. “They told me it wasgoing to take three years.”Stelco spent another $30 million on a series of new

furnaces for itsHamilton facility,which allow the com-pany to pumpout fully processed, annealed cold-rolledsheet steel. (Cold rolling, which literally involves run-ning steel throughgiant rollersmultiple times, reducesits thickness. Annealing then heats that steel back up,which allows customers to mould it into the desiredshape without it breaking.) Stelco used to produce itmore than a decade ago, until U.S. Steel decommis-sioned the necessary equipment in Hamilton and ful-filled orders at its other plants. Stelco started shippingthis kind of steel in June and now has the capabilityto produce around 200,000 tons each year. It’s a verystrong product that typically commands higher pricesand is used by auto parts and appliancemanufacturers,allowing Stelco to serve a broader range of markets.The company has invested in more than new pro-

duction facilities. Stelco relied primarily on truckingto transport steel and constantly faced bottlenecks,owing to an industry-wide shortage of qualified driv-ers. Leasing more rail cars has helped, and so has amajor renovation of the port at Stelco’s plant on LakeErie. The company imports raw materials to the portbut had never exported any steel by barge.When Kes-tenbaum inquired about it, the answer he heard was

that things had always been done this way. “You startasking the really dumb questions that haven’t beenasked in decades, you get your best answers,” he says.After overhauling the port, Stelco is now shippingsteel by barge, opening upmarkets in the U.S.The result of all this change is that Stelco is a more

diverse company, with a wider product assortmentandmoreoptions for shipping.That gets at the heart ofKestenbaum and Cheney’s management philosophy,which they call “tactical flexibility.” Steel, of course,is a commodity. Input costs, prices and demand allfluctuate constantly and vary by region. Flexibilityallows Stelco to chase profit wherever it can be found.WhenU.S. PresidentDonaldTrump slapped tariffs onCanadian steel and aluminum products in May 2018,Kestenbaum and Cheney flew up to Hamilton to meetwith the Stelco sales team and bang out a plan. Theyidentified new potential steel customers in Canadaand pursued those clients. “In a tariff environment,we grew shipments 30% in one year. Who does that?”Cheney boasts.There is still a long way to go. Since taking Stelco

public, Kestenbaum hasmade it a priority to win backautomotive customers. In 2006, the vehicle industryaccounted for 37% of Stelco’s shipments. Under U.S.Steel, those contracts were moved to other plants. By2016, auto manufacturers made up just 3% of ship-ments. (Themajority of customers today are pipe andtube manufacturers, and service centres, which buysteel in bulk and resell it to end users.)Analysts are curious to know how much progress

the company is actually making in its diversificationefforts. Stelco sells to two auto manufacturers and afew suppliers, but the company hasn’t disclosed anymore than that. Auto production in North America isprojected to be relatively flat over the next five years,according to IHS Markit research, meaning steelproducers will have to fight for market share. Stelcohas been absent from that battle for years, and exist-ing relationships will be tough to break. Pressed onthe challenges involved, Kestenbaum flips the issuearound. “That’s exactly my point about tactical flex-ibility,” he says. “If everyone’s going to rush into auto,margins are going to shrink. Our approach is we’regoing to be in auto if the margins are there.”Still, for all the talk about diversification and flex-

ibility, Stelco remains very much a one-product com-pany—hot-rolled coil. Analysts say the firm’s fortunesare tied to the market for that item; that much is evi-dent in Stelco’s share price. The company’s stock hasfollowed the downward trajectory of hot-rolled coilsteel. The price decline is why some analysts havecooled on Stelco. Maxim Sytchev at National BankFinancial downgraded the company to neutral earlierthis year. “Stelco is a better asset andbetter positioned,but it’s still the same cyclical business,” he says.Indeed, downturns are inevitable. That’s when the

cost-cutting typically begins, when tensions betweenmanagement and organized labour start to flare andwhen the halcyonmood aroundStelco could be imper-illed. Labour contracts are up for renewal in 2022, and

THERE’SNOCONCERNABOUTHIDDENAGENDAS

what kind of condition the company will be in then isanyone’s guess. “Thebiggest uncertainty I have iswhatthe next growth strategy for Stelco will be,” says Mat-thewKorn, senior metals analyst at Goldman Sachs.Indeed, there is a lack of clarity around Stelco’s

future. In August, Cheney and a group of Stelco work-ers gathered with Hamilton members of ParliamentFilomena Tassi and Bob Bratina in the cavernousStelco plant to announce a $49.9-million investmentthrough the federal government’s Strategic Innova-tionFund to support $412million inupgrades to Stelcofacilities and “bring new and innovative products tothe North American market,” according to the pressrelease. But the company has not provided any moredetail on how exactly the money will be spent anddeclined to comment further.Meanwhile, political uncertainty has greatly

increased with Donald Trump in the White House,and fears of a recession are rising against the threat of aU.S.–China tradewar. “It’s very difficult tomakemajorcapital expenditures that are going to take three to fiveyears to roll out with that level of economic uncer-tainty around,” says Peter Warrian, a senior researchfellow with the Munk School of Global Affairs andPublic Policy in Toronto. But there’s a more specificrisk too. Steel prices soared afterTrump slapped tariffs

on themetal, and companies in theU.S. pouredmoneyinto building new production facilities. “There’s aconcern that that stuff is going to land somewhere in2020 or 2021,” Warrian says. “If you have a downturn,you’re going to have all this new capacity coming on.”That would only push down prices even further.PremWatsa, for one, is willing to back Kestenbaum

through any turbulence. “I’m not concerned at all, fora second, about what he’s going to do,” he says. “He’s avery shrewd business guy, and he’s a contrarian.”True to form, Kestenbaum’s optimism kicks in at

talk of economic trouble. Falling prices? “Well, that’sfantastic,” he says. Stelco isn’t immune to economicheadwinds, but it does have some protection: Thecompany has zero debt and about $455 million incash on its balance sheet. Kestenbaum is seeminglydelighted by the prospect of a downturn becauseother companies will invariably get into trouble andput assets up for sale, and Stelco can purchase them ata decent price. Earlier this year, Kestenbaum handedtheCEO title to Cheney, freeing upmore time to scoutfor acquisitions andmanage the overall strategy.He hasn’t given any indication of what he’s looking

for or when he’ll find it. But when there’s trouble, Kes-tenbaum says he’ll be ready. “That’swhenwe grow thebusiness.”

Call Veronika 416 480 1400

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CARBON ENGINEERING’SCO2 CAPTURE TECHNOLOGYMAY BE PART OF THESOLUTION TO CLIMATECHANGE. BILL GATES ANDOIL SANDS LEGEND MURRAYEDWARDS THINK SO

BY RICHARD LITTLEMOREPHOTOGRAPHS BY ALANA PATERSON

SEPTEMBER 2019 /REPORT ON BUSINESS 29OCTOBER 2019 /REPORT ON BUSINESS 29

The company built a pilot plantin Squamish, British Columbia,a town better known as a climbingmecca than a clean-tech hub


avid Keith would like you to know that his tech-nology for sucking carbon dioxide directly out of the atmo-sphere is not a single, spectacular solution for climate change.He especially discourages any suggestion that Carbon Engi-neering, the company he founded in 2009 to develop a simple,scalable method for direct air capture of CO2, is engaged insome kind of climate-mitigating “moon shot.” In a conversa-tion from Harvard University, where Keith has appointmentsin both the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sci-ences, and the Kennedy School of Government, he respondswith a sharp, “That’s ridiculous. It’s a stupid thing to say.”First, given the breadth of the problem—the amount of cli-

mate-changing CO2 already in the atmosphere and the addi-tional greenhouse gases humans are adding to it every day—Keith says, “No single thing is going to take that much of thepie.” Beyond which, he says, it would be a serious mistake toimagine that an after-the-fact carbon cleanup technology willallow everyone to continue, say, driving their cars, eating theirburgers, flying whenever they want and burning vast amountsof Amazonian rainforest. Specifically, he says, it’s not sensibleto rely on Carbon Engineering’s technology to take CO2 out ofthe atmosphere while we’re still adding massive amounts bydoing things like burning coal: “That’s just silly.”So, we know that DavidKeith—lean, hungry-looking, an avid

mountain climber, as well as a brilliant scientist—ranks lowin his capacity to suffer fools. But it’s the “moon shot” analogythat apparently ranklesmost. That, he says, is because the race

to put a humanon themoonwas “a large government project inwhich cost was no object” with “a high technical risk.” CarbonEngineering, on the other hand, is small and uncomplicated.(“This is not particularly hard engineering,” says Keith.) It hasbeen developed to its current proof point on a relative shoe-string, and it can ultimately only succeed if the CE team canprove that its carbon capture method is cost-effective at scale.But here’s the thing: Carbon Engineering is already giving

tours of a functional direct air capture facility thatmay, indeed,provide a spectacular—if not singular—solution to thehardestpart of the climate change problem. Even if we stop adding tothe greenhouse gases that are warming the world at a danger-ous and unprecedented pace, we still have to do somethingabout legacy emissions—the billions of tonnes of CO2wehavepoured into the atmosphere since the beginning of the Indus-trial Revolution. And some pretty savvy investors, includingBill Gates and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) co-founderMurray Edwards, are betting CE has the key.What began 10 years ago as a pilot with about $3.5 million in

seed money is now a proven technology, capturing CO2 fromtheair. So far this year, the companyhas attractedmore than$115million in next-step financing—$25 million from government,but most from industry heavyweights, including OccidentalPetroleum, Chevron andmining giant BHP. Occidental and CEare collaborating on an industrial-scale plant designed to cap-ture 500 kilotonnes a year for use in Occidental’s enhanced oilrecovery operations in Texas. This might be liftoff.

D


he process of sifting the atmosphere for carbondioxide seemed, until very recently, more than a long shot. Asa matter of practice, we’ve had CO2-harvesting technologysince the 1950s. NASA perfected some excellent (and expen-sive) processes in the run-up to the actual moon shot so thatastronauts, cooped up in a small capsule, wouldn’t asphyxi-ate on their own exhalations. And energy companies havebeen scrubbing CO2 from coal flues and oil refinery stacksfor decades, reusing it in industrial applications. But the con-centration of CO2 in the atmosphere is both too large and toosmall to make this process easy on a grand scale. It’s too largebecause human activity has inflated the atmospheric contentof the heat-trapping gas from 280 parts per million (ppm) inthe late 1700s to about 410 ppm today. That’s enough to raisethe global temperature to dangerous levels, but when you’retrying to reach into thin air to pick out specific molecules youcan’t see or smell, it’s still a vanishingly small proportion—just0.04%.Apparently, David Keith found the prospect less daunt-

ing. He was raised in Ottawa and educated at the Universityof Toronto (B.Sc. in physics) and the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (PhD in experimental physics), where he wonMIT’s Prize for Excellence in Experimental Physics for devel-oping the first interferometer for studying atoms. His follow-on successes—which included building a high-accuracy infra-red spectrometer for NASA and becoming one of the leadinginnovators and commentators on geo-engineer-ing—were enough to land him on Time’s Heroesof the Environment list in 2009. Five years earlier,Keith had relocated to the University of Calgary asthe Canada Research Chair in Energy and the Envi-ronment, and if he didn’t get much love from theAlberta fossil fuel establishment, his work caughtthe eye of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Keith wasrecruited as one of the billionaire’s advisers onenergy issues.There followed amomentwhenKeith’s tendency

to understatement came in handy. He says hewrotethe first business case for Carbon Engineering “ina very Bill-oriented way.” It was “low key—nothypey.” AndGates respondedwithwhat, in his bud-get, must have seemed like an understated invest-ment of $1.5 million. That enabled Keith to raiseas much again in seed funding from, in his words,“small family investors,” including Edwards, the oilsands magnate who, in addition to having co-founded CNRL,is also a major shareholder and chair of Ensign Energy, one ofCanada’s biggest energy services companies. “Murray wantedto support the University of Calgary, and he gets that the cli-mate problem is real,” says Keith of the press-shy billionaire.“He wants a win.”The Alberta government was less engaged, so Keith found

himself drifting over the mountains to B.C., where there wasgreater enthusiasm for supporting clean-tech startups. Hefound a cheap lease on somewaterfront property in Squamish,British Columbia, that had undergone remediation for mer-cury contamination.

Company lorehas it thathe thenput up a “no entry”–style sign thatsaid, “NoScience.”GeoffHolmes,one of CE’s original employees,says Keith assembled the earlydevelopment team—a revolvinggroup of eight or 10 engineersand scientists—from among thestudents and research associ-ates at the University of Calgary.Holmes, for example, had justcompletedhismaster’s of sciencewith a major project on direct aircapture. But Keith made it clearhe wasn’t looking for somethingnew and complicated. Rather,his vision was to source everycomponent in the CE process

from some other industry, using off-the-shelf parts that couldbe manufactured at a low cost and supplied at massive scale.Keith also decreed that CE’s process should require minimalconsumables—that is, inputs other than CO2 and energy thatwould have to be constantly renewed or replaced. That meantthe process had to recover and regenerate all chemicals forreuse. After six years of testing and fine-tuning his originalmodel, that’swhatKeith got. By 2015, CEhad settled on a three-step process to strip the CO2 from ambient air, concentrate itinto a solid and then turn it back into a gas that could either beused or buried.In the first step, a fan sucks air through a big plastic honey-

In the first step of Carbon Engineering’sdirect air capture process, this fan—whichsits atop CE’s pilot plant’s air contactor—pullsatmospheric air into the structure

T

heavy metals that stick tofossil fuels even after refin-ing) and carbon neutral—itwouldn’t create a net addi-tion ofCO2 to the atmospherebecause CE’s feedstock isatmospheric CO2.So, CE set up a fourth step,

also reliant on traditional in-dustrial processes. The com-pany uses an electricity-basedsystem to separate water intooxygen and hydrogen, andthen combines the hydrogen

and CO2 under pressure to form liquid fuel—which, as long asthe electricity used tomake it comes from a renewable source,is nearly or fully carbon neutral.

n the usual history of academic-driven startups,this is the perfect moment for an entrepreneurial conflagra-tion. It’s so common for startups to fail at this point that peoplerefer to the transition phase as “the valley of death.” Havingproved their concept, most entrepreneurs don’t have the skillor discipline to move to the next stage, and they don’t knowwhen to give up the reins. Here again, however, CE appears tohave tapped into a different kind of industrial precedent.The functional grandfather of all things high-tech in British

Columbia is MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA)—maker of everything from the Canadarm to broadcast satel-lites.The companywasborn in 1969,whenUniversity ofBritishColumbia electrical engineering professor John MacDonald(also an MIT PhD) linked up with computer scientist VernDettwiler, in large part to create local opportunities. MacDon-ald was tired of seeing hot talent training atWestern Canada’spremier research university and immediately leaving Vancou-ver for work. In building a company that now has more than5,000 employees worldwide, one ofMacDonald’s greatest joyswas the energy, opportunity and economic activity MDA gen-erated in the B.C. market. The evidence is everywhere, but it’smost obvious on amapposted on thewall at theBCTechAsso-ciation. The map shows thick bundles emanating from UBCand Simon Fraser University—the most common points oforigin for the innovations and people that have created someof B.C.’s biggest tech successes. But the next-thickest bundlespreads from MDA to local companies like Creo and MobileData International, and further afield, to firms like BlackBerry.MDA’s technical and managerial talent has been infectious.And CE appears to be suffering a fortuitous outbreak.It started with Denis Connor, an MDA veteran, a founder of

QuestAir, a serial supporter of alternative energy technology,and an earlyCE investor anddirector. In 2017, Connor recruiteda former protégé, Dan Friedmann, who was MDA’s CEO for20 years, beginning in 1995. Friedmann soon took over as thechair of CE’s board (Keith still sits as a director) and recruitedSteve Oldham, who had been MDA’s senior vice-president for

comb that’s constantly floodedwithfluid—much like a coolingtower on topof any large building. But insteadof thefluid beingused to shed heat, the liquid in CE’s variation contains potas-sium hydroxide, which reacts with CO2 in the atmosphere andbonds to it. The result is a fluidwith aCO2 concentration of 2%(up from 0.04% in the atmosphere).In the second step, CE uses a pellet reactor common tomost

water treatment plants.Water flows into the reactor, where it’sseeded with calcium carbonate pellets, which bond with CO2until they’re heavy enough to fall to the bottom. What you’releft with is a material that is chemically similar to seashells.These little pellets now have a CO2 concentration of 45%, soyou could simply bury the product, effectively sequesteringthe carbon in a solid state. But then you’d have to maintain apermanent mining operation to source the component chemi-cals consumed to this point.Instead, CE goes to the third step. Using a calciner—a steel

cylinder in an airtight furnace commonly used to processmin-eral ore—the “seashells” are heated to 900 C, liberating 100%of theCO2 and leaving behind calcium that can nowbe reused.The next challenge is figuring out what to do with the CO2,

which, unattended, will simply disappear, literally, into thin air.One choice is to pressurize it into a liquid state, pump it into

geologically stable formations in the ground (deep saline aqui-fers or recently emptied oil wells) and seal it off, one hopes,forever. The alternative is to mix the CO2 with hydrogen toform something very similar to the hydrocarbon fuel that gotus into this trouble in the first place. Thismight seemperverseat first blush, but the CE fuel would be endlessly renewable,perfectly clean-burning (unsullied by any of the sulphur or

Inside the pellet reactor, water is seeded with calcium carbonatepellets, which bond to carbon dioxide and create a material similar toseashells that has a CO2 concentration of 45%

I


business development. As CEO, Oldham has since hired twoother MDA business development specialists, Doug Rae andLori Guetre. (MDA is now calledMaxar Technologies and hasshifted its headquarters to Colorado.)As Friedmann says, these are all peoplewho are accustomed

to solving big problems and, often, getting startups quite liter-ally off the ground. As a satellite business, he says, prettymucheverything MDA built under his leadership cost hundreds ofmillions of dollars, and the hardware didn’t pay off until youdesigned it, sold it, launched it into space and, in a momentthat could be thrilling or chilling, turned it on. (Oldham saysthis speaks to one of the things he likes about CE: Unlike radarsatellites, “our plants stay on the ground; we can fix them.”) Sowhen you talk to MDA veterans, they turn quickly to practicalquestions of financing and insurance—of raising capital, reas-suring investors and allying with great partners.In regards to that last point, CE’s leading partner isHouston-

based fossil fuel giant Occidental Petroleum. As Oldham says:“Who better to put CO2 back in the ground than the peoplewho have been digging it up?” But Occidental has a particularadvantage. According to Richard Jackson, president of subsid-iary Oxy LowCarbon Ventures, over the past several decades,Occidental has sequestered roughly 500 megatonnes of CO2,

without a single safety violation andwith a 99.9% success rate.It has generated thatCO2 from 13 plants, built 4,000 kilometresof pipelines and created 34 CO2 injection sites (or “floods”) inan area covering 1.4 million acres.To be clear, Occidental hasn’t been doing this for carbon

credits. The company is the world leader in enhanced oilrecovery, in which it pumps CO2 down into mature reservoirsin order to extract oil and, because it’s sequestering CO2, toprovide a product with a lower carbon density. And given ris-ing global consciousness of the risks of global warming—andthe policy changes already coming into effect—Jackson saysOccidental is committed to continuing to lower the directemissions of CO2 per barrel of oil, increase the energy effi-ciency of all its operations and expand its capacity for carboncapture, utilization and storage.The proposed CE plant, which could cost up to $1 billion

(and forwhich they are still gathering financing), is perfect forall three because it means Occidental doesn’t have to rely onnearby sources of industry-generated CO2 or expensive pipe-line infrastructure. A Carbon Engineering plant can be putanywhere that has a ready source of electricity—and Texasis a perfect place to build large-scale renewable power. And,as Keith says, a 100-megawatt solar array is now the cheapest

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form of solar energy on the planet.That gets, finally, to the question of why anyone would

bother with all these fuel plays when solar is so cheap. Whynot just crack water for hydrogen and build a fuel-cell world?Friedmann says it’s all about infrastructure. Unlike hydrogen,which is highly explosive and complicated to handle, CE’s fuelcan flow seamlessly into all current fossil fuel applications. It’seasy to refine in conventional facilities and cleaner, as well.Unlike biofuels, it’s blendable up to 100%; you can pour itstraight into your car’s gas tank. It’s also portable. Oldham saysliquid fuel is 30 times more efficient for carrying energy thanbatteries in terms of energy content per kilogram of weight.And itworks easily in all those hard-to-electrify applications—not just automobiles, but ships and planes too. As Friedmannputs it: “It’s a world-changing product that doesn’t require theworld to change.”

We are, of course, in transition, and Keith is especially alertto the question of “moral hazard.” There is a concern that thisnot–a–moon shot might make people and policymakers com-placent, as if there is suddenly less need to reduce emissionsbecause CE will be able to draw them out of the atmospherelater—no need to switch infrastructure, because a carbon-neutral fuel is coming to a plant near you. Ultimately, the lattermight be true. Carbon Engineering hopes to build proprietaryplants to prove their effectiveness at scale and then to licensethe technology, so its plants can be replicated quickly andglobally. By peer-reviewed calculation, a one-megatonne plantshould ultimately cost about US$700 million, at which price,you could harvest CO2 profitably using tax credits, such asthose already instituted by California and theU.S. federal gov-ernment, that will pay companies for the CO2 they sequester.Which leads back to the impatient David Keith and his pas-

sionate position that direct air capture is but one small tool ata time when we have to be using everything we can to addressthe gathering climate crisis. And really, withKeith in the room,you shouldn’t suggest otherwise. Pretty sure hewould tell you,“That’s a stupid thing to say.”

The calciner superheats the pellets, separating them intopure carbon dioxide and calcium, which can then be reused(left). Once refined, CE’s synthetic crude—made from air,water and renewable electricity—can power existing vehicleswithout the need to modify the engines (right)

w w w . b a y l i n t e c h . c o m T S X : B Y L

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egardless of where you arein the world, your business

and personal lives are supportedby antenna solutions developedand manufactured by BaylinTechnologies Inc.’s portfolio ofcompanies. (TSX: BYL)

“Our companies do more thanproduce millions of antennaseach month,” says Randy Dewey,president and CEO of BaylinTechnologies. “Our innovations areeverywhere including in the cellphone in your pocket, in the routerin your living room, in the basestation on the roof of your building,and in satellite earth systems. Ourupcoming disruptive technologycreations for 5G will help mapthe widespread changes that willimpact many industries and all ofour lives.”

The strategy of aggressiveinnovation that started 41 years agois even more important today. Since2015, Baylin’s enterprise value has

Laying the data highways of the worldGlobal wireless innovator Baylin Technologies well positioned to lead 5G infrastructure deployment rollout

R

Dewey explains. “The need forfaster connections and higherthroughput is driving one aspectof our 5G innovations.The otherkey market driver is the need foruniform connectivity around theworld — and that’s going to beexplosive in the next decade. Weare part of that.”

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Chances aregood that a Baylin

Technologiesantenna is partof your mobile

connectivity, sayspresident and CEO,

Randy Dewey.

increased 550 per cent.Today Baylinis a leader in the wireless antennaworld and the only company inthe world with leading cellular andsatellite communication expertise.With over 1,300 employees in tencountries, its products are sold inover 150 countries.

Baylin’s strategy of acquiringnew technology companies notonly brings in additional sales,but it also boosts research anddevelopment capabilities.TheseR&D competencies, critical to theambitious global 5G roadmap, willenable emerging technologies suchas autonomous vehicles, remoterobotic surgery, immersive gaming,in-line robotic manufacturing,and augmented reality (AR)technologies.These disruptivetechnologies become possible, inpart, due to 5G’s promise of speed,low latency and ultra-high reliability.

“This focus on innovation iscritical, now more than ever,”

Adi DevelopmentGroup is now behind12 different projectsacross the GTA

rothersTariq and Saud Adifaced some seemingly

insurmountable barriers whenthey started their real estatedevelopment company in 2007. Notonly were they brand new to thedevelopment industry, but their firstland deal closed at the start of theglobal financial crisis in 2008, whenmany lenders turned off the taps —especially to new business owners.

“It was a terrible time to starta business, but we did,” saysTariq Adi, chief executive officerof Adi Development Group Inc.“Naiveté played a huge part in thechutzpah we had back then.Weput everything on the line … I can’texplain it, but I knew deep down itwas going to work out.”

That first project, which included23 townhomes in Burlington, Ont.,led to a handful of projects thecompany has built over the pastdecade, each one bigger than thelast.Today, Adi is behind 12 differentprojects across the GreaterTorontoArea with a value of more than$2.1-billion.

“It was really hard early on tobreak into the industry and requireda lot of capital, but once you’re inyou have other goals. Now, it’s howwe build a company and not justa building,” saysTariq, the secondoldest of four sons in the family.

Saud, the third oldest, is the chiefoperating officer and their youngerbrother Sami is a construction co-ordinator at one of the developmentsites.The company is also launching

an alternative asset managementfirm, Adi Capital Partners.

Tariq and Saud dreamed ofgoing into business together asyoung boys, although it was amoneymaking art gallery theypretended to run, not a real estatecompany.

In their mid-20s, after dabblingin different careers —Tariq wascreating and producing music andSaud was in the construction trades— they decided on careers in realestate development. It started withbuying an income property with afive-year goal of becoming propertydevelopers.

“I said, ‘forget the five-year goal,let’s do this now,’”Tariq recalls.

Why real estate development?The brothers are both creative andare passionate about architecture.“If you look at development andwhat it takes to put up a building, it’san art.There’s a creative aspect toit,” Saud says.

While the company has faced

Building brothers

many challenges,Tariq andSaud credit their employees forpersevering.They also point to thecompany’s mission statement,posted on the wall at its Burlingtonhead office, which states:“To build and develop best-in-class, sustainable residentialand commercial real estatedevelopments that bring joy toour residents and tenants, andpositively enhance and add value tothe community.”

Tariq believes companies need avision and mission to grow. “If yourpeople don’t buy into that missionand vision, then it’s never going towork,” he says.

That said, the company’s goalsand growth can’t come at any cost.

“One of the things I’m glad welearned at an early age is that it’s notjust about profit,”Tariq says. “Profitis great, growth is great and youneed profit to grow, but that’s notwhy we do what we do.We have atremendous passion for creating.”

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With Adi DevelopmentGroup, brothers

Tariq Adi (left) andSaud Adi (right) are

building a company,not just buildings.Today, Burlington,Ont.-based Adi is

behind 12 differentprojects across the

Greater Toronto Areawith a value of more

than $2.1-billion.

B


Welcome to the inaugural Report on Business rank-ing of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. These 400businesses operate in such hot sectors as fintech,e-commerce and cannabis, along with long-estab-lished industries like manufacturing and transpor-tation. Some are globally known giants, includingShopify (No. 98), Canada Goose (No. 188) and Ali-mentationCouche-Tard(No.326);mostare less famil-iar names but worth watching nonetheless.Why? Because each company on this list is rising

fast: Their average revenue growth was 511% over thepast three years. As these businesses expand, theysolidify Canada’s reputation as an entrepreneurialnation andoffer lessonsonfindingnewmarkets, com-mercializing great ideas and building teams that caninspire organizations of all sizes. Among this groupare likely some of the country’s biggest innovationsand corporations of the future—the next generationof Canadian business stars.

METHODOLOGY

Founded in 2019, the Reporton Business list of Canada’sTop Growing Companies ranksparticipating private and publicbusinesses on three-year revenuegrowth. To be considered,companies must apply using anonline ballot. We accepted entriesfor this year’s list from Marchthrough May 2019.Each entrant had to complete

an application survey and supplyour research team with supportingfinancial documentation.We evaluated companies bymeasuring the percentagedifference between revenuefor the most recent fiscal yearfor which financial statementswere available (with a latestpossible year-end date of April30, 2019) and the same fiscalyear three years prior. To avoidartificial inflation of growth rates,companies with a base-yearrevenue of less than $200,000were measured on an adjustedrevenue of $200,000 for that year.

In order to qualify, a companyhad to have at least $2 million inannual sales in its most recentfiscal year. It also had to beCanadian owned, headquarteredin this country and independentlyoperated. Firms backed by venturecapital, private equity or otherinvestors were evaluated on acase-by-case basis, factoringin autonomy, leadership andother variables. If an applicantcompany had been recentlyacquired, it was admitted only ifthe acquisition occurred followingthe close of its most recent fiscalyear. Franchisors were rankedon corporate revenue only, notsystemwide sales. For companiesthat changed reporting currencyduring evaluated years, weconverted the base-year revenueto the current currency using theaverage Bank of Canada exchangerate for that period.

Research was conductedby Deborah Aarts, Mai Nguyenand Amy O’Kruk. To learn moreabout each company or to applyfor the 2020 ranking, pleasevisit tgam.ca/TopGrowing.

CANADA’STOPGROWINGCOMPANIESMeet the next generation: the 400 boldestbusinesses in the country


FleetOptics specializes inso-called last-mile delivery,from a retailer’s distribu-tion centre to the custom-er’s door—the hardest andmost expensive portion,estimated to account for aleast 30% of total transpor-tation cost. It’s also themostvital as, in the e-commerceera, receiving the packageis often the only contactconsumers have with a hu-man during the transac-tion. FleetOptics’ softwaremakes the parcel’s progresstransparent for both busi-ness and consumer. Cus-tomers can track the driveron-screen as they mightan approaching Uber car,avoiding that infuriatingexperience of the delivery-man arriving just after theyjump in the shower. Retail-ers, meanwhile, can checkpackages’ status in real timethrough FleetOptics’ onlineportal. As co-founder VinceBuckley pithily sums it up,“Tesla is a battery companythat also makes cars. We’re

The office is deserted. Inthe back warehouse, a fewuniformed guys sit arounda folding table, the emptyspace echoing with theirvoices. A business down onits luck? Hardly. The make-shift surroundings are ac-tually a symptom of hypergrowth. FleetOptics, thelogistics firm that leads thisyear’s list of Canada’s TopGrowing Companies, is stillin theprocessofmoving intoitsnew,biggerheadquarters,and on this morning in earlyAugust much remains to bedone. A sprawling conveyorsystem for sorting packagesis only half set up, and mov-ing boxes line the walls. Bymid-September, however,the operation must be hum-ming; that’s when a majorinternational retailer dra-matically boosts its businesswith the company to handleup to 10,000 parcel deliver-ies daily around the GreaterToronto Area (GTA), ex-panding FleetOptics’ totalvolume by 70%.

a technology company thatalso makes deliveries.”Buckley and John Mann,

trucking industry veterans,started FleetOptics in 2015as a delivery-managementoutfit, handling logistics fortire and medical distribu-tors around Ontario. Theydeveloped software for op-timizing delivery routes andtracking parcels, and real-ized the technology couldhelp them leap onto theaccelerating e-commercebandwagon. By 2023, rev-enue from Canada’s retaile-commerce is forecast tosurpass $55 billion, up from$40 billion in 2018. This yearalone, research aggregatorStatista projects growthwilltop 10%. “Each Black Fridaysets records for e-commercedeliveries,” saysMann. “Thebig guys like FedEx andUPSare maxed out. That createsan environment for compa-nies like us.”FleetOptics jumped in last

fall, and the October postalstrike was “our baptism byfire,” says Buckley, immedi-ately ramping up business.Now the firm is consideringexpanding to B.C. What fol-lows is 18 hours on the frontlines of next-day delivery.

OVERNIGHTIn the evening, clients sendelectronic manifests listingdeliveries for the follow-ing day. When the freightarrives overnight, weightand size are confirmed bysensors on the conveyorsystem, boxes are barcodedand labelled, and FleetOp-tics’ software combines thevarious manifests into the

No.

PHOTOGRAPH

NAOMIHARRIS

THESEPOSTMENRINGONCEHow a logistics company’sdata analytics smooth the lastmile of a parcel’s journey

FLEETOPTICS INC.Mississauga, Ontario


For JohnMann (left)and Vince Buckley,the e-commerce

boom has brought agrowth bonanza


most efficient driver routes.(1)Each parcel is then sortedinto its route—say, stop 36of110 on route 12.A square-foot cube is the

standard pricing reference,and overnight shippingis increasingly the norm.“Thanks to Amazon, ourwhole industry is going tosame-day delivery,” saysBuckley. Doing that cost-effectively requires density,which in turn demands vol-ume contracts with retail-ers. “The perfect scenario is,a vehicle makes 100 deliver-ies and travels less than 100kilometres,” says Buckley.The company is still build-ing up to this volume, andtoday some vehicles go outwith 60 to 70 packages.

8:30 a.m.The warehouse is filling upwith drivers and workersreviewing routes. In the of-fice, Lorenzo Ramos, whotrains new drivers on thesoftware, pulls up a spread-sheet showing yesterday’sdeliveries colour-coded assuccessful, undelivered orexceptions, then a map ofcurrent routes. (2) Buck-ley stares at one static dot.“He’s in a bad traffic area—that car ain’t gonna move.”Supervisors can track driv-ers’ progress on the map, aswell as their speed and dailyproductivity. They can alsosee when a driver is fallingbehind schedule and sendanother to help finish deliv-eries by day’s end (FleetOp-tics calls these “rescues”).FleetOptics typically has

more than 250 vehicles onthe roadeachday, themajor-ity driven by owner-oper-ators on contract. The planis to get to 2,000 shipmentsa day at this facility, thenopen another across the cityto reduce “stem time” (thetime fromwarehouse to cus-tomer location).

9:00 a.m.The sorted packages go intobins stacked on racks, which

the drivers then wheel overto their vehicles for load-ing. The 25,000-square-footwarehouse has five drivebays. In the morning, vehi-cles form a conga line, 20 ata time (each allotted a spotpainted on the floor); driv-ers turn off the engine, loadparcels, download the routeonto theirphones, (3) thengeta five-minute “pep talk” froma supervisor. The processshould take no more than 20minutes, says Buckley.Harry Shivs, an amiable

Sri Lankan immigrant whois one of FleetOptics’ firstemployees, is getting readyto do a short 30-package runto Brampton in one of thecompany’s two new pointsof pride: Hyundai Konahatchbacks (with the backseats removed for pack-ability). They’re covered inSephora insignia, (4) as thecosmetics company is thefirst to sign up for client-branded vehicles—a Fleet-Optics innovation. The dealfits into FleetOptics’ sweetspot: Sephora ships morethan 2,000 packages daily intheGTA, and itsparcels tendto be small so many can fitinto a small van. Given suf-ficient volume of business,FleetOptics is happy to tai-lor its service. “We’re smallenough that we can say, ‘Youdon’t have to fit in our box,we’ll make a box that will fityou,’” says Buckley. He seesthis customization as onlythe beginning: Cars could beoutfitted with barcodes, forexample, so passers-by canclick and get a coupon. “I’dhave amascara car! I’d makeit fun!” he enthuses.The two Konas boast an-

other important feature:They’re electric. FleetOp-tics is also awaiting deliveryof five electric Kia Souls andwould buy more if it could.“Honestly,we’re lucky to getthese,” says Buckley. “Thegovernment is buying themall up. As soon as themarketallows, we’ll go all electric.”The Konas have a range of

350 to 400kilometres,whichamply covers a typical route,and promise $2,000 of sav-ings on fuel for every 20,000kilometres travelled.

9:30 a.m.Shivs fiddleswith his phone.He’s testing a newmodel to-day, as the company is con-sidering switching from LGto Samsung smartphonesif they prove faster at pull-ing up map data. Shivs is adispatcher now, but he stilldoes a run once or twice aweek, with a typical dailyroute having 80 to 90 deliv-eries. “It’s the best job,” hesays as he drives north to-ward Brampton. “No boss,and you can take breakswhen you want.”Shivs wears a FleeptOp-

tics hat and vest, but it’sthe car everyone stares at.As one woman signs forher package, she asks, “So,you’ve started doing yourown deliveries?”—clearlyassuming it’s Sephora ather door. Such direct con-nection to the customer ispotentially very valuable tobrands, which increasinglymust go throughmiddlemenlikeAmazon,but it raises thepressure on delivery peopleto represent clients in a waythat leaves consumers witha warm glow. FleetOpticscan help retailers extendthat contact further by, forexample, adding notifica-tions about sales to the textsalerting customers of theirpackages’ ETA.

11:00 a.m.FleetOptics delivery is aprecision operation whereevery moment counts—andis digitally logged. Duringloading, drivers organizethe boxes in order of deliv-ery so they can grab themquickly when they pull up.(5)Upon arrival, Shivswalksto the door, rings the buzzeronce (multiple rings can ir-ritate residents), waits 15seconds, knocks and, as hewaits, starts looking around

1

2

3

4

5

6

hen David Burnie foundedThe Burnie Group in 2011, he

drew on what he’d learned aboutstrategy, teamwork and workingin a fast-paced environment fromhis previous experience – on thefootball field.

“I played football atWesternUniversity and was on the [Canadianuniversity national championship]Vanier Cup-winningWesternMustangs in 1994,” says Burnie,principal, founder and head ofstrategy and operations for theToronto-based managementconsulting firm that bears his name.

“I was fortunate to have greatcoaches and a great team. It taughtme that if you have a commonpassion and if you work hard andwork together, you can reallyaccomplish anything,” he says.

Now 46, he foundedThe BurnieGroup eight years ago after workingfor McKinsey & Company, theworld’s pre-eminent managementconsulting firm.

With a team of 30 – 14 peoplefewer than a Canadian FootballLeague roster – and backed by anextended network of more than 100expert consultants to draw on,TheBurnie Group has been marchingtoward the goal line consistently.

He says the business had about$10-million in revenue in 2018. “Ourgrowth rate has been in excess of1,000 per cent per year,” Burniesays. He thinks the key to thegroup’s success is that when theyhuddle on behalf of clients, they

look at the big picture, and how theindustries they serve will changeover time.

“The common thread is that, inpursuit of helping our clients, we’recurious, we work together andwe’re interested in how technologyand innovation are transforming theindustries we work with,” he says.

He thinks the bankingand insurance firms,retailers, manufacturers, andcommunications firmsThe BurnieGroup advises can do better byunderstanding advancements intechnology rather than fearing thechanges they will bring.

“I think AI [artificial intelligence]for example will be a massiveenabler, to help us do more thingsbetter and get rid of mundanework in particular when paired withautomation.This will ensure that thetype of work people do in the futureis more rewarding,” Burnie says.

For The Burnie Group,management strategy is agreat gameConsulting firm’s founder learned planning and teamwork on the football field

W

“People have foretold ofthe death of industry due tointelligent automation and artificialintelligence, that all these peopleare not going to have jobs becausethe robots are taking over. But Idon’t think we need to be afraid ofthese advancements.”

On the contrary, tech andinnovation are creating newopportunities for his clients, as wellas withinThe Burnie Group itself,he says.

“The people we hire aredevelopers and consultants at theforefront of these technologies.”

Burnie is particularly interestedin how blockchain technology ismaking a difference.

For those who are intimidatedby blockchain or who – let’s faceit – don’t have a clue, Burnie isreassuring. “It’s simply a secureprocess for managing informationthat improves accuracy, facilitatesautomation and reduces transactioncosts,” he says.

Blockchain stores informationsuch as insurance claims or shippinginformation in a way that makesit easy to share with others butdifficult to change or hack.

Burnie says he is also a strongadvocate for Canadian companiesstepping up and entering worldmarkets with their products andservices.

“We have so much to offer inCanada with our skill base and thefact that we’re a great country tolive in means we can really competeglobally,” he says.

His own experience as anentrepreneur attests to whatCanadians can do, he adds.

“When I startedThe BurnieGroup, it was just me, but quicklyI brought in other colleagues, andbefore we knew it, we had a wholefirm on our hands. One of the thingsI value most is to really have beenable to build something that justwasn’t there before,” Burnie says.

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The Burnie Groupsays companies

can grow throughteamwork and looking

at how technologychanges the future.

for a place to stash the pack-age if the customer has notindicated one. The rule isthat the parcel can’t be vis-ible from the street butmustbe easy to spot for recipientswho don’t want to play hideand seek with packages.The porch mat is a pet trick:Though a package placedunder it protrudes, a passer-by can’t see what’s on thebox. After 30 seconds, Shivsusually leaves the packageand a notice of delivery at-tempt, snaps a photo of theparcel’s location and, ashe walks back to the car,queues up the next deliveryon his phone so he can startdriving immediately.GoogleMaps is a delivery-

man’s primary tool, but it’sfallible—especially in newresidential developments(of which there are manyin Brampton) that have yetto be accurately geotagged.Several deliveries take Shivs

to locations where Googlepauses, unsure, forcingShivsto search for the addressmanually. Still, such subur-ban challenges pale in com-parison to those downtowndrivers face. Parking, forone. “We’re a great customerfor theCity of Toronto,” saysMann sarcastically. On theupside, downtown deliver-ies are more tightly concen-trated. FleetOptics has sev-eral “downtown specialists,”says Shivs, who personallyalways shuns those runs.

11:15 a.m.A driver’s biggest head-aches, not surprisingly, areweather and traffic. “Everyhour is rushhournow,” sighsShivs as he grabs a drink at aDairy Queen. FleetOptics islooking into using artificialintelligence and machine-learning tools to get predic-tive intelligence on routeconditions. Bymining postal

code data, it could also iden-tify dense delivery pocketswhere it might be more ef-ficient to send a large truckwith three guys who thendeliver on foot.But some issues resist

technological solutions.Now that he’s a dispatcher,Shivs deals with drivers’problems—mistyped ad-dresses, flat tires, missingentry codes to apartmentbuildings. Once, however,he got a call from a driverwho was bitten by a pitbull,requiring an ambulance.Thesemodern postmen take“beware of dog” signs seri-ously; in fact, Shivs won’tevenenter theyardofahomethat sports the sign on thefence. (6) In houseswith ves-tibules, he rings the doorbellinside but then steps ontothe porch to wait. “We neverknowwhoorwhatwill comeout, so you want to have aclear exit,” he says.

12:45 p.m.On the drive back to the of-fice, Shivs muses that hiscould be the last genera-tion of delivery people be-fore driverless cars, dronesand other innovations takeover. “I heard on the newsthat flying cars in Japan havealready started,” he says.In San Francisco, StarshipTechnologies has begundelivering food and parcelsusing robots, while Zurich-based Anybotics hopes tocombine autonomous ve-hicles with robots that de-scend at the destination,ring the doorbell, then re-turn to the car to recharge.As technological solu-

tions power ahead, Buckleyand Mann know they can’tstand still. Amazon’s trackernow has similar features toFleetOptics’, pushing themto innovate. “Our softwareis never complete,” saysMann. /By Joanna Pachner

oursByLocals is based on asimple idea: if you’re looking

for a travel guide, local people arethe best.

“The hard part is making thatconnection easy,” says Paul Melhus,chief executive officer who co-foundedToursByLocals Canada Inc.in 2008 with DaveVincent, chieftechnical officer.

The idea came to them during atrip they took together to Beijing in2006.

“It was the last day of a short visit,and we hadn’t seen the GreatWallof China.There were a number ofplaces where we could see it, butthe place near Beijing would be fullof tour buses and didn’t interest us.So we hired a local driver who tookus two hours north to a less touristypart,” he explains.

“At that site, we met two Chinesewomen who were interested intalking to us and offered to show usaround. It was helpful but it left usuncomfortable because we weren’tsure if they were professional tourguides or just wanted to help. Onthe flight back to Canada, we talkedabout how we could make this kindof exchange better for both travellersand local guides,” Melhus says.

Using $250,000 in startupfunds from an earlier successfuleducational software company theyhad owned, it took them two years todevelop the business model and setup their website.

“Our growth is a classic hockey-stick pattern,” Melhus says.

“In our first full year, 2009, webooked 79 tours for around $65,000

and we’ve been growing ever since.This year [ending Sept. 30], weanticipate we will sell 107,000 tours,and that would represent a 37 percent increase over last year, and 40per cent revenue growth over theyear, with revenues in the range of$64-million.

The company’s business modelhas grown and evolved too, Melhussays.

“When we first started, wethought we were going to be aplatform for people posting theirtour offerings individually, but wequickly realized that the major value

Connecting travellers with local guidesaround the worldToursByLocals is a site that allows customers to book custom tours with those ‘in the know’

T we could offer travellers was qualitycontrol. So we developed a process;we have about 45 people now whoare tasked with onboarding tourguides, online support and coaching.Most of that is based out of ouroffice in Buenos Aires.”

TheVancouver-based companyhas satellite offices in Buenos Aires,Glasgow and Kuala Lumpur.

It is a setup that works well,Melhus says, because with thedifferent time zones, the offices arealways open.The total staff is about130 people.

“We have about 3,900 tour guidesregistered with us in 160 countries,in 1,100 different locations. Our goalis to be everywhere people travel.To achieve that, we use Google tofind out if there are a certain numberof searches per month for guides incertain places and determine if theseare places where people want to go,”Melhus explains.

Tour guides who register withToursByLocals are independentcontractors, not employees, and theyare free to take on other business.“We screen them and vet them,of course, and we interview themand take references.We also offertraining material on how to be abetter guide,” Melhus says.

“We also ask our customers torate the tours, and we follow up onevery review that is four stars or less.Four stars may be good, but we wantour tours to be five stars.”

Melhus sees a bright futurebecause“people want more thanthe old-fashioned bus tour.They wantcustomized experiences.”



Dave Vincent (left)and Paul Melhus- co-founders ofToursByLocals -redefining travel

experiences.


PHOTOGRAPHTA

MARALÉ

GER

339For Balzac’s to be amongthis country’s fastest-grow-ing companies is ironic, tosay the least. Founder andpresidentDianaOlsenneverwanted to build a sprawlingcoffee empire, with a Bal-zac’s on every street corner.Olsen opened her first cof-fee shop in 1996 mostly be-cause she wanted to make aliving doing something sheenjoyed. That happened tobe the same year Starbucksarrived in Toronto. Sincethen, Starbucks has spreadtomore than 1,000 locationsacross Canada, while Bal-zac’s has just 14, mostly inToronto, all in Ontario. Ol-sen describes her approachto growth as “measured.”So what is Balzac’s doing

on Canada’s Top GrowingCompanies list? For one,Olsen has gotten more seri-ous about expansion. Since2016, the firm has opened anew roasting facility, startedselling its coffee in super-markets, and took on new

financing. This marks a newphase—one that Olsen saysshe is content to let some-one else manage. “I don’tfeel like I’m the drivingforce behind it.”But it’s Olsen’s original vi-

sion—and her commitmentto it—that explains whyBalzac’s has more than heldits own in a world awash incoffee. She created a recog-nizable brand, focused on aquality product and openedcafes in unique locations.“Diana has been very trueto her brand,” says Calgarybusinesswoman ArleneDickinson, an investor inthe company. “She has fig-ured out how to create a de-sign aesthetic that is evidentwhen youwalk in. You knowyou’re in a Balzac’s.”Here are a fewways to tell:

ornately tiled floors, marblecountertops, the faded goldof the Balzac’s logo pop-ping up everywhere fromthe takeaway cups to thescript on the menus, and artdeco–style posters liningthe walls. The vibe is nei-ther the anodyne samenessof Starbucks nor the aggres-sive trendiness of so manyhipster coffee shops. Olsentook her inspiration fromold-world Parisian cafés,which she first experiencedwhile visiting the city as ateenager. The company’sname comes from the 19th-century French writer Hon-oré de Balzac, whose prodi-giouswork ethicwas fuelledby unhealthy amounts ofcaffeine.Olsen’s coffee career

started in the early 1990sin San Francisco, whereshe learned about roastingbeans. She later ran her owncoffee cart at Ontario Place,the sprawlingToronto eventvenue, and opened her firstcafé in Stratford, Ontario.The town proved to be an

ideal location. Home to theeponymous theatre festival,Stratford draws large num-bers of tourists every year.Another six years passed

before Olsen opened anotherlocation. Real estate develop-ers approachedher about set-tingup inToronto’sDistilleryDistrict, which was then acollection of decrepit Victo-rian-era buildings. Olsen wasintrigued by the plans to turnthe Distillery into an arts,culture and entertainmentarea, and agreed. Each subse-quent location unfolded thesame way: developers com-ing to her. “When the devel-oper comes to you, you knowyou’re wanted there andyou’ve already gained theirconfidence,” she says.Olsen is exceedingly

choosy about locations. She

No.

Diana Olsen hasstuck firmly to her

café recipe: old-world charm in

unique locations

SLOW-BREWEDGROWTHA cautious expansion puts brandequity above size and profits

BALZAC’S COFFEE ROASTERSAncaster, Ontario


Her cautious approachto growth has not, she says,led to tension with her in-vestors. Olsen appeared onDragons’ Den in 2011 andwalked away with $350,000from Dickinson and BruceCroxon—money she usedto open two more loca-tions, including one tuckedinto Toronto’s largest pub-lic library. (Dickinson laterpurchased Croxon’s sharesand serves as a Balzac’s di-rector.) “Arlene and Bruceprobably would have likedto grow faster,” she says,“but they were very re-spectful of how I felt aboutit.” When asked, though,Dickinson says she doesn’tnecessarily believe Balzac’sshould have been push-ing any harder to expand.“I don’t know that there’s a

wanted to carry our cof-fee,” she says. The timingwas right, as Balzac’s hadopened a new roasting facil-ity large enough to meet de-mand from retailers.The revenue fromBalzac’s

wholesale business is stilla fraction of what the cafésearn, but the new divisionhas boosted growth in thepast three years. Dickinsonsays there is plenty of run-way left too. “Wholesale isan opportunity everywhere.Cafés take more capital, andthey take more time.” ButBalzac’swill face a challengebeyond its homeprovince. Ashopper inOntariomaywellbe familiar with the compa-ny’s name. At grocery storeselsewhere, the brand mightbe entirely new to someonecoming across it in the cof-fee aisle.Responsibility for that

hurdle will not fall entirelyon Olsen; she made the de-cision earlier this year toreplace herself as CEO andwill step into the roleof chiefcreative officer. Like a lot ofthings about Balzac’s, theshift was a long time in themaking. Olsen found herselffielding so many opportuni-ties over the years that sherealized she needed helpevaluating them. She alsoknows she isn’t necessarilythe best-equipped personto lead the company at thisstage. “My skill set is not somuch in the business growthpart,” she says. “It’s more inthe branding and look andfeel of the company.”Indeed, she sees herself as

the guardian of the Balzac’sbrand and is looking forwardto spending more time onthe design of new cafés. “IfI have three cafés to open atonce, Iwill reallybeenjoyingmy job,” she says. But not anymore than that. “I’d be over-whelmed.” /Joe Castaldo

prefers areas that are un-dergoing a revitalization, orhave a cultural or historicalsignificance. As such, everycafe features aposter depict-ing what makes the locationunique. In Stratford, the Bal-zac’s store features a Ham-let-inspired poster show-ing a hand cupping Yorick’sskull brimming with coffee.In Kitchener, Ontario, Bal-zac’s set up in an old tannerybuilding. Naturally, a posteron the wall features a cowenjoying coffee. Because ofher stringent criteria, Ol-sen has passed up chancesto open in high-traffic butnondescript spots. “We turndown a lot of opportunitiesfor busy intersections be-cause we don’t feel it’s nec-essarily going to have thatcommunity feel,” she says.

wrong or a right answer tothat,” she says, adding thatshe was content to let Olsenset the growth pace.Still, Olsen took another

round of financing last yearthrough Dickinson’s com-pany, District Ventures Cap-ital, which focuses on foodand health products. Thereare plans to open more Bal-zac’s cafés in Ontario, al-though the company has notset firm targets. After focus-ing on cafés for more thantwo decades, in 2016 thecompany started anewbusi-ness selling coffee beans ingrocery stores, and its prod-ucts are now available inLoblaws, Sobeys andWholeFoods acrossCanada. Again,it wasn’t something Olsenpushed for. “It started withretailers coming to us that

PHOTOGRAPHKAYLA

ROCCA


Inkbox’s headquarters,spread out across a second-floor former gym in To-ronto’s King West neigh-bourhood, looks a lot likeInkbox’s Instagram feed.Both are busy and high-lighter bright, populated bya diverse cast of intimidat-ingly cool 20-somethings, allwith tattoos displayed prom-inently on their forearms oretched onto ankles and up-per thighs. Someof these tat-toos are the genuine article;others are temporary, fadinginaweekor two. It’s impossi-ble to tell themapart—whichis entirely the point.Before the company hit

112 employees (this year),before it raised US$13 mil-lion in Series A funding (lastyear) and before it beganmoving 60,000 units (eachmonth) to people in 100countries around the world,Inkboxwas the brainchild oftwo brothers with serioussocialmedia savvy and somecommitment issues. “We’remillennials: We’re part of ageneration that’s fluid andchanging rapidly, and wewanted tattoos without thepermanence,” says TylerHandley, who founded Ink-boxwith his younger sibling,Braden. “We could not be-lieve there wasn’t an option

that sat between the cheaptemporary tattoos we hadas kids that flaked away andsomething that’s forever.”They caughtwindof anat-

ural formula derived fromgenipa americana, a fruitfound in Central and SouthAmerica that, like henna,temporarily stains skin. Un-like henna, though, this dyeis a deep navy blue—amuchbetter ringer for actual ink.With no capital and studentloans still to pay, the broth-ers threw together a Kick-starter page in 2015 for whatthey called “the world’s firsttwo-week tattoo.” Whilecompanies like Tattly andInkwear sell water transfersthat rub off in a few days,Inkbox backers could enjoytattoos for as long as it tooktheir skin to regenerate.Now they could also choosefrom among hundreds ofavailable designs applied bypeeling and applying pres-sure. The Handleys thoughtraising $20,000 would besufficient to prove a market.Instead, they collectedmorethan $275,000 in six weeks.The pair set up an Insta-

gram account three monthsbefore Inkbox even hadits website sorted. It was ahappy marriage of productand platform: The photoge-

nic semi-permanent tattooscomplemented the highlyvisual app, and the broth-ers flooded their feed withimages of Inkbox-adornedfamily and friends. Bythe time the online storelaunched, thousands of fol-lowers were already weigh-ing in on tattoo artists tocollaborate with, designs toconsider and cost. “Insta-gram is validation, simpleas that,” Handley says. “Butit also builds a communitywith our audience.” Thecompany, which has sinceamassed 1.2 million follow-ers, responds to every directmessage, and employees areencouraged towade into thecomments, whether that’sby making jokes, sharingexperiences or confrontingtrolls—like the ones whoobjected to the “I Believe

Tyler Handley’scompanymarkets

almost entirelythrough influencers

No.

SOCIALBUTTERFLIESHow a savvy social-media strategy is makingtemporary tattoos a hit with millennials

INKBOXToronto


Her” tattoo, released afterthe Brett Kavanaugh confir-mation hearings on sexualassault allegations, withproceeds donated to theTime’s Upmovement.Authenticity is a tricky

quality for any company toconsciously generate, muchless one that trades in faketattoos. But Inkbox’s “brandauthenticity” is about beingprogressive and inclusive,Handley says, and Insta-gram gives the company amegaphone for champion-ing the social causes that af-fect team members and res-onate strongly with a youngaudience. Mental health,the #MeToo movement andtrans rights all feature prom-inently in the company’sfeed. Last February, Inkbox’shead of creator marketing, ayoung Caribbean-Canadian

woman named DanielleHarvey, decided to only postInstagram content fromblack creators and custom-ers; since then, the feed isat least 15% black users andartists, who are under-rep-resented in the tattoo world.“The position we took isthat wewould actuallymakepositive change,” Handleysays. “We’ve even spentmoney on influencers of co-lour to promote them on oursite and attract amore inclu-sive audience.”Inkbox now has a three-

person team dedicated tofinding influencers withhighengagement in thecom-pany’s top markets—espe-cially in the U.S., which ac-counts for 60% of sales. Butincreasingly, the influencersare in-house. Inkbox’s re-ceptionist, for example, has

Tok hasn’t received muchattention from companies,but when Inkbox created anaccount this summer, Hand-ley discovered its hashtaghad already been shared fivemillion times. (Inkbox’s flu-orescent-yellow wrappinglends itself particularly wellto “unboxing videos,” inwhich users film themselvesopening packages.) “TikTokis a lot more spontaneousthan Instagram,” he says.“We’re thinking about howwe can replicate that spon-taneity as a brand.”But the company also has

something far more conven-tional in mind: launchingseveral bricks-and-mortarstores. It’s a smart strategyto draw in Gen Z customers,95%ofwhomvisited aphysi-cal retail store last year (asopposed to 75% of millenni-als). “Social media is perfectfor brand storytelling, butin order for shoppers to en-gage, they need to be active,and I think a physical storeis the best way to do that,”says Christian Bourque, apartner at Léger Marketing,a Montreal-based researchfirm. “Gen Z still has a pref-erence for being where peo-ple gather.”So Inkbox is eyeing lo-

cations in Brooklyn andLos Angeles. There’s alsobeen enthusiasm for theproduct in Salt Lake City—“Mormons really respondto us,” Handley says. Andin late July, the companyopened its first shop, onToronto’s Queen Weststrip. There, in addition toa backroom permanent tat-too studio, Inkbox intro-duced an upgraded versionof its product, which allowsfor designs with shading,greater detail and small im-perfections. They look ex-actly like Inkbox’s originaltattoos, just a little more…authentic. /Danielle Groen

nearly 107,000 followers onher personal Instagram ac-count, andHandley suspectshis employees have morecombined followers thanmost companies in Canada.However, recent changes toInstagram—hiding likes andswitching its algorithm toprioritize paid advertisingover organic engagement—has prompted Inkbox to in-vestigate other methods forreaching new customers.There aremore social me-

dia platforms to mine, forstarters. The company isgrowing its YouTube pres-ence and sees 10 millionvisits on Pinterest everymonth. Then there is Tik-Tok, the short-form video-sharing app that in early2019 hit one billion down-loads, two-thirds of them byusers under 30. So far, Tik-


PHOTOGRAPHTA

YLO

RROADES

Canada’s got junk. Hotels,hospitals, restaurants, shop-ping malls—any industrythat interacts with peopleproduces vast amounts ofwaste, which for decadeshas been handled by a one-size-fits-all system of sched-uled bin pickups. But whathappens if the Fairmont’sdumpsters are overflowingafter a big conference? Andwhy should The Keg haveto pay for twice-weekly or-ganic waste pickup whensome days the containersare close to empty?This widespread inef-

ficiency spurred JaclynMcPhadden and Colin Bellto find ways to streamlinethe flow of waste. Today,their decade-old company,RecycleSmart, is Canada’slargest manager of garbageand recycling services forbusinesses, using technol-

ogy to cut costs both finan-cial and environmental.“Our goal is to help reducewaste generation rates and,with the waste that is gener-ated, atminimum to divert itfrom landfill,” saysMcPhad-den, who serves as the com-pany’s chief administrativeofficer. “The combinationof the industry’s size, itsdemand and its antiquatednature made it an attractiveindustry to disrupt.”According to Statistics

Canada, the steady declinein the amount of non-haz-ardous waste sent to land-fill—roughly 60% of whichis produced by businessesand institutions—has stalledin recent years. Back in themid-2000s, when McPh-adden, a former biologist,took a job at a Victoriainn, she was dismayed bythe amount of garbage thekitchen and housekeep-ing departments produced.When she approached localhaulers for assistance in di-verting used amenity bottlesand food waste from land-fill, she found no dedicatedprograms in place. No onebothered to come out to as-sess the garbage volume orfigure out solutions; she wassimply quoted a 30% priceincrease to add organicspickup. “That was the ahamoment for me,” she says.“I’m like,wecan’t be theonlybusiness that’s struggling.”Bell, RecycleSmart’s chief

commercial officer, encoun-tered similar frustrations inhis field of event manage-ment. So the pair—partnersin life as well as business—hatched the idea of a servicethat would track companies’waste production and or-ganize trash collection onschedules customized toneed. Instead of each busi-ness holding separate con-tractswith pickup providersfor various waste streams

(organic, paper recycling,landfill, hazardous liquids),RecycleSmart would in-sert itself as a go-betweenthat would handle all of thecompany’s waste collectionneeds. One contract, onefee. Serving a broker-likerole, the firm buys wasteand recycling services atwholesale prices, then re-sells them to corporate cus-tomers at a markup but stillcheaper than theywere pay-ing before. The kicker: Re-cycleSmart’s services don’tcost the client anything. Infact, businesses end up sav-ing money—RecycleSmartguarantees a minimum 10%savings.It’s a compelling pitch to

businesses facing hard-to-navigate recycling bylawsand regular price increasesover the life of hauling con-tracts. RecycleSmart makesthe economics work by rely-ing on wireless sensors in-stalled in each garbage or re-cycling container and linkedinto a mobile network. Thecamera-enabled sensors col-lect data several times a day,enabling RecycleSmart’steam to see what’s happen-ing: Is a bin going to over-flowbefore the next plannedpickup? Did a bin get missedon a route? Are recyclablesbeing thrown into the gar-bage or vice versa?RecycleSmart is funda-

mentally a technology com-pany in the fast-growing In-ternet of Things arena, not awaste disposal operation—a fact that has enabled itto grow quickly. “We don’tactually haul any waste orrecycling, so we don’t havetrucks or bins,” McPhaddensays. “We’re not limited bycapital-intensive assets.”Instead, it simply takesapart the puzzle of a compa-ny’s garbage managementarrangements by conduct-ing a waste audit and then

No.

WASTEDOPPORTUNITYHow a tech company is hauling thetrash-handling industry into the digital age

RECYCLESMARTRichmond, B.C.


puts it back together moreefficiently.Some companies ini-

tially balk at introducingadditional bins to sepa-rate recycling or organics,says Angela Nagy, CEO ofGreenStep Solutions, whichprovides sustainability con-sulting for government andbusiness, believing theycan’t afford the added com-plexity and cost. “But if youcandownsize thatwaste bin,you free up budget to haverecycling or organics bins,”she explains. “Plus, youfree up budget when you’rereducing the frequency ofpickup to the actual need.There are definitely costsavings available, and [mak-

ing the switch] is also doingthe right thing.”While digital disruption

of stodgy industries may beau courant these days, it’s adifficult strategy to executesuccessfully. For starters,few innovatorshaveafield tothemselves for long. WhenRecycleSmart first movedto digitalmonitoring, it part-neredwith Finnish companyEnevo to make the sensors.But Enevo recognized theopportunity and became acompetitor, establishing itsown waste-patrolling net-work in Europe and NorthAmerica. RecycleSmart hassince found other sensorproviders and is workingwith them to refine its in-bin

intelligence device.The shift also hasn’t gone

over well with some wastemanagement companies,whose businessmodels havelong relied on unvaryingschedules and steady fee in-creases. “Almost all haulersget their customers to signthese ironclad contractsthat basically say, ‘We canincrease prices without no-tice at any time, without anyceiling,’ ” McPhadden says.Seeing a potential threat totheir margins, “in the begin-ning there was a lot of push-back” from garbage haulers,says Graeme Dobinson, Re-cycleSmart’s chief revenueofficer, who hails from thewaste-management sector

and joined the company asthe third partner six yearsago (RecycleSmart has noCEO, as the partners con-sider themselves equals).“They were scared. Theywere, like, ‘You are not put-ting these sensors in mybins.’” But as the technolo-gy’s adoption has spread andmore and more businessesdiscover customized wasteservices, haulers are beingforced to come the table,Dobinson says. The com-pany now has 800 waste-hauling vendors.Nagy sees RecycleSmart’s

technology and waste auditapproach as having genu-inely transformative po-tential for tackling garbagemanagement. “Being thatmiddle person between thecustomer and the hauler,and having a real interestand expertise in waste di-version, is what really setsthem apart,” she says.RecycleSmart now has

a team numbering nearly50 across Canada and is ontarget to top $25 million inrevenues in 2019, saysMcPh-adden.Andwith growth, shesees even more potentialefficiencies. With sensorscollecting data nationwidethroughout the day, thecompany can track garbagetrends by industry, geogra-phy, time of year and more.And by more efficientlyorganizing hauling routes,RecycleSmart can not onlyshave as much as 50% offits customers’ waste man-agement costs but increasediversion rates by monitor-ing the separation of recy-clables, organics and landfillwaste. “As we amass moredata, get more customersand get more sensors, databecomes very, very valuablein howwe can route bins in adynamic way,” McPhaddensays. “There is amuchbiggerpicture at play.” /Alex Van Tol

Colin Bell andJaclynMcPhaddenhelp businessesmanage theirgarbage efficiently


PHOTOGRAPHMICHAELKUBY

Sales at Magnet Forensicshad been going strong fortwo years, yet the companyknew the end was in sight.The firm had developedsoftware that law enforce-ment, government agenciesand corporations used tomine evidence from com-puters and smartphonesduring investigations. It hadscored some high-profilecustomers, such as the U.S.Department of HomelandSecurity, and was actually

profitable, a rare thing for ayoung tech company.But the software, called

Internet Evidence Finder(IEF), was Magnet’s onlyproduct, and the leaderssaw it heading for obsoles-cence. In the age of socialmedia, the amount of datawas exploding, and therewas a limit to howmuch IEFcould manage without a sig-nificant overhaul. So in 2013,the team had tomake a deci-sion: Focus on IEF or diver-

sify. “We had been basicallyriding that sales momentumsince 2011,” says CEO AdamBelsher. But rather thancontinue to complacentlyvacuumup IEF profits,Mag-net opted to devote mostof its engineering efforts todeveloping something thatwould ultimately replace itsflagship product.Internet Evidence Finder

was essentially a comple-mentary tool that workedalongside forensic softwaresuites. It specialized in find-ing “artifacts,” such as con-versations from Facebookand other apps that usersmight not even realize re-mained on their devices. IfMagnet wanted to secure afuture in digital forensics, itneeded a powerful analyti-cal engine of its own. Andto guide its efforts, it would

256No.

Adam Belsherrelied on clientinput to guideproductredevelopment

THEBURDENOFPROOFHow a risky bet on reinventing its sole productpaid off big for a forensics startup

MAGNET FORENSICS INC.Waterloo, Ontario

need clients—the right cli-ents. “There are those whoare so stuck in their waysof doing things, their mindswon’t be open to a new ap-proach,” Belsher says. “Soit’s about finding customersthat are early adopters andcan share your vision.”The company has always

enjoyed a strong connectionto law enforcement com-munities; it was founded bya former police officer, afterall. Jad Saliba was a policeconstable in Waterloo, On-tario, who became part ofhis force’s small digital fo-rensics unit. Having studiedcomputer science in college,he began writing code in hisspare time to automate theprocess of pulling materialfromseizeddevices.Hegavethe software to other policedepartments for free—untilhe realized he could charge

for it. Saliba left the force in2011 to devote himself to thenew venture. Belsher, a for-mer BlackBerry employee,later joined as CEO, allow-ing Saliba to focus on thetechnology.Even with the cushion of

IEF sales, developing an-other product was a riskyproposition. Magnet wouldbe competing against sev-eral incumbents. One of thecompany’s advisers drilledinto Belsher and Saliba theidea that in order to winover clients, the softwarewould have to be ordersof magnitudes better thanwhat was already on themarket. Magnet needed tobuild up its sales force too.Internet Evidence Finderwas a viral success, so thesales team was accustomedto fielding calls from inter-ested parties, not making

pitches. And by orientingthe company toward a newproduct (Belsher estimates80% to 90% of Magnet’sresources were directed atit), there was a danger of ne-glecting the firm’s cash cow.As expected, the compa-

ny’s relationship with cus-tomersprovedcrucial. Intheearly stages of development,clients indicated which fea-tures they required beforeeven considering a switchfrom competing softwareand later helped Magnettweak the product. For ex-ample, many police depart-ments use forensic softwareto investigate child sexualexploitation cases, and re-viewing evidence can takea serious mental toll on of-ficers. After hearing fromcustomers, Magnet tried tomake the process less trau-matic by blurring images

and removing audio frommaterial that had alreadybeen identified.It took roughly two years

of development, but Mag-net released the softwarein 2016. Dubbed Axiom,it allows investigators tobuild timelines, highlightsconnections between digi-tal evidence, and features amachine-learning functionfor sifting through picturesand text conversations. To-day, Axiom accounts for amuch larger portion of thecompany’s growth than IEFdoes and has changed Mag-net’s relationship with itsclients. “It’s opened moredoors for us,” Belsher says.Customers now bring theirforensic challenges directlyto Magnet. “I don’t thinkwe’d be where we are todayif we didn’t put such a heavypush on Axiom.” /J.C.

As one of Canada’s leadingalternative financial servicesproviders, we’re proud to havegrown by helping over 1 millionCanadians on their path to abetter financial future.

Learn more about us atgoeasy.com

PROUD TO BE RECOGNIZED ASONE OF

CANADA’STOP GROWINGCOMPANIES

rray of Stars (AOS) is one ofCanada’s hottest strategic

design and experience studios.“We see ourselves as a talent-

driven constellation, an otherworldlygroup of creative professionals —stars if you will — who shine brightlyeither collectively or individually.That’s the ethos behind our name,”says Alistair Leyland, AOS managingpartner and co-founder.

The company began with theidea of moving forward slowly in thecreative services sector, but thathasn’t happened — in the best waypossible.

With 22 employees based inToronto, AOS’s growth has been,stellar — a seven-fold increase insales over the past three years,with revenue reaching strong sevenfigures in 2018.

The firm’s clients include SpinMaster, theToronto Public Library,the Art Gallery of Ontario, RBC,SickKids (the Hospital for SickChildren Foundation), Airbnb,Lululemon, Infiniti and Brodflour

“Our clients are diverse but theone thing they have in commonis that they have a challenge thatneeds strategic-creative thinking,”says Mikkel Stange, director ofstrategy.

“That means focusing on theclient’s business needs, and fromthere we come up with ideasthat make sense for both the endconsumer and the strategic directionof the business.What will move theclient forward in a meaningful way?Before we start to design, we striveto gain intimate knowledge of the

client’s business,” Leyland explains.A example of an AOS-created

experience is the interactiveautomobile they created for Infiniti,meticulously adorned with 50,000LEDs.The installation was createdforToronto’s Nuit Blanche last yearand then went on tour to MontrealandVancouver.

AOS thrives on these kinds ofexperience-driven projects, Stangesays.

“We use technology to developwhat is called ‘mixed reality’ [amixture of live and technologydriven experience].You can do thatfor events, for retail, for the whole

‘Constant curiosity’ sets creativestudio apartToronto-based Array of Stars combines technology with creativity to drive results for big-name clients

A branding experience,” he adds.The real secret to the company’s

success is “constant curiosity,” saysVinny Araujo, interactive creativedirector at AOS.

“It’s harder work, but it can berewarding when clients see thingscoming out of our studio that theyhaven’t seen before,” Araujo says.

Artificial Intelligence, MachineLearning, and Spatial Computingare enabling experiences andtools the likes of which peoplehave only dreamed, until now.”Says Ben Clarke, Partner andTechnical Director. “When looking atseemingly intractable problems suchas climate action, traffic congestion,or supply chain prediction, humanityis in the middle of a step-change inthe approaches we can take to makereal differences in our world. AOSis poised to facilitate this changethrough a continual drive to refineour tools, seek out the top minds,and push the boundaries of what canbe expected from a creative designfirm.”

“Being creative meanschallenging yourself, experimentingwith the latest tools andtechnologies,” says founding partnerand creative director Cole Sullivan.

If the past is any indicator of thefuture — AOS is destined to reachheights. “The retail experienceis going to change dramaticallywith innovation being driven bytechnology, coupled with human-centric design experiences.Webelieve the past five years has uswell-positioned to be a leader in thisnew era,” Leyland says.



Concept art forAOS’s latest

installation forHUSH HUSH - aToronto Public

Library fundraiser.


We list Canada’s top growing companies by three-year revenue growth

2019 RANK COMPANY DESCRIPTION 3-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH (%) 2019 REVENUE EMPLOYEES HEADQUARTERS

140

>

Mississauga, ON

Markham, ON

Montreal

Waterloo, ON

St. John’s

Toronto

Vancouver

Toronto

Mississauga, ON

Burlington, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Thornhill, ON

Vancouver

Toronto

Montreal

Edmonton

Toronto

Toronto

Victoria

Burlington, ON

Montreal

DeBolt, AB

Toronto

Toronto

Calgary

Toronto

Vancouver

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Vancouver

Toronto

Brockville, ON

Burnaby, BC

Oakville, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Vaughan, ON

Toronto

219

17

275

200

20

50

92

15

20

97

124

240

750

320

70

152

10

12

120

75

150

175

25

86

34

31

40

100

250

600

42

23

54

17

15

12

108

60

45

85

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M *

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$50M-$75M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$75M-$100M

$100M-$250M *

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M *

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$250M-$500M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M *

10,147

6,204

6,053

5,983

3,988

3,874

3,787

3,288

3,263

3,258

3,245

3,206

3,009

3,004

2,754

2,732

2,730

2,612

2,236

2,216

2,212

2,045

2,028

1,954

1,933

1,893

1,835

1,814

1,799

1,776

1,582

1,564

1,550

1,474

1,378

1,373

1,330

1,317

1,311

1,274

Provides final-mile delivery software, analytics and transportation

Acquires and distributes pharmaceutical products

Runs a subscription meal-kit, snack and beverage delivery service

Develops network monitoring and management software used by IT firms

Sells sports nutrition supplements through an online store

Designs intimate apparel and sells directly to consumers online

Develops connected-car software for automakers and network providers

Designs and makes tools and pigment for permanent cosmetic tattoos

Finances home improvements for property owners

Develops commercial and residential real estate in the GTA

Issues private-label credit cards for retail and consumer clients

Runs a network of smartphone and tablet repair storefronts

Operates businesses in the commercial and building services sectors

Manufactures modern furniture sold via an online storefront

Offers online credit education and runs a financial services marketplace

Operates a software platform used by home health care agencies

Retails beauty tools via an online storefront

Operates an online platform to facilitate payment of parking fees

Provides compliance and operations software for cannabis producers

Creates custom software for business, public and non-profit clients

Offers business-flow consulting to manufacturing and other clients

Operates a job-search website active in 73 countries

Develops software for business operational and billing functions

Sells temporary tattoos directly to consumers

Brokers insurance for clients in construction and real estate

Sells, implements and manages ServiceNow workflow software

Operates an online peer-to-peer lending plaform for small businesses

Offers recruiting services, specializing in technology professionals

Operates a digital insurance and benefit platform for employers

Runs a chain of boutique indoor-cycling studios

Acquires, develops and manages residential properties across North America

Provides business education for entrepreneurs in the skilled trades

Offers data-driven mobile marketing services

Provides internet, telephone and television services

Produces and sells collagen-based health and wellness products

Delivers alternative asset management services, focused on private debt

Develops software to help businesses better respond to RFPs

Runs an app used by daycares to share child information with parents

Operates AI-driven data analysis for retailers and insurance providers

Helps clients in tourism leverage photos shared by guests on social media

Fleet Optics Inc.

Exzell Pharma Inc.

Miss Fresh Inc.

Auvik Networks Inc.

Jacked Factory

Knix

Mojio

Tina Davies Professional

CHICC

Adi Developments

Flexiti

Mobile Klinik Pro Smartphone Repair

Mill Street & Co.

Article

Borrowell

AlayaCare

Fancii & Co.

HonkMobile

Ample Organics

FreshWorks Studio

Kavin Group

neuvoo

Sonar Software

inkbox

Platform Insurance Management Inc.

Fishbone Analytics

Lending Loop

MatchBox

League Inc.

Spinco

Marlin Spring

Breakthrough Academy

Curate Mobile Ltd.

Truespeed Internet Services Inc.

withinUs

Cortland Credit Group Inc.

Loopio

HiMama

Daisy Intelligence

CrowdRiff

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

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9

10

11

12

13

14

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18

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28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

OCTOBER 2019 /REPORT ON BUSINESS 55*COMPANY REPORTS IN U.S. DOLLARS


4080

>4080

BLOOD, SWEAT AND GRIT

“Going from $0 to $1 million in revenue is way harder than scaling from$1 million to $10 million or even $10 million to $100 million. To get thesnowball rolling took so much effort, and it was not clear for the first threeyears if all the work would ever pay off. But once cash starts flowing in,everything becomes far easier.”—Justin Thouin, LowestRates.ca (No. 75)>

Anjou, QC

Kitchener, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Vancouver

N. Vancouver, BC

Mississauga, ON

Quebec City

Kitchener, ON

Quebec City

Brantford, ON

Stoney Creek, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Burlington, ON

Toronto

Ste-Julie, QC

Edmonton

Toronto

Kitchener, ON

Vancouver

Toronto

Vancouver

Hamilton

Burlington, ON

Saskatoon

Vancouver

Toronto

Toronto

Montreal

Brampton, ON

Toronto

Mississauga, ON

Otttawa

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Kitchener, ON

Toronto

25

24

43

97

36

64

85

85

98

551

50

65

20

67

65

40

70

18

31

10

124

10

81

33

280

94

200

25

124

25

130

22

16

50

50

28

8

38

46

80

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M *

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

1,263

1,258

1,256

1,233

1,215

1,199

1,191

1,137

1,112

1,106

1,104

1,079

1,069

1,054

1,000

985

984

955

955

943

934

924

923

914

909

875

867

850

843

808

779

762

724

705

705

687

659

653

612

602

Provides specialized IT support, managed services and staffing

Builds tools that help manufacturers with rapid prototyping

Runs an invoice-funding platform meant to help businesses with cash flow

Operates a real estate research website and facilitates transactions

Provides technology to help utilities’ residential clients save energy

Develops practice-management software for health care providers

Runs a restaurant chain specializing in Hungarian chimney cakes

Manufactures medical testing devices

Provides software designed for procurement professionals

Consults businesses on technology and organizational management

Recycles plastics into synthetic waxes, polymer additives and chemicals

Provides remote security video monitoring and reporting services

Conducts 10-year personal tax reviews to seek refunds

Produces reviews, events and data for Canadian cannabis consumers

Offers online-reputation management for businesses and professionals

Operates an artificially intelligent mobile ad platform

Brokers automotive, home and business insurance

Develops software to help oil and gas operators avoid pipeline failure

Operates an online video management platform

Manufactures carbon-neutral branded packaging for clients

Provides financial technology and lending services

Offers boutique equity investing management services

Discovers and develops antibody therapies

Develops colour-matching software and hardware

Operates a video game that helps elementary-aged children with math

Develops web and mobile software for restaurant staff scheduling

Provides IT recruiting and consulting services

Offers currency exchange at discounted rates

Operates a self-serve programmatic native advertising platform

Manufactures lower-calorie ice cream

Provides trucking and logistics services in Canada and the U.S.

Creates strategic branding and digital design for companies

Provides digital marketing services for large and small organizations

Develops mobile technology used in construction materials

Runs a website that allows users to compare financial products

Helps consumer packaged good brands deliver physical samples

Creates and executes experiential marketing programs for brands

Screens academic applicants for professionalism and people skills

Runs an app and web platform to facilitate quality control in construction

Provides digital marketing services for varied organizations

R2i Inc.

Voltera

FundThrough

Zoocasa Realty

Ecotagious

Jane App

Eva’s Original Chimneys

Icentia Inc.

Bonfire

Levio Conseils Inc.

GreenMantra Technologies

Caliber Communications Inc.

Family Tax Recovery

Lift & Co.

GuaranteedRemovals.com

Cluep

OVC Assurance

OneSoft Solutions Inc.

Rumble

Georgette Packaging

Progressa

Laurus Investment Counsel Inc.

AbCellera

Nix Sensor Ltd.

Prodigy Game

7shifts

Affinity

KnightsbridgeFX.com

StackAdapt

CoolWay

Cargo County Group

Array of Stars Inc.

Ignite Digital

Giatec Scientific Inc.

LowestRates.ca

Sampler

Fervent Events Inc.

Altus Assessments

Bridgit Inc.

Elite Digital

41

42

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80

ary Saarenvirta chose thename Daisy Intelligence Corp.

for his firm because Daisy was thefirst song ever sung by a computer.

Daisy deploys a type of artificialintelligence called reinforcementlearning to help guide clients in theretail and insurance sectors to makebusiness decisions.

The results for clients areimpressive.

“We help our clients, whoserevenue ranges from $100-millionto over $30-billion to increase theirtop line sales by an average of 3 percent to 5 per cent. That’s a hugeincrease in retail where margins are1 per cent and less,” Saarenvirtasays.

With its own revenue reaching$5-million last year, Daisy and itsteam of more than 50 computationalscientists, mathematicians and retailexperts in Toronto, Ont, has seenrevenue grow by more than 1,300per cent.

“We want to keep doubling inrevenues for the next three or fouryears,” Saarenvirta says. Daisy’sgrowth coincides with the rapidrise of AI as a force in the businessworld, as machine learning becomesmore sophisticated.

The difference between Daisyand other AI companies is that “tomy knowledge, we’re the onlysupplier of this particular type of AI[Daisy’s own patent-pending typeof reinforcement learning] to thecommercial world,” he says.

“It’s a technology that deliversdecisions,” he explains. Just asthe AI used in a self-driving carsimulates billions of alternative ofdriving decisions to find the optimaldriver inputs to keep the car on

the road and manoeuvring safely,reinforcement learning looks atall the factors that affect businesstransactions, to make the optimaldecisions that drive businessgrowth.

“For example, for our insuranceclients, Daisy can look at all thedetails of a particular insuranceclaim and detect fraud in ways thathumans cannot see,” he says.

The company helps insurancecompanies detect fraud at everystage in the claims process byaugmenting traditional businessrules, watching lists, and tip lineswith powerful systems to discovercollusion, non-obvious relationships,and outliers.

Saarenvirta says that Daisy issensitive to the challenges its clients

Daisy Intelligence promises smarterways to make business decisionsG

face too, as they use more and moreAI and workplaces are disrupted.

“Senior executives see the valueof what we do but many people stillhave trouble believing what AI cando. Integrating AI with people is abig challenge but becoming easieras business see the great value AI isproviding,” he says.

Daisy has a rapidly growing list ofclients in five countries (includingCanada). It’s very focused on retailand insurance presently but mayconsider adding other industries inthe long term.

He is relentlessly ambitious.“Our long-term goal is to be thenext Google or Apple. My dream isthat our brand will outlive me – thatwould mean we have changed theworld,” he says.


We help merchants embrace thepower of artificial intelligence to drivedramatically better business results.

Learn more at daisyintelligence.com/retail-solutions/


Daisy IntelligenceCEO Gary Saarenvirtathinks businesses can

gain by using moremath and science to

make decisions.



>81120

Longueuil, QC

Montreal

Kitchener, ON

Victoria

Toronto

Kelowna, BC

Sedley, SK

Toronto

Quebec City

Calgary

Calgary

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Montreal

Montreal

Burlington, ON

Ottawa

London, ON

Winnipeg

Montreal

Montreal

Toronto

Calgary

Shawinigan, QC

Vancouver

Vancouver

Toronto

Oakville, ON

Victoria

Winnipeg

Toronto

Vancouver

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

London, ON

Toronto

Toronto

4

16

54

20

15

32

18

250

120

30

44

416

235

275

100

55

49

4,000

62

306

95

35

130

90

18

400

62

1,475

115

28

1,567

79

450

13

471

121

8

116

90

63

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$100M-$250M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

>$1B *

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M *

$25M-$50M

$10M-$25M

$250M-$500M

$100M-$250M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M *

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M*

$2M-$5M*

$100M-$250M*

$50M-$75M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

576

557

552

524

519

512

508

497

495

485

470

467

457

452

439

434

429

423

420

414

411

409

407

401

396

390

389

388

388

372

370

361

359

351

350

342

341

336

331

325

Sources, trades and exports grains and seeds

Acquires, commercializes and develops health care products

Builds rewards-program infrastructure used in e-commerce

Runs a marketplace that connects travellers with local photographers

Produces and manages digital marketing initiatives

Creates digital marketing tools meant to help clients acquire customers

Manufactures custom dry and liquid micronutrient crop inputs

Produces and distributes cannabinoids on five continents

Creates computer graphics and 3D animation

Offers data and business intelligence technology to energy clients

Operates a cloud-based payment platform for merchants

Provides point-of-sale software for restaurants

Develops finance software for small businesses

Builds web and mobile apps for organizations

Operates a digital advertising exchange platform

Offers a range of IT management and development services

Runs a digital brand experience agency

Provides e-commerce technology for merchants

Operates a digital event registration and management platform

Develops e-commerce software and apps

Builds custom themes, apps and system integrations for e-commerce

Runs a digital content agency and produces television

Develops software for asset management and maintenance

Designs and builds prefabricated buildings

Manufactures polyurethane foam insulation systems

Creates, distributes, manages and monetizes video content

Provides electronic gift-card services for merchants

Offers experiential marketing services for the beverage industry

Provides a range of heavy construction services

Distributes sport-related video content to publishers

Manufactures and sells personal care, pet care and home care products

Provides mechanical contracting services, specializing in new builds

Develops business analytics software focused on people management

Provides data and intelligence based on citizen sentiment

Operates a global digital advertising marketplace

Offers mortgage financing for borrowers with non-standard credit

Designs, builds and renovates urban residential spaces

Delivers payment processing technologies to merchants

Supplies automotive financing via new and used car dealerships

Plans, produces and executes business conferences

Alliance Zone Inc.

Searchlight Pharma

Smile.io

Flytographer

Underdog Studio Ltd.

Strawhouse Inc.

Custom Agricultural Intelligence Inc.

Cronos Group

Squeeze Studio Animation Inc.

GuildOne

Helcim

TouchBistro

Wave Financial Inc.

Rangle.io

district m

Techso Solutions

RankHigher.ca

Shopify Inc.

Race Roster

Bold Commerce

diff

Toast Studio

Fiix Software

Nomodic

Genyk Inc.

BroadbandTV Corp.

Buyatab Online Inc.

Embr Events Inc.

Bronte Construction

SendtoNews

Tiber River Naturals

DNA Mechanical Inc.

Visier

RIWI Corp.

Index Exchange Inc.

Haventree Bank

Urban Blueprint

Zomaron

EdenPark

Generis

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KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

“Remember to ‘WIN’—meaning decide What’s Important Now—anddo it, no matter what. There are endless distractions in business and inlife. If you don’t ruthlessly prioritize what is most important for yourclients and your business (in that order), and instead do what you liketo do, want to do, or seems fun to do, it’s over before you start.”—Chris Barrett, RankHigher.ca (No. 97)

arinne Chambers-Sainiadmits that when her mother

Francine Chambers founded DivaInternational Inc. with her in 2001,it wasn’t easy to talk about theproduct, the DivaCup.

“Even today, it’s still quite risquéto start a conversation aboutmenstrual cups!” says Carinne,pointing to the discomfort bothmen and women experience overthe topic of menstruation. ButCarinne, who is the company’schief executive officer, is leadingwhat she calls an Inner Revolution,challenging the period statusquo (pads and tampons) with theDivaCup, a bell-shaped silicone cupfor those who menstruate.

“Mom got through to peoplebecause she’s so passionate aboutthe subject. I learned to be directwith people.We really couldn’t beshy,” she says.

DivaCup is a medical-gradesilicone product that’s washable,eco-friendly and reusable. It canbe worn for up to 12 hours andkeeps the wearer safe and clean,Chambers-Saini says. “It has nodyes or added chemicals and thesilicone softens with body heat tobe form fitting and avoid leakage. Itis comfortable and does not hamperordinary activity. It lasts about a yearand retails for about $40.”

Even now, Chambers-Sainisays that although those who useconventional menstrual productssuch as tampons or sanitary pads willgo through nearly 10,000 of these ina lifetime, they often aren’t familiarwith any alternatives. Many people

don’t even want to talk about it.“When we started, our buyers

were older males in all the chainstores where we were trying tosell, and then didn’t want to hear. Ithad kind of had an ‘ick’ factor, and itwas sometimes even worse talkingto female buyers – they would tellus they would never use or sell aDivaCup,” Chambers-Saini says.

The company realizes it has achallenge to inform and educatepeople, she says. Its websiteoffers extensive information,including answers to potentiallyuncomfortable questions.

Chambers-Saini also wantseveryone to know that her companyhas launched and supports acorporate social responsibilityprogram called DivaCares.

DivaCares seeks to educatepeople about menstrual hygieneand advocate against “periodpoverty” – lowering the barriers to

DivaCup provides ecofriendlyspin on period productsKitchener company sells reusable silicone cup in more than 22 countries

C

affordable menstrual care aroundthe world. DivaCups are a successby any measure.The Kitchener,Ont.-based company has nearly 50employees. It enjoyed revenue of$30-million in 2018 — not bad for afirm started by Chambers-Saini andher mother at the kitchen table.

“People thought we were crazyat first.” It took them 11 years tosecure their first national account,Shoppers Drug Mart.

“And here we are. After 18 yearsin business, we’re sold in more than35,000 retail outlets in more than22 countries around the world,”Chambers-Saini says.

Somehow they have managedto avoid the disharmony that canplague many family-run businesses.

“Whenever we did disagree,we would hear each other out.Today, my mom has retired andmy husband Rick Saini has takenover her duties [as executivedirector], and we operate the sameway, listening to each other andcommunicating,” she says.

The family team spent a lotof time building a network ofsalespersons (brokers) andeducating buyers and potentialconsumers. “As people learnedmore about the product and thatit worked, it created a following– this was before social media,”Chambers-Saini says.

“We worked hard to be seen andto show people that this was a realproduct,” Chambers-Saini says.

Interestingly, the DivaCup isbased on a product that has beenaround since the 1930s. “Weupdated and modernized it. Momsaid she had actually been thinkingabout how to do this since she was13,” Chambers-Saini says.

“We both had this vision thatwe were going to transform theway women handle their periods,and mainstream the concept.Tosee that we have achieved this, is adream come true!”

We’re in good company.Congratulations to everyone in Canada’s Top GrowingCompanies ranking, we’re all winners in our eyes.



Francine Chambersand her daughter

Carinne Chambers-Saini seek to

change attitudesand educate peopleabout menstruation

through DivaCup.



121160

B.C.ALBERTASASKATCHEWANMANITOBAONTARIOQUEBECNOVA SCOTIANEW BRUNSWICKPEINEWFOUNDLAND

5730

49

23657

3112

WHERE CANADA’S TOP GROWERS COME FROM

>

Toronto

Richmond, BC

Toronto

Edmonton

Mississauga, ON

Foresters Falls, ON

Hamilton

Deroche, BC

La Guadeloupe, QC

Vancouver

Ottawa

Ottawa

Toronto

London, ON

Calgary

Victoria

Toronto

Dartmouth, NS

Regina

Mont-Royal, QC

Val-d’Or, QC

Mississauga, ON

Mississauga, ON

Winnipeg

Richmond, BC

Toronto

Toronto

Kingston, ON

Ottawa

Vancouver

Edmonton

Toronto

Ottawa

Gatineau, QC

Burlington, ON

Montreal

Montreal

Toronto

Vancouver

Toronto

118

110

25

48

17

70

200

40

15

25

375

20

52

25

100

150

33

30

68

40

150

238

250

11

40

37

7

500

13

500

60

162

28

36

750

50

52

220

80

568

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M *

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$100M-$250M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$75M-$100M

$2M-$5M

$50M-$75M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$75M-$100M

324

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Operates digital properties to help Canadians manage personal finance

Manufactures natural gummy nutraceutical products

Helps firms redistribute used office furniture, equipment and supplies

Designs and sells footwear online and via two brick-and-mortar stores

Supplies air purifiers for commercial, industrial and residential use

Brews and sells beer, and also operates two brew pubs

Operates restaurants, hotels and hospitality venues

Offers residential and commercial construction services

Operates plastic injection presses

Develops software tools used by professional photographers

Provides professional placement services and consulting

Supplies cloud-based IT services to businesses

Recruits marketing, sales, IT and executive professionals

Offers waste-management and recycling solutions to organizations

Provides catering and foodservice to retailers and institutions

Offers foreign exchange, risk management and international payments

Delivers management consulting focused on performance improvement

Sells used cars to consumers and exports vehicles to U.S. dealers

Develops digital technology used by automotive dealerships

Operates a platform that clients use to monitor employee engagement

Offers mechanic services for heavy machinery and equipment

Brokers residential real estate

Provides technology consulting and staffing augmentation

Facilitates flat-deck trucking deliveries

Offers tech-supported smart-waste diversion and recycling management

Designs and builds commercial office interiors

Creates custom-branded USB drives for organizations

Facilitates online estate and downsizing auctions

Operates an online marketplace for automotive wheels, tires and parts

Offers automotive financing, personal loans and credit building services

Provides sales and event marketing services

Delivers private secondary, post-secondary and language education

Provides digital analytics services to enterprises

Supplies and installs residential and commercial fencing

Delivers in-home support and care for disabled and aging adults

Consults charities and non-profits on promotion and growth

Provides digital marketing services for businesses

Offers data and digital tools for health care clinicians

Operates digital publications serving four Canadian cities

Develops telematics-based connected vehicle technologies

Ratehub Inc.

Herbaland Naturals Inc.

Green Standards Ltd.

Poppy Barley

Surgically Clean Air Inc.

Whitewater Brewing Co.

The Other Bird

Lacey Construction

Perreault Plastix Inc.

Pixieset

NewFound Recruiting Corp.

HostedBizz Inc.

Marketers on Demand Inc.

Waste Solutions Canada

Mercatino Fresh Food Co.

EncoreFX

Isaac Operations Ltd.

Carsonexports

sMedia

KLF Group Inc.

ACE Services Mécaniques Inc.

Search Realty Corp.

J & M Group Inc.

Rapid Trucking Ltd.

RecycleSmart

Flat Iron Building Group Inc.

Promotional Drives

MaxSold

CanadaWheels.ca

Canada Drives

Canada Prime Marketing Corp.

Hanson Canada

Napkyn Analytics

Regional Fence

Right at Home Canada

Atypic

Bloom

Think Research Corp.

Daily Hive

Fleet Complete

121

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leet Optics Inc. may have thesimplest value proposition of

any business — it literally deliversthe goods.

But to keep it simple forclients who ship products andcustomers who order stuff online,the Mississauga-based truckingcompany uses complex technology.It draws on high-tech tracking andanalytics software to help make thecrucial and often difficult final mileof delivery smooth, seamless andswift.

“We’ve developed an Uber-likeexperience for the consumer,” saysJohn Mann, Fleet Optics’ co-founderand managing partner.

The company’s app, designedin collaboration with a team ofdevelopers, aims to eliminate thestress of wondering when thatparcel you’re expecting will show up.

Fleet Optics lets customers knowin real time where their packageis and when it will be deliveredthrough texts and links showing thewhereabouts of the truck and thedriver who will ring the doorbell.

“There’s a huge demand not onlyfor final-mile delivery but also for thetechnology that goes with it,” Mannsays. The final mile is the last stretchof the supply chain — often the mostchallenging because the deliveryneeds to reach a specific house,apartment or office suite.

The company has enjoyedastronomical growth since Mannand co-founders Vince Buckley andDavid Moore launched it in 2015.

“We’ve grown 10,000 per centsince we began. This year our

annualized revenues will be over$30-million – we started in 2015 with$65,000,” Mann says.

The company started with onetruck, and now has more than 200,Buckley says. Fleet Optics hiresowner operators and drivers ofvehicles and provides them withbranding, training and uniforms.

The company expands temporarilyduring the busy holiday season byleasing additional vehicles. “We’lldouble the number of trucks in thefourth quarter, when demand fordelivery is heaviest,” Buckley says.

Fleet Optics clients can trackdrivers and deliveries on the web oron smartphones. Drivers can alsouse app to communicate access allthe information they need about thedelivery.

Fleet Optics found its niche asvendors and consumers demandmore, including same-day delivery.It has succeeded partly becauseit focuses on technology, but alsobecause it identified a gap where

Fleet Optics wants to bethe Uber of parcel deliveryCompany’s high-tech app lets customers know in real timethe whereabouts of their stuff

F

there is demand for seamlessservice, Mann adds.

“The technology is never finished.We’re developing and advancing itall the time,” he says. Fleet Opticshas just launched its first all-electricvehicle, and it’s looking at deployingartificial intelligence to help predictweather and traffic patterns to aiddrivers.

Keeping a high-tech edge is keyin a global logistics market that,according to research companyImarc Group, reached a valueof US$4.7-billion last year and isexpected to grow to US$6.3-billionby 2024. Another research group,Technavio, notes that constantimprovement of last-mile delivery isbecoming “one of the most criticalaspects of creating differentiationamong competitors” that will drivegrowth in the sector over the nextfew years.

While the sector is dominatedby huge international players thatinclude Federal Express and UPS,there’s a strong and growing needfor firms like Fleet Optics to makesure goods arrive on time, Mannsays.

“The big ones are so busy thatthey really can’t take on additionalvolumes, especially in [the fourthquarter],” he explains. That becameapparent late last year, when CanadaPost suffered a series of rotatingstrikes and Fleet Optics was calledon to help fill the gap.

The founders got the idea tomarry trucking with technology afterearlier business setbacks in the moreconventional trucking industry.

“We survived that and still stayedfriends, so we thought we’d try,”Buckley says. “There’s no betterlesson than what you get from theschool of hard knocks.”

For now, the company’s deliverymarket is confined to Ontario. “Butwe have plans to grow to otherplaces in Canada; our customers areasking us for this,” Mann says.



FleetOptics hasenjoyed strong

growth by applyingtechnology to

last-mile delivery forcustomers.



161200

>

YOU CAN’T DO IT ALL

“You need to be ‘helpable.’ If you don’t let people help you, or at thevery least do the job they were hired to do—which is hard, as mostentrepreneurs are micro-managers—you are guaranteed to burn out.”—Jennifer Kelly, Pehr (No. 197)

Oakville, ON

Calgary

Vaughan, ON

Mississauga, ON

Blainville, QC

Surrey, BC

Vancouver

Toronto

Toronto

Richmond Hill, ON

Montreal

Toronto

Markham, ON

Montreal

Burlington, ON

Markham, ON

Oakville, ON

Langley, BC

Richmond, BC

Courtenay, BC

Kincardine, ON

Toronto

Magrath, AB

Vancouver

Calgary

Surrey, BC

Vancouver

Toronto

Pointe Claire, QC

Toronto

Toronto

Longueuil, QC

Vancouver

Kamloops, BC

Toronto

Montreal

Toronto

Victoriaville, QC

Toronto

Quebec City

57

60

20

85

47

23

229

265

250

18

50

25

14

105

34

40

666

17

9

15

250

27

152

174

31

98

137

3,862

3

10

64

75

150

46

15

70

23

130

18

150

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$100M-$250M *

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$50M-$75M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$750M-$1B

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

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Offers personal spa services and beauty products

Manufactures and sells gelato and sorbetto

Serves as a value-added reseller of IT equipment for businesses

Develops tools to help manage utility consumption of buildings

Consults organizations on IT infrastructure and processes

Processes, trades, imports and exports agricultural crops

Provides decision analytics for managing critical infrastructure

Offers management consulting services to organizations

Creates digital video content and produces events

Offers technologies to design, test and build telecommunication networks

Designs and builds commercial and residential properties

Develops and prototypes consumer products for inventors and startups

Wholesales and retails professional audiovisual equipment and supplies

Offers recruiting and staffing services

Facilitates transportation and logistics services

Provides IT and managed services for clients in health care

Develops telematics solutions used in fleet management

Offers digital marketing and public relations services

Provides specialized asset management services

Manages sustainable shellfish aquaculture operations

Offers capital, staffing and payroll support for the nuclear industry

Provides digital marketing, sales and branding services

Brokers home, auto, tenant, condo and commercial insurance online

Helps marketers build and test landing pages without a developer

Develops patented waste gas combustion systems

Distributes industrial process equipment, specializing in water treatment

Connects travellers with local tour guides in more than 155 countries

Manufactures and sells luxury outerwear

Invests in and rents out commercial real estate

Helps businesses innovate by incorporating design thinking

Distributes natural and organic food products

Retails and distributes barbeques and accessories

Operates a fleet of mobile bike-repair shops

Provides custom IT services to businesses

Operates as a boutique Salesforce partner and consulting firm

Helps automotive dealers improve their digital presence

Wholesales and retails decor and housewares for babies and children

Designs and manufactures infrared motion-sensing surveillance systems

Practises labour and employment law

Develops medical and industrial instrumentation

Beauty First

Fiasco Gelato

SolutionStack

Wyse Meter Solutions Inc.

Openmind Technologies Inc.

Adroit Overseas Enterprises Ltd.

Copperleaf

Optimus SBR

Media One Creative

Acentury Inc.

A+

Mako Design + Invent

AVShop.ca

Fuze HR Solutions Inc.

CS-1 Transportation Inc.

BlueBird IT Solutions Inc.

Geotab

Jelly Digital Marketing & PR

Gentai Capital Corp.

Manatee Holdings Ltd.

CRG Energy (Garneau Group Inc.)

Jumpfactor

Surex

Unbounce

Questor Technology Inc.

AWC Process Solutions Ltd.

ToursByLocals

Canada Goose

Fronsac Real Estate Investment Trust

The Idea Suite

Jonluca Enterprises

BBQ Québec

velofix Group of Cos.

iTel Networks

Lane Four

D2C Media Inc.

Pehr

GG Telecom

Monkhouse Law

Opsens Inc.

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f you’re a Canadianhomeowner over 55 and are

looking for ways to take advantage ofyour property’s value, Steven Ransonsays you can bank on it.

He’s the chief executive officer ofToronto-based HomeEquity Bank,purveyor of the CHIP ReverseMortgage.

“We’re a bank and we’re subjectto the same regulations as all otherbanks, but we only do this one thing.The idea is to provide a product forCanadians over 55 that will help themstay in their own homes longer,”Ranson says.

A reverse mortgage is a loan fromthe bank secured against the valueof your home, with at least one bigdifference. Unlike a regular loan ormortgage, borrowers are not requiredto make payments until they decideto move or sell.

At that point, the loan and interestare taken from the sale price. Homevalues tend to appreciate over thelong term and given the company’sconservative lending practices, over90 per cent of customers have about50 per cent of their equity remainingin their home when it comes time tomove or sell.

Reverse mortgage holders arestill responsible for property taxes,insurance and maintenance, and theinterest rate that ultimately applieswhen they sell or move is higher thanfor conventional mortgages, but themoney received from the reversemortgage is tax-free and doesn’trequire regular, monthly re-payments.Homeowners are eligible for loans ofup to 55 per cent of the value of theirhome and retain title and ownershipof the property.

Market for reverse mortgagesis only expected to growCanadians tap HomeEquity Bank’s CHIP program for tax-free income in retirement

I



The CHIP Reverse Mortgage hasbeen offered to Canadians over 55since 1986 and it’s no longer the onlyreverse mortgage available in Canada.But the brand is so pervasive thatmany people might not realize thatthe company changed its name toHomeEquity Bank from the CanadianHome Income Plan and became a full-fledged Schedule 1 chartered bankback in 2009.Customers like the factthat they’re dealing with a Federallyregulated bank,” Ranson says.

Unlike the other banks,HomeEquity Bank has only onelending product — the reversemortgage.The company’s exclusivefocus on servicing Canadians duringtheir retirement is key to its success.“We understand Canadians at thisstage of life better than other financialinstitutions. Ninety-three per cent ofthem want to age in their homes.”

A reverse mortgage comes inhandy for customers who findthemselves facing debt as theyapproach retirement, Ranson says:“About 35 to 40 per cent of ourcustomers are people who pay offhigher-interest debt [with the funds

from their reverse mortgages] suchas credit cards.”

The remainder of the bank’scustomers are people who wantto tap their home’s equity in theirretirement years without having tomake monthly payments.“It helpsthem enjoy retirement more thanthey would otherwise,” Ranson says.

The key thing reverse mortgageholders should know is that theywon’t have to repay the loan untilthey move or sell their home. Also, inCanada, unlike the United States orBritain,“we require anyone seeking areverse mortgage to get independentlegal advice,” Ranson says.

HomeEquity Bank’s challenge isexplaining exactly what a reversemortgage is, what it does anddoesn’t do,” he says.“The biggestmisconception is that somehowwe’re taking ownership of thehouse. It’s not true and it never hasbeen true, but there’s a lingeringperception.”

HomeEquity Bank’s revenueswere up 85 per cent over three years.Even with the bank’s robust growthover the past few years, there’s roomfor more, Ranson says.The mostrecent census, in 2016, found thatfor the first time in Canada, there aremore people over 65 than under 15— and these are HomeEquity bank’spotential customers.

Canadians’ attitudes about reversemortgages are changing, Ransonsays.“The idea of leaving your houseto your kids [after you die] is fallingout of favour. Some people takeout reverse mortgages and give themoney to their kids so they can gettheir own houses.”

Canadians are also living longer,and because they can’t all rely onpensions to make up their retirementsavings shortfall, they look to thebiggest asset they own to help fundretirement.With a reverse mortgage,they get to stay in their home, whileit continues to appreciate, all whileaccessing the money they need forretirement.

We understand

Canadians at

this stage of life

better than any

other financial

institutions.

Ninety-three

per cent of them

want to age in

their homes.



201240

>

OFF THE BEATEN PATH

Sonar Software

(No. 23)DeBolt, Alta.

(Population: 121)

Custom AgriculturalIntelligence Inc.

(No. 87)Sedley, Sask.

(Population: 337)

Lacey Construction

(No. 128)Deroche, B.C.

(Population: 148)

Phoenix BuildingComponents Inc.

(No. 296)Utopia, Ont.

(Population: ~100)

Surrey, BC

Toronto

Saskatoon

Markham, ON

Vancouver

Ottawa

Mississauga, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Lucknow, ON

Vancouver

Quebec City

Saint-Colomban, QC

Toronto

Toronto

Ottawa

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Calgary

Toronto

Aylmer, ON

Mississauga, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Guelph, ON

Quebec City

Richmond Hill, ON

Calgary

Toronto

Mississauga, ON

Edmonton

Dundas, ON

Toronto

Calgary

Vancouver

Ottawa

Burnaby, BC

70

655

270

66

325

97

973

150

15

6

45

70

100

1,200

80

60

203

30

45

120

45

42

74

215

200

90

41

33

67

46

175

24

900

195

27

126

70

700

73

160

$25M-$50M

$250M-$500M*

$25M-$50M

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Manufactures lighting designed with minimalist aesthetics

Invests in residential real estate, focused on rental housing

Runs a platform that lets clients develop branded digital properties

Deploys industrial automation in advanced robotics and 3D vision

Provides investment services for private and institutional clients

Develops products and services for IT infrastructure management

Offers products and services to manage mobile and IoT systems

Provides digital strategy and custom software development services

Offers management consulting services to organizations

Imports and distributes Danish livestock feed ingredients

Archives web and social media posts for firms and government agencies

Rents event furniture in Quebec and eastern Ontario

Offers audiovisual rentals and event staging services

Provides experiential sales staffing and recruiting

Delivers public relations and communications services

Sells energy efficiency, sustainability and emissions reduction products

Offers data, software and analytics to connect organizations with customers

Manages contingent workforce programs on behalf of clients

Provides affordable legal services to Canadians via retail outlets

Manufactures gluten-free, vegan and and allergen-friendly baked goods

Offers boutique management consulting services

Operates fully outsourced IT services for clients

Conducts market research and delivers consumer insights

Manufactures steel and plastic packaging for the automotive industry

Designs, manufactures and installs custom elevator interiors

Builds digital retail technologies for automotive dealers and OEMs

Manufactures vegan baked goods

Provides a range of digital marketing and media services for businesses

Offers IT and web consulting services

Provides IT services for clients in telecommunications

Develops technology designed to monitor worker safety

Offers public relations, marketing, creative and event services

Arranges temporary staffing for warehousing and logistics companies

Manufactures frozen Indian appetizers and meals

Offers occupational health and safety training and consulting

Invests in early-stage emerging technology organizations

Paints new homes, high-rise residences and commercial buildings

Connects chronically ill patients with health care suppliers

Provides software to support the telephony systems of contact centres

Manufactures test equipment used to develop clean energy storage

Kuzco Lighting

Tricon Capital Group Inc.

Vendasta

Bluewrist Inc.

PI Financial Corp.

Martello Technologies

SOTI Inc.

TWG

The Burnie Group

Protekta Inc.

PageFreezer

DX Event Furnishings

Expert’ease Productions

Knewsales Group

Argyle Public Relationships

Thermal Energy International

Environics Analytics

Contrax VMS

Axess Law

O’Doughs

Trindent Consulting

Debian Information Technology Inc.

Dig Insights

Precision Fab Inc.

MAD Elevator Inc.

Motoinsight Inc.

Sweets from the Earth

Intrigue

Ciao

COMsolve Inc.

Blackline Safety

Your Brand Integrated Marketing

Vertical Staffing Resources

Aliya’s Foods Ltd.

Worksite Safety Compliance Centre

Prodigy Ventures Inc.

Zoom Painting

Prizm Media Inc.

InGenius Software

Greenlight Innovation Corp.

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iTel Networks Inc. provides a‘network of networks’ for themyriad of voice, internet and cloudservices required by businessesof all sizes, regardless of location,across the country.

“There are over 80 internetproviders in Canada, but each ofthem have geographic limitations.We’re what’s called a networkaggregator,” says Dan Rink, iTel’schief executive officer.

iTel offers all-encompassingcommunications solutions, settingthem apart from many competitors.They focus on meeting the needsof clients with multiple locationsacross Canada.

“Traditionally, companies had towork with multiple providers, andwork to harmonize those networksthemselves--if it was possible atall,” says Rink.

“All of that means time andmoney that IT groups could be usingto enable business growth. Weconnect all of those networks andprovide creative, customized andunified solutions to our customers.”

“iTel owns network assets indatacentres across Canada enablingus to connect customers in everyprovince. Companies don’t haveto deal with five or six differentproviders to build their networkanymore,” explains Adrian Boros,iTel chief technology officer. “Forour customers, the core of thenetwork isn’t the local carrier’s, it’siTel’s.”

“With a full suite of managedservices, we’re able to offer someof the highest levels of service and

SLAs in the industry.”Rink says this is an advantage for

customers that do business acrossthe country, because they can relyon a single company to keep theirentire network running smoothly.

“Being the glue between allthese providers enables us to givecustomers options that best fit theirbusiness, at a lower cost, with asingle support number to call,” Rinksays.

No other Canadian company hasiTel’s nationwide reach. The demandfor their services is growing quickly.Founded in 2009, iTel’s revenuesgrew more than 180 per cent from2015 to 2018.

Kelly Pritchard, iTel vice presidentof sales and marketing, attributesiTel’s growth to a strong directsales and marketing organizationalong with a number of strategicpartnerships.

“By partnering with iTel, otherIT service providers can furtherstrengthen the services they offertheir customers by incorporating

iTel offers a ‘network of networks’to Canadian businessesCompany harnesses the power of every carrier and every technology to offer phone, internet, cloud and datacentre services across the country

iTel services into their customersolutions.”

“We’re on a mission to buildthe most extensive network ofbusiness communications servicesin the country, so we can connectbusinesses in ways they neverthought possible,” said Boros.

He’s particularly proud of a recenthybrid communications networkcreated by iTel. This networkspans six provinces and combinescurrent technology with the newestSDWAN network technology,taking the place of six differentcompetitors, providing the customerwith a single, nationwide network,phone system, internet access andextension to two different cloudproviders (Google and Microsoft).

iTel’s explosive growth meansthey’re on the lookout for the bestand brightest, according to Boros.

“Our competitive advantagecomes from the strength of ournetwork and in the people who liveand work in the communities weservice across the country.”



iTel is rapidlyexpanding, havinggrown 183 percent in the pastthree years.Their Kamloopsheadquarters(pictured) isadding new staffevery month.

iTel hasproven

consistentlyreliable in

their abilityto delivera quality

product withexcellentsupport.

Jason Wassing,IT Manager,

Kelson Group



241280

>

RECOGNIZE YOUR WEAKNESSES

“Decide on an [organizational] operating system early. We chose EOS (EntrepreneurialOperating System) when we had 12 employees, and it’s one of the main reasons ourgrowth to 30 people has been relatively painless. I’m not an organized person,but it’s okay, because the tool makes the company organized, so it makes upfor my weakness in that area. Structure is under-valued in most startups.”—Heather Payne, Juno College of Technology (No. 254)

Toronto

Quebec City

Edmonton

Markham, ON

Montreal

Calgary

North Bay, ON

Vancouver

Edmonton

Quebec City

Calgary

Edmonton

Burlington, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Waterloo, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Hamilton

Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Toronto

Vancouver

Toronto

Victoria

Toronto

Vaughan, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Richmond Hill, ON

Toronto

London, ON

Montreal

Winnipeg

Toronto

Port Carling, ON

Toronto

St-Roch-de-l’Achigan, QC

Vancouver

6

1,500

41

25

47

180

197

10

30

120

5,000

39

33

30

19

220

76

500

35

95

29

216

45

92

21

130

150

29

70

165

96

25

122

90

55

550

16

12

190

120

$5M-$10M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$50M-$75M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

>$1B

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M *

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$25M-$50M

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$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

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Distributes fine chemicals used in pharma and natural health products

Makes chocolate products sold via a chain of branded shops

Researches, develops and commercializes health ingredients and products

Manufactures folding cartons and distributes packaging supplies

Offers loyalty-based digital customer engagement solutions

Provides final-mile home delivery of big-ticket household goods

Manufactures vocational trucks and specialized trailers

Offers advertising, marketing and design services

Develops software to help organizations manage telecom expenses

Provides architecture and building services

Markets fuel and petroleum products and operates convenience stores

Provides technology and services for improving operational efficiencies

Offers business development and consulting services for private firms

Runs a web-development-focused technology college in Toronto

Manufactures and sells down, feather and alternative bedding products

Develops digital investigation software used by law and security agencies

Builds custom software solutions for organizations

Operates multiple unique restaurants and provides catering services

Offers experiential learning software to Canadian post-secondary schools

Produces award-winning wines and provides wine-related hospitality

Provides data-based management consulting services

Creates digital products and content for sports fans

Offers digital advertising and search engine marketing services

Develops narrative-idle video games for mobile

Designs, wholesales and retails jewellery and accessories

Designs, develops and manufactures medical devices

Sells personalized jewellery via an e-commerce site

Provides third-party logistics services across North America

Operates a digital advertising agency

Creates software to help businesses with customer engagement

Provides management consulting services

Assists business and consumer brands with communications

Operates an online marketplace to connect businesses with voice talent

Helps businesses implement and optimize enterprise software

Provides online training programs for businesses

Owns and operates 37 health care clinics across Ontario

Brokers real estate in Ontario’s Muskoka region

Provides communications services and produces experiential events

Designs and manufactures ultra-lightweight wheelchairs

Assists businesses with digital transformation and systems integration

Gurvey & Berry Co. Inc.

Chocolats Favoris

BioNeutra North America Inc.

Astrapac

DataCandy Software Inc.

Custom Delivery Solutions Inc.

Gincor Werx

KIMBO Design Inc.

Simplex Mobility

STGM Architectes

Parkland Fuel Corp.

Dynamic Manufacturing Solutions

The KMAC Group

Juno College of Technology

Canadian Down & Feather Co.

Magnet Forensics Inc.

AppCentrica

Gusto 54 Restaurant Group

Orbis Communications Inc.

Two Sisters Vineyards

Fusion Analytics

theScore

SearchKings

East Side Games

Jenny Bird

StarFish Medical

Jewlr

Mactrans Logistics Inc.

BreezeMaxWeb

Maropost

Brevitas Consulting Inc.

Apex Public Relations Inc.

Voices.com Inc.

Big Bang ERP

Neovation Learning Solutions

MyHealth Centre

Cayman Marshall International Realty

LOFT Communications + Events Inc.

Motion Composites

OnActuate

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reating custom-madefine jewellery is fun and

interactive. Jewlr lets the customerbe the designer.

“We’re an online-only jeweller.We sell custom, made-to-order finejewellery pieces, and customersreceive them in days – not weeks,”saysTony Davis, Jewlr’s founderand chief executive officer.

Trained originally as a softwareengineer, he founded the companyin 2009. Because he didn’t comefrom a traditional jewellery-makingbackground, he could look at thejewellery business differently.

“We developed technology thatallowed you to show customizationin real-time 3-D and felt it was theperfect application for jewellery,”says Davis.

“We started experimenting withhow you could advertise and selljewellery online using Google andother platforms,” he says.

Launching at a time when buyingonline was becoming mainstreammeant that even the onlinepurchase of fine jewellery seemedviable.

“We leveraged emergingmanufacturing technologies andbuilt our own facility inToronto witha blend of proprietary software,state-of-the-art equipment and oldworld craftsmanship,” says Davis.

Jewlr made more than$50-million in sales in 2018.That’s123 per cent growth since 2015,Davis says. Jewlr has expanded toover 140 employees inToronto.

Tech innovation disrupts thejewellery industryToronto-based Jewlr manufactures locally and sells directly to consumers

C

Personalized fine jewellerythat’s fast, easy and affordable.

www.jewlr.ca



“As an online customer, you cantake your time to browse, chooseyour design and customize all thedetails. It’s a highly interactiveexperience without the pressure ofsalespeople,” Davis says.

There are more than 4,000 stylesavailable, offering consumers vast

permutations. Jewlr boasts morethan 750,000 customers.That’sa far cry from the 300 sales thecompany made in its first season,a decade ago. “We’ll reach ourmillionth customer before the endof this year,” he says.

Unlike many retail jewellers thathave their products manufacturedoffshore, the company makesall of its jewellery in Canada orthe United States. According toDavis, owning and operating itsown workshop means that Jewlrcan ethically source materials andensure fair working conditions.

The company controlsproduction time and quality.Production begins the minutean order is received.The entireprocess happens in the samefacility and completed orders shipdirectly to customers. “It’s all abouttime these days,” he says.

This, combined with sellingdirect to consumers, meansthat Jewlr is able to produce finejewellery that Davis says is belowtypical retail prices.

“Innovation is a large part ofwhat’s made Jewlr successful,” hesays. In 2013 and 2018 Jewlr tookhome top honours in the CanadaPost E-Commerce InnovationAwards.This year it’s a finalist intwo categories.

Davis also credits Jewlr’ssuccess to the attention it givescustomers. “Customer experienceis the ultimate priority and thatdrives innovation.”

Tony Davis (right),founder and chief

executive officer withDaniel Stoppel (left),head of strategy for

Jewlr.



281320

>

SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT

“Everything starts by serving others. I’ve been able to build a strong teamof leaders by serving them in their roles. I am never too busy to hearabout challenges, as each opportunity allows me to train up others to beleaders in their own right. If I invest myself in my team, everyone willwin in the end.”—Darrell Keezer, Candybox Marketing (No. 307)

Kelowna, BC

Toronto

Gatineau, QC

Toronto

Boisbriand, QC

London, ON

Vancouver

Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, QC

Mississauga, ON

Winnipeg

Sarnia, ON

Oakville, ON

Halifax

Montreal

Toronto

Utopia, ON

Burlington, ON

Montreal

Ottawa

Toronto

Calgary

Ottawa

Montreal

Laval, QC

Ottawa

Oakville, ON

Mississauga, ON

Toronto

Cornwall, ON

Toronto

Coquitlam, BC

Toronto

Montreal

Pilot Mound, MB

Richmond Hill, ON

Vaughan, ON

London, ON

Toronto

Palmerston, ON

Collingwood, ON

115

357

37

920

187

80

520

33

1,461

200

55

100

21

65

20

200

35

640

61

65

21

140

249

55

55

120

23

45

80

8

50

207

150

23

38

50

88

40

70

29

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$100M-$250M

$5M-$10M

$100M-$250M *

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$75M-$100M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$50M-$75M

$10M-$25M

$50M-$75M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$100M-$250M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

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Offers affordable credit products for consumers

Runs after-school math enrichment programs for children and teens

Distributes physical rehabilitation supplies and equipment

Provides staffing services to employers in hospitality and manufacturing

Designs and manufactures assistive robotic technologies

Offers digital solutions and web development services

Provides digital archiving software for financial clients

Manufactures custom corrugated cardboard packaging

Develops and sells technology and software for senior care providers

Designs and manufactures Indigenous mukluks and moccasins

Provides parking revenue collection and access control technology

Offers custom software development and IT professional services

Supplies cloud-based software for the hospitality industry

Offers cloud-computing consulting and services

Provides managed IT, cybersecurity and cloud-computing services

Manufactures and distributes engineered building components

Offers painting, landscaping, maintenance and handyman services

Helps mid-size to large clients with IT and digital technologies

Brokers residential and commercial mortgages

Provides enterprise service and IT operations management

Develops, manages, markets and leases real estate properties

Constructs roads, specializing in asphalt and concrete

Develops beauty brands for the professional aesthetic market

Packs wild seafood and manufactures natural and organic snacks

Creates water-measurement instruments

Develops, manufactures and distributes sterile pharmaceuticals

Provides digital marketing services focused on online sales

Develops project- and work-management software for businesses

Manufactures and transforms corrugated plastic sheets

Operates a strategic and creative communications agency

Resurfaces old concrete and asphalt surfaces with recycled rubber

Provides reverse mortgages to Canadians aged 55 and over

Designs and develops custom digital solutions for businesses

Implements tile drainage and water management systems for farmers

Manufactures folding cartons

Provides utility engineering services

Delivers HR technology solutions to Canadian organizations

Places skilled-trades, engineering and operations talent with employers

Manufactures PVC extrusions, specializing in building products

Provides digital marketing services for small businesses

Refresh Financial Inc.

Spirit of Math Schools Inc.

OrthoCanada

Talent Employment Inc.

Kinova Inc.

Digital Echidna

Global Relay

Les Emballages Box Pack

PointClickCare

Manitobah Mukluks

Parking BOXX

Indellient Inc.

B4checkin

CloudOps Inc.

M.I.T. Consulting

Phoenix Building Components Inc.

Absolute Home Services

FXinnovation

The Mortgage Advisors

SuMO IT Solutions Inc.

Equium Group

D-Squared Construction Ltd.

Functionalab Group

Marina del Rey Foods

RBR Ltd.

SteriMax Inc.

Candybox Marketing

Easy Projects

Laminacorr Industries

Co-op Advertising

Eco Paving

HomeEquity Bank

Spiria

NextGen Drainage Solutions

E.B. Box Co.

DPM Energy Inc.

HRdownloads

Pure Staffing Solutions Inc.

MSW Plastics Inc.

WordJack Media

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on and Heidi Kuus built theirfirst company into a formidable

Canadian producer of ski andsnowboard waxes and accessories,but something was still bugging thecouple. Bugs.

People who don’t enjoy swattingor scratching have probably alreadycome across a Kuus Inc. product.The Kuus’ company manufacturesand markets several brands of insectrepellents and insecticides underthe names Mosquito Shield™,PiACTIVE™ and Knock Down™.

“PiACTIVE™ is the No. 1 DEET-free repellent in Canada. It repelsmosquitoes, ticks and blackflies,”Ron says. [DEET, or N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, is the activeingredient in many repellents,including the Kuus’ Mosquito Shieldbrand.] While DEET is consideredeffective, consumers have beenlooking for an alternative DEETfree repellent that works; Kuus’PiACTIVE™ is the answer.

“We’re also the leadingmanufacturer of mosquito coils.We provide top-end performingproducts, made in Canada,” Ronadds.

The couple, who are partners inthe business, divide the workload,with Heidi managing the finance,regulatory and administration andRon concentrating on productdevelopment and production. Ron, aformer ski racer, has an engineeringbackground and Heidi a Bachelor ofScience degree.They market theirproducts together.

The couple’s ski wax andequipment business, KUUsport

Manufacturing Ltd., has beenrunning since 1985.They got into bugkilling — okay, repelling — with thelaunch of Mosquito Shield in 2005.A few years later, they successfullypitched their products on CBCTV’sDragon’s Den, striking a deal on theshow to sell a third of the insectcompany Kuus Inc. to DragonsArlene Dickinson and BrettWilson for$400,000.00.

In a world where store shelves arecrammed with lots of bug repellentsand insecticides every summer, Kuusemphasizes the steps it takes tostand out. For example, PiACTIVE™comes in distinct green containers;some include a loop at the top sousers can attach the package to akeychain or carabiner for easy accesswhen the bugs are biting.

Some packages also havecompasses and whistles embeddedin the caps, to help users figureout where the heck they are, andperhaps which way to head if they

Bug repellents a burgeoningbusiness for KuusCouple’s insect-fighting company wedged firmly ‘between the big guys’

R

get lost while hiking or canoeing.“We’re confident that should

consumers try our products, they’llcome back.”

The company looks towardeventually expanding into the UnitedStates. It exports to several countriesin South America, Ron says, butright now they still see a lot ofgrowth opportunities in the Canadianmarket.

Kuus grew by 66 per centbetween 2015 and 2018 andcontinues to show strong growthand profits.

“We see our market position aswedged in between the big guys,”Heidi says.

“It turns out to be not as smalla niche as we thought and we’remaking it wider.We’re not just asliver,” she says.

“We supply products that servegeneral consumers, professionalpest-control operators, agricultureindustries, food processing, anddairy and livestock farmers.”

The couple applied the sameprinciple they followed in making skiwaxes to their pest-control products,Ron says.

“We have to be the best. If youmake ski wax, it has to be goodenough for people who use it to winWorld Cup races. It’s the same – ifyou don’t make the best, people willmigrate to other products.”

The bugs are migrating too.Thecouple see a growing market, andneed, for pest-control products asthe world climate crisis takes hold,and new menaces such as Lyme-disease-bearing ticks encroachfurther into Canada, in places theynever used to be seen.

The most important lessonthey have learned in nurturing asuccessful business? For Heidi, “it’smaking sure you’re distinct.”

For Ron, it’s what ski racingteaches.

“Be consistent, persistent andbelieve in the dream,” he says.



Ron and Heidi Kuushave turned their

bug fighting brandsinto a nationwide

business.



321360

>

47%Share of

companieson the listthat areless than

10 years old

66Age of the old-est companyon the list

(Weston ForestProducts,No. 367)

511%Averagethree-yearrevenue

growth rate

178%Median

three-yearrevenue

growth rate

199Averagenumber ofemployees

21%Share of

women-runcompanies

5.5%Share of

companiesthat arepubliclytraded

BY THE NUMBERS

Vancouver

Charlottetown

Vaughan, ON

Boucherville, QC

Surrey, BC

Laval, QC

Victoria

Toronto

Mississauga, ON

Pointe Claire, QC

Kelowna, BC

Calgary

Winnipeg

Toronto

Calgary

Guelph, ON

Montreal

Vancouver

Ancaster, ON

Vaughan, ON

Cambridge, ON

Bolton, ON

Toronto

Toronto

Moncton

Toronto

Mississauga, ON

Montreal

Vaughan, ON

Toronto

Vaughan, ON

Markham, ON

Vancouver

London, ON

Richmond Hill, ON

Newmarket, ON

Montreal

Toronto

Toronto

Ottawa

28

26

7

350

40

130,000

19

100

350

31

29

17

18

30

360

2,000

180

130

156

28

55

600

40

40

40

150

1,950

75

35

15

170

80

60

43

2,700

25

45

45

45

40

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

>$1B *

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$100M-$250M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$500M-$750M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$100M-$250M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

79

79

79

78

75

75

75

75

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Develops business administration software for school districts

Makes digital signage software

Imports, produces and distributes food products

Develops, manufactures and applies exterior coatings for homes

Supplies plumbing, waterworks, drainage, excavation and concrete products

Operates a global network of fuelling stations and convenience stores

Designs and manufactures solar-powered outdoor commercial lighting

Provides audiovisual equipment rentals and staffing and produces events

Offers IT network infrastructure, investment recovery and logistics services

Brokers courier and transportation services

Operates a software platform used by corporate wellness providers

Offers managed IT services for small- and medium-size businesses

Provides asset management services to people, families and institutions

Operates a digital marketing agency for business and consumer clients

Offers low-commission real estate services in Western Canada and Ontario

Arranges installation and assembly services on behalf of large retailers

Provides website design, maintenance and marketing for small businesses

Offers a range of electrical engineering services

Roasts and wholesales coffee and operates a chain of cafés in Ontario

Conducts employee health and safety and injury-management services

Educates and connects real estate investors and professionals

Offers truck transportation and brokers logistics services

Provides management consulting for associations and produces events

Operates a digital media and advertising agency

Transports vehicles to and from plants, auctions and dealerships

Recruits sales professionals for organizations

Offers leasing and lending services to consumers with non-prime credit

Supplies manufacturing equipment to food processors

Builds, maintains and landscapes commercial and industrial properties

Manufactures insect repellents and insecticides

Makes recycled rubber building products for commercial sound control

Builds business-management software for spas and wellness providers

Provides IT services to mid- and enterprise-size organizations

Manufactures residential and light-industrial cabinetry and furniture

Provides corporate-backed child care, family care and support services

Designs, makes and distributes compostable food and consumer packaging

Operates an online lending platform for small businesses

Offers residential and commercial painting and handyman services

Operates a private, female-focused sex club in Toronto

Provides niche IT services and solutions for enterprise clients

Rycor

ScreenScape

Minami Group Inc.

Spray-Net

Kasa Supply Ltd.

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

First Light Technologies Ltd.

Quest Audio Visual Inc.

The Wesbell Group of Cos. Inc.

FlagShip

CoreHealth Technologies Inc.

TWT Group Inc.

BCV Asset Management

Art & Science

2 Percent Realty

QuickContractors.com

LinkNow Media

AES Engineering

Balzac’s Coffee Roasters

Safety First Consulting Professional Corp.

Keyspire

Titanium Transportation Group Inc.

Managing Matters Inc.

Cue Digital Media Inc.

Auction Transport Services Inc.

Sales Talent Agency

goeasy Ltd.

Deville Technologies Inc.

York Property Services Ltd.

Kuus Inc.

Pliteq Inc.

Book4Time

Softlanding Solutions Inc.

Cardinal Fine Cabinetry Corp.

Kids & Company

Eco Guardian

IOU Financial Inc.

Home Painters Toronto

Oasis Aqualounge

Avaleris

321

322

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360


*COMPANY REPORTS IN U.S. DOLLARS


361400

>

BRING THE VISION

“Clarity is key. As a leader, you need to know what matters most to youand to the success of the company. You need to be really clear on whereyou are going and how you’re going to get there. You then need to providethat clear vision to your team and ensure they have clarity on whatmatters most to their role.”—Alyssa Kerbel, mini mioche (No. 372)

London, ON

St. John’s

Ottawa

Vancouver

Halifax

Whitby, ON

Mississauga, ON

Edmonton

Guelph, ON

Abbotsford, BC

Toronto

Toronto

Mississauga, ON

Markham, ON

Victoriaville, QC

Calgary

Winnipeg

Montreal

Laval, QC

Toronto

Toronto

Surrey, BC

Peterborough, ON

Toronto

Vancouver

Côte Saint-Luc, QC

Port Coquitlam, BC

Toronto

Kitchener, ON

Toronto

Calgary

Richmond Hill, ON

London, ON

Winnipeg

Mount Forest, ON

Chatham, ON

Calgary

Calgary

Burlington, ON

Laval, QC

500

70

20

6,000

60

35

188

75

736

75

22

27

80

136

135

535

38

57

26

24

80

18

115

100

25

80

32

175

40

150

79

1,500

58

40

40

474

10

19

10

55

$250M-$500M*

$10M-$25M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$100M-$250M

$5M-$10M

$250M-$500M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$25M-$50M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

$5M-$10M

$25M-$50M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$500M-$750M

$10M-$25M

$25M-$50M

$2M-$5M

$5M-$10M

$5M-$10M

$2M-$5M

$2M-$5M

$10M-$25M

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45

Supplies IT hardware and accessories to IT professionals and businesses

Develops high-res 3D acoustic imaging solutions for offshore marine uses

Offers technological systems design, support and services

Operates and franchises private-duty home-care services for seniors

Provides engineering, architecture and project management services

Gives leaders employment assessment, workplace analytics and training tools

Wholesales, remanufactures and distributes lumber products

Provides professional landscaping and maintenance services

Invests in real estate and manages properties

Helps companies manage digital transformation

Provides financial modelling training, consulting and accreditation

Creates and retails ethically made and sustainable children’s apparel

Offers residential lawn-care services

Manages condominium properties in the Greater Toronto Area

Sells promotional products and branded clothing

Builds and renovates custom homes in Alberta and B.C.

Provides managed IT services for businesses and organizations

Supplies wearable RFID technology used in leisure, sports and entertainment

Offers tax and financial advice for entrepreneurs and professionals

Provides a broad range of PR and communications services

Operates and franchises a chain of beauty bars

Provides third-party logistics for manufacturers and distributors

Offers consulting and engineering services

Bakes French pastries and operates a chain of cafés

Consults health care organizations on analytics and change management

Offers transportation and logistics services

Sells, rents and services industrial and commercial mechanical systems

Manufactures roti, naan, muffins and other baked goods

Sells the Diva Cup, an ISO-certified reusable menstrual cup

Operates a chain of yoga studios and offers yoga teacher training

Supplies infrastructure IT services and business analytics

Provides IT products, software and services for businesses

Manufactures tubular steel components and assemblies for automakers

Offers investment advisory services and sells financial products

Makes and distributes semi-underground waste and recycling containers

Offers online editing and proofreading services

Provides construction, renovation, management and maintenance services

Helps businesses with the disciplined execution of business plans

Offers varied marketing services

Administers group benefits programs for organizations of all sizes

StarTech.com

PanGeo Subsea Inc.

DLS Technology Corp.

Nurse Next Door

EastPoint

Predictive Success Corp.

Weston Forest Products Inc.

Seasonal Impact

Skyline Group of Cos.

Domain7

The Marquee Group

mini mioche

Hometurf Lawn Care Inc.

ICC Property Management Ltd.

PromoGroup

Rockwood Custom Homes

Clear Concepts

Connect&GO

Coaching Financier Trek

rock-it promotions

The Ten Spot Inc.

Blue Chip Logistics Inc.

Cambium

Nadège Patisserie

AnalysisWorks Inc.

Transport DSquare Inc.

All-Pro Services Ltd

TWI Foods Inc.

Diva International Inc.

Yoga Tree Studios

SysGen Solutions Group Ltd.

Compugen Inc.

Canada Tubeform Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc.

Molok North America Ltd.

Scribendi

Ryan Murphy Construction

Results

Errington Marketing

Groupe Premier Médical Inc.

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here’s a hidden powerbehind employee data that

most companies aren’t takingadvantage of, says John Schwarz,chief executive officer ofVisier, aVancouver-based analytics provider.

“Everyone keeps tons of datagenerated in everyday businessactivities, but finding useful andactionable insights from that data,that is difficult,” he says.

This is whereVisier is uniquelydesigned to step in.TheVisiersolution is tailored specifically toanswer the people questions thatneed answering, to help managersunderstand the organizational trendsand the impact of people policies,and determine how to optimizedecisions for better outcomes in thefuture. It is the latest technology thathelps line operations, HR and financemanagers to shape a company’sworkforce and manage its costs.

“We’ve built a solution thatanswers hundreds of pre-builtquestions, designed to guide theuser through a process of discovery,”says Schwarz, who co-founded thecompany in 2010.

“People management and HRhave not traditionally been seenas operationally effective as otherareas of the business like finance,production or sales. By having asystem in place where those teamscan assess, predict and modelthe impact of their decision on theorganization opens up new levels ofcompetitive advantage,” Schwarzsays.

You’ve got talent, but how muchdo you really know about it?Visier pulls together and analyzes workforce data so organizations can make better people management decisions

T

You’ve got talent, but howmuchdo you really knowabout it?Visier pulls together and analyzes workforcedata so organizations can make better peoplemanagement decisions.

visier.com



Visier’s software integrateswith a company’s current peopleand financial operations systemsand becomes the window formanagement on hiring, onboarding,training, payroll, benefits, diversity,performance management andproductivity. Even individualemployees can use the solutionto manage their own careers anddevelopment.

The end result is peoplemanagers have a more accurateand predictable way of optimizingperformance, and leadership canbegin to easily see the real truth onhow people management makes asignificant impact to their bottomline.

“The more the use of peopleanalytics is embedded in an

organization’s culture, the morebenefits they begin to see, whetherit’s an increase in employeeretention, or improvements indiversity, or even just more accurateheadcount planning,” Schwarzexplains.

Without analytics, companiescan be at a disadvantage in themarketplace, especially during timesof historic low unemployment rates,or competing with the gig economymindset.

“When dealing with anemployment climate like today,it’s critical for organizations toknow the levers that impact theirhiring process, their employeeengagement, costs and retention.That’s simply not possible without amodern analytics solution,” he says.

Visier’s “peopleanalytics” can make areal difference to both

a company’s humanresources and its

bottom line.


COOLWAYFROZEN DESSERT

_280 TO 390CALORIESPER 500-MLTUB (NOTSERVING—TUB)

_14 FLAVOURSPLUS LIMITED-EDITIONSEASONALOFFERINGS

_1 MILLIONPINTS SOLDIN THE YEARFOLLOWINGCOOLWHEY’SPIVOT TOCOOLWAY

70PHOTOGRAPHS BY LES GARÇONSPROP STYLIST AUDREY ST-LAURENT/PRODUCTIONS L’ÉLOI

CoolWayMontreal

It was such a good idea: At a time when “pro-tein” was the big culinary buzzword, the mar-ket seemed primed for an ice cream infusedwith whey—and no one was making it (atleast not in Canada).Three young pals, Noah Bernett, Benjamin

Outmezguine and Dino Vassiliou, tinkeredwith and tasted several permutations beforelaunching CoolWhey, their protein-packedconfection, in 2014. “We were in love with it,”Bernett says. They started selling it via supple-ment retailers and gyms in and around Mon-treal. They expanded into Ontario. They gotpicked up by a few chains. They started think-ing national, and soon 500-millilitre cartonsof CoolWhey were being sold in hundreds ofgrocery stores.What was an easy sell in supplement stores,

however, failed to excite average shoppers.Some worried the product would taste chalky,others that it would prompt Hulk-style bulk.Most weremore interested in the calorie countthan anything else. The CoolWhey co-foundersfaced a choice: Try to change consumer be-haviour or cater to it. “We wanted to appealto a mass of people,” says Bernett, “so we re-directed.”In early 2018, the company replaced its core

offering with a low-calorie frozen dessert (witha lower but still higher-than-average proteincontent) and rebranded as CoolWay. Shoppersnoticed: CoolWay is now a darling of the freez-er aisle in more than 1,600 stores across Cana-da, including Metro, No Frills and Walmart.

It may not be what the founders planned,but they’re, well, cool with that. “Most entre-preneurs get tied to their idea,” Bernett says.“That’s how I was. Now I have a completelydifferent philosophy: Assume you don’t know,test those assumptions, and use the feedbackto decide whether to pivot or persevere.”

OBJECT LESSONSHow some of Canada’s Top GrowingCompanies hit on their winning products/by Deborah Aarts

No.


Blackline SafetyCalgary

Cody Slater and Brendon Cook’s greatest hit came frompicking the right moment.As Blackline CEO and CTO, respectively, the pair over-

saw the development of the G7, a portfolio of hardware,software and services used to monitor the safety of indus-trial workers. Individuals working in remote—often hazard-ous—environments wear G7 wireless devices that triggerresponse protocols in case of an emergency such as aharmful gas leak or health issue. The gadgets also send forhelp if needed and alert the employer, who can monitor thesituation through web-based software.

If it sounds like serious work, it is. “The entire value ofthe company is saving peoples’ lives,” says Cook, who co-founded the business in 2004.

Blackline originally specialized in GPS tracking. But by the

time Slater took the helm as CEO in 2011, the team knew itsfuture was in something more comprehensive. Slater hadspent 20 years building gas-detection equipment manufac-turer BW Technologies (later acquired by Honeywell) andbelieved adding similar tech to Blackline devices would rep-resent a major innovation.Preparation took two years. Blackline needed not only to

secure capital (raised through public markets) and developthe offering but also to ensure its development, marketingand support infrastructure was sufficiently robust. “Youcould call it intuition, and a few sleepless nights, but once Icould see we were strong enough to do this, we pulled thepin,” says Slater. Patience paid off: The G7 started shippingin 2017. Today, it’s used in 56 countries. Says Slater, “It wasthe right time.”

G7 WORKER-MONITORINGDEVICE

_WON A RED DOTAWARD FORPRODUCT DESIGNIN 2017

_CARTRIDGES CANBE SWITCHEDTO MEASURESPECIFIC GASES

_SPEAKERPHONESARE DESIGNEDTO BE AUDIBLE INLOUD INDUSTRIALSPACES

No.

Motion CompositesSaint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, Quebec

From headquarters in a tiny town an hour north of Montreal, Motion Composites has spent over a decade building stunning,ultra-lightweight, manually powered wheelchairs. For the first eight years, its specialty was a foldable carbon-fibre wheel-chair, a groundbreaking invention that earned the company a fervent fan base.

Then one competitor bought another, and suddenly there was space in the rigid wheelchair category—a smaller but muchmore high-profile segment. It presented CEO Eric Simoneau with an enticing challenge. He told his team, “It’d be a big invest-ment and involve a focus outside our comfort zone. But it is an opportunity.”They decided to try building one, but instead of an engineering-first, design-second approach—the company’s favoured

process up to that point—the team opted to start with aesthetics. “We had learned that users, especially rigid wheelchairusers, find it important to be in a chair that looks good,” says Simoneau. So they developed a mood board, which featuredeverything from exotic cars to interesting buildings, to solidify their creative vision. They also visited trade shows for otherindustries—including, notably, high-end bicycles—to research fabrication techniques.This clean-sheet approach to design (and the meticulous engineering that followed) led to the creation of the company’s

first rigid chair, the Apex, in 2016. The product contributed to a major distribution deal and earned Motion Composites acoveted Red Dot Design Award. It also prompted a fundamental shift in how the company operates. “This new design pro-cess is now integrated into everything we do,” says Simoneau. “Instead of just seeing what’s out there and trying to improveit, we start from scratch.”

APEX WHEELCHAIR

_TOTAL TRANSPORTWEIGHT: 8.6 LB

_MADE OF HIGH-MODULUS CARBONT700, AN ULTRALIGHTCOMPOSITEKNOWN TO DAMPENVIBRATION

_THE BACK ANGLE,SEAT WIDTH ANDHEIGHT, FLOORHEIGHT ANDBACK WHEELPOSITIONS ARE ALLADJUSTABLE—RARE AMONGCARBON-FIBRE RIGIDWHEELCHAIRS

No.


In 2015, Joanna Griffiths declared that Knix, the intimateapparel company she had founded in 2013 with the launchof leak-proof underwear, was going to make a sports bra—the best one ever. “I had no business saying that at thetime,” she recalls. But Knix had just launched its first line ofeveryday bras, so she had breasts on the brain. And mac-rotrends were in her favour: The steady creep of athleisuremeant sports bras represented nearly half of all bras wom-en purchased, and several athletic apparel giants—such asLululemon, Nike and Under Armour—were pegging the gar-ment as a top growth category.Most sports bras are principally designed to compress

the breasts—which, aside from making the bras difficultto put on and take off, doesn’t accommodate for the waybreasts actually move (not up and down but in more of a

figure-eight pattern). The garments’ shortcomings wereespecially pronounced for large-chested women. “It felt likea category that was in need of innovation by women forwomen,” says Griffiths.The Knix team came up with 24 sketches, tested 15 dif-

ferent fabrics and went through 41 rounds of prototyping.When the U.K.’s University of Portsmouth, a global leaderin breast biomechanics, tested the bra, it found it to be themost supportive of the 800-plus garments evaluated.

The Catalyst made its debut in September 2018. The firstbatch sold out in 10 days, and the resulting buzz spawned await list of nearly 5,000. The launch bolstered Knix’s salesand solidified the company’s mission. “We want to be thebrand that’s there for women through every life stage andphase, and through every activity,” says Griffiths.

KnixToronto

CATALYSTSPORTS BRA

_AVAILABLE INEIGHT SIZES THATACCOMMODATEBRA SIZES 32ATHROUGH 42G

_INDEPENDENTLYTESTED TO BE40% EASIER TOREMOVE THANCOMPETINGGARMENTS

_CUPS ARECONTAINEDSEPARATELY TOREDUCE MOVEMENT

No.


The word “authentic” comes up a lot in the story of Manitobah Mukluks. In the 22 years since Sean McCormickstarted selling traditional mukluks and moccasins to souvenir shops and trading posts, he’s built a beloved brandworn wherever feet get cold. A business that’s Indigenous owned and operated (McCormick is Métis, and more thanhalf the company’s employees are Indigenous) selling products inspired by millenniums-old Indigenous designs? It’shard to get more authentic than that.

Yet Manitobah’s latest hot sellers recently have been waterproof boots lined with layers of a proprietary sealantcalled AuthenTEC (rather than traditional spruce gum and pine pitch), built on rubber soles and made in Vietnam.How does that square with the hard-earned brand promise?Very easily, says McCormick. “I don’t like placing limits on myself or our company or our people,” he says. “If we

want to thrive today and in the future, we have to grow.” By introducing the waterproof technology, the company wid-ened its appeal in cities like Toronto, New York and London, where slushy streets necessitate waterproof shoes. Andby offshoring a chunk of production to a factory Manitobah owns in Vietnam, the company positioned itself to bettercompete on cost and time to market. Both developments in turn enabled it to create more sustainable jobs at homeand invest in community work (including an initiative that teaches children about Indigenous footwear and stories).Besides, McCormick says, there is nothing “authentic” about stasis. “My people have always innovated,” he says.

“Imagine living on the Prairies 10,000 years ago, in –30- and –40-degree weather, without power or modern conve-niences. If we hadn’t innovated or adapted, we wouldn’t be here.”

ManitobahMukluksWinnipeg SNOWY OWL

MUKLUK BOOTS

_CONSTRUCTEDOF WATERPROOFCOWHIDE SUEDE

_LINED WITH APROPRIETARYWATERPROOFSEALANT CALLEDAUTHENTEC,DEVELOPEDCOLLABORATIVELYWITH MANU-FACTURERS INVIETNAM

_PADDED WITHSHEEPSKINSHEARLING TOKEEP FEET WARMIN TEMPERATURESAS LOW AS –32 C

No.

WHENWETHINKOFCYBERCRIME, it’s often toimagine a straightforwardbadguyworkingwith ill intent.Those lone-wolf hackers doexist, of course—thegovernmentof Canada’s taxonomyof“cyber threat actors” refers tothemas “thrill-seekers.” ButCanadianworkplaces are oneof themost important frontierswhen it comes to cybersecurityand there, organized andsophisticated cybercriminalsforwhomprofit is the primarymotive are the larger threatby far.Sometimes, employees

fall victim to longstandingthreats, fromphishing emailsto password theft. Sometimes,however, the threats aremorecomplex.“Cybercrime is awell-

oiledmachine,with awholeecosystemandundergroundindustry supporting it, and a lotofmoney at stake,” says JohnHewie,National SecurityOfficerforMicrosoft Canada. “Muchofit is highly automated, andhardformany organizations to keepon top of. It’s pretty commonknowledge that there’s a skillsgap across businesses of all sizesin terms of cybersecurity.”And that problem is growing.

Every year,more thanone-fifthof Canadianbusinesses reporta cyber-security incident, andmost experienceddisruptionsto their normal business.According toMr.Hewie, thosenumbers are likely to grow, asincreasing connectivity creates

more potential formaliciousactivity.“Right now, everything

is changing,” saysDr.DimaAlhadidi, an assistant professorin computer science at theUniversity ofWindsor, anduntil this year amember oftheCanadian Institute forCybersecurity at theUniversityofNewBrunswick.Dr.Alhadidi stresses that

the first line of defense—acompany’s employees—is oftenthemost important. Changes inthewaywework are exposingcompanies tomore risk.Employees are nowexposingcompanydevices to unsecuredwireless networks outside of theoffice, and internet-connecteddevices like smartwatches bringmore points of entry for attackontonetworks. According toStatistics Canada, two-thirdsof Canadianbusinesses allowemployees to use personaldevices for business activities,andmost didn’t implement anysecuritymeasures to governthat use.That’s a problembecause

“on the darkweb, there areplaceswhere cyber-criminalscanpurchasemalicioussoftware, very cheaply,withlittle expertise, and launchfairly sophisticated attacks forransomor other purposes,” saysDr.Alhadidi. And that openscybercrimeup tomore people—even those lacking in technicalknow-how—creating anewpanoply of threats.So, organizationsmust

reimaginehow they confrontthose dangers.Dr. Alhadidi sayscompanies need to empowertheir employees, engage theircustomers, optimize theiroperations and transform theirproducts.“This is theweakest point,”

she says. “I canhave [a] verysecure network including allthemost advanced technology,all the security controls, butif I have a problemwith oneemployee, the chain is broken.”Mr.Hewie concurs: “We

need to create a culturewheresecurity is everyone’s problem,not simply the ITdepartment’sjob.” This is especially true, hesays, for small- andmedium-sized businesses, or non-profitorganizations,whichmaynotbe able to put asmanyup-frontresources toward cybersecurityand instead aremore reliant onfrontline staff to be vigilant.Mr.Hewie points to a

recentmalware campaigncalledAstaroth,whichusedso-called “living-off-the-land”techniques—it didn’t downloadmalicious files to a computer’shardware, instead living in adevice’s “volatile”memory. Thathelped it avoid detection fromtraditional antivirus programs,so nomatter howdiligent a usermight be, itwas able to find abackdoor.The attackswere detected,

however, byWindowsDefenderAdvancedThreat Protection,Microsoft’s endpoint detectionand response platform,whichnoticedunusual behaviour

in a system tool pointing tomalicious behaviour.““OurThreat Intelligence

Centre studies how these threatactors operate, and thenusesthat knowledge to improvedetections for the techniquesthey use,” saysMr.Hewie. ““Inthe cloud,whenone customerencounters a piece ofmalwarethat’s never been seenbefore,we canquicklymove to protectevery other customer.”That points to the importance

of engineering security featuresinto productivity softwareanddevices from the get-go.Withmore than 180millioncommercialmonthly activeusers ofOffice 365, andmorethan800millionWindows10devices in use,Microsoftcurates a vast amount of threatintelligence intowhatwecall the Intelligent SecurityGraph,which is used to helpdetect, analyze andneutralizethreats across cloud servicesanddevices. ““Microsoft’sglobal footprintwithWindows10,Office 365,Azure, BingandXBOXLive provide realdiversity of signal, whichuniquely enriches our threatintelligence,” saysMr.Hewie.“Office 365 inCanada is growingrapidly,we’re continuing toexpanddata centre capacity tosupport.”Integratinghardware

and software is also crucial.Microsoft’s Surface devices areengineered fromchip to cloudfor seamless integrationwithMicrosoft 365productivitysoftware andbuilt-in cloudpowered security.“Weknow thatMicrosoft

can’twinunless everyonedoes,”saysMr.Hewie. “We’re part ofa biggerworld, andwewant todo our part tomake it safer foreveryone. For eample,wehave aDigital CrimesUnit comprisedof lawyers, analysts, ex-lawenforcement folks and greatengineers, andwe’reworkingtogether, every daywith oursecurity partners – and even ourcompetitors – to improve oursoftware, our devices, and lookfor opportunities to disrupt themost egregious bad actors.”

Your employees’smartwatchmight be yournext securitynightmareIn the fight against cybercrime,Canadian workplaces are groundzero. Here’s how businesses arevulnerable—and what employerscan do to protect themselves

SPONSOR CONTENTCYBER SECURITY


PHOTOGRAPHKAILEEMANDEL;

RETURNSTO

AUG.31,

2019

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32ASSETMANAGEMENTLP


How have you outpaced the Standard & Poor’s 500over the long haul?If you gave me $1 million in July 1998, that’s worthalmost $7.9 million today. The same million in theS&P 500 is worth $3.5 million in Canadian dollars.We have more than doubled the S&P 500 returnover 21 years.We tend to own 20 to 25 stocks. Con-sumer discretionary, retail, technology and healthcare are historically good areas where you findcompanies that can go from a few hundredmillionin revenues to tens of billions. The key to the suc-cess of the strategy is to stick to the discipline andnot waver when you have a difficult year—nomat-ter what people say.How do you deal with President Trump’s tweets onU.S.-China trade that can roil markets?I have gone through Presidents Clinton, Bush,Obama and now Trump. I take geopolitics and themacro situation as cards dealt to me. Until some-thing macro impacts an individual company, Itry not to be overly influenced. Volatility is not ameasure of risk. For me, risk is the probability of acompany going under. Reducing the China expo-sure in my global portfolio to 4% from over 30%last year was not a trade-war call. There was anunbelievable Chinese crackdown and a tremen-dous amount of regulation put on everything fromvideo games to pharmaceuticals, social media andafter-school education institutions. That made itvery difficult for a lot of companies.Where are you seeing opportunities?We are in the midst of a digital transformation.Companies are shifting to the cloud for everythingfrom human resources to supply-chain software.In this space, we own names like cloud-serviceprovider ServiceNow and Paycom Software,whose products focus on payroll and employeerecruitment.Retailers are struggling.WhydoyouownLululemon?Lululemon has embraced digital in its stores

and Web shopping. It has the rightmerchandising. And its new CEO,Calvin McDonald, has a pedigreefrom running U.S. cosmetic chainSephora. Lululemon’s men’s businessis also a huge opportunity—and yes,I am a customer. Their men’s pantsare unbelievably comfortable.Do this year’s hot initial publicofferings or cannabis stocksinterest you?The way IPOs are done today, a verysmall float is put out. The stock goescrazy for a short time, but then thelock-up period [for insiders] ends,

and their shares can trade freely. That puts down-ward pressure on valuations and can provide abuying opportunity. We find a few interesting. Asfor cannabis, this phase is like internet stocks inthe late 1990s—huge market caps but not a lot ofearnings. There will be a big shakeout. If a com-pany can grow rapidly over time and is profitable,maybe we’ll look at it.What are your best and worst investments?From 2000 to 2011, we had winners like Apple andGoogle, andmore recently, Salesforce.com. I thinkof my mistakes as companies I thought had fullyplayed out. Adobe Systems is a digital-media soft-ware company that we owned for short periods.I felt it was a mature, slower-growing companyand didn’t anticipate the acceleration in its busi-ness when it shifted to a cloud subscription-basedmodel. I missed it.What is your favourite investment book?I read Common Stocks and Uncommon Profitsby Philip Fisher in my early 20s. I had heard that[value investor] Warren Buffett’s approach wasinfluenced byBenjaminGrahamandFisher. Fisherwas one of the few investors towrite down his sys-tem of finding great growth companies. That bookis still relevant today. /ShirleyWon

W E A L T H

NOAHBLACKSTEINVICE-PRESIDENT AND SENIOR PORTFOLIO MANAGERDYNAMIC FUNDS | TORONTO

It’s very rare for amoneymanager to beat the index byawidemargin over two decades. But Noah Blackstein,who overseesmore than $5 billion in U.S. and globalportfolios for Scotiabank’s Dynamic Funds, has done itwith his flagship Dynamic American Power Growth Fund(Series A).We asked the 49-year-old growthmanagerhow he navigates throughU.S. President Donald Trump’stweets andwhy he finds yoga-inspired apparel retailerLululemonAthletica a compelling investment.

SMART MONEY

YEAR TO DATE

5 YEAR

10 YEAR

20 YEAR

FUND S&P 500 INDEX ($CDN)

19.9

21.1

9

3515.1

14.9

15.8

5.5

DYNAMIC POWER AMERICANGROWTH FUND (SERIES A)ANNUALIZED % TOTAL RETURN


Government bonds are allthe rage among investorsamid concerns abouttheweakening globaleconomic backdrop.But the biggest sourceofmoney rushing intothis safe asset class issurprising.Move over,sovereignwealth funds,life insurance companiesand pension plans: Thenew top bond buyers areJill and Joe Retail Investor.According to data

from the U.S. TreasuryDepartment, investmentfunds (a categorydominated bymutualfunds, which are largelythe domain of retailinvestors) boughtmore than half of allnewly auctioned U.S.government bonds in July.That reinforces a trendidentified by TheWallStreet Journal early inthe summer: 2019 is ontrack to be a record year

for bond buying amongindividual investors.Between January andMay of this year, theseinvestors accounted for54%of the purchases ofnew government bondssold at auction, up fromjust 20% in 2010.Canadian numbers

point to a similar trend.Canadian bond exchange-traded funds saw thegreatest net cashinflowswithin the ETFuniverse in the secondquarter and first half ofthis year, according toVanguard (using data fromMorningstar).What explains the

attraction to bonds?Manyobservers point to thelonger-term impact of ouraging population: Olderinvestors tend to leanmore heavily on bonds intheir portfolios.In addition, individual

investors recoiled

from the stockmarketvolatility at the end of2018, which sent the S&P500 down nearly 20%between October andlate December. The tradewar between China andthe United States, alongwith slowing economicactivity in Germanyand China, surely haven’tsoothed any nerves.“What we saw in the

fourth quarter, whenequities declined, wasa shift in risk appetite,where investors werefavouring safer fixed-income assets overequities,” says ToddSchlanger, seniorinvestment strategistat Vanguard. “In the firstquarter, equity marketswere positive and offsetthe losses we saw inthe fourth quarter, butwe haven’t seen riskappetite recover yet.”/David Berman

W E A L T HGAME PLAN

HOW A FAMILY OFFICE CAN ENSUREGENERATIONS OF SUCCESS

What is a family office?A family office addresses the investmentneeds of high-net-worth individuals—butthat’s not the full picture. Family wealthmanagement is much more complex thansimply handling assets, says Greg Mooreof Richter Family Office in Toronto. A familymight also need tax and estate planning,financial reporting and philanthropyassistance.There are two different types: single- and

multi-family offices, which are exactly whatthey sound like. The first is set up by anindividual family, while the second caters to asmall group of families and is typically a pre-existing operation that can be contracted.

Why is it a good idea?In a nutshell, setting up a family officeguarantees the family fortune isn’t mindlesslysquandered. Ever heard the expression “shirtsleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations”?It describes the erosion of wealth over arelatively short period of time. “An effectivefamily office is designed to help ensureeach generation is a wealth creator in itsown right, building on the successes of priorgenerations,” says Moore.

How does one go about settingup a family office?To get started, figure out whether you wantto set up a single- or multi-family office. TomMcCullough, chair and CEO of NorthwoodFamily Office in Toronto, says a $500-millionnet worth should be used as a threshold.If your net worth is less than $500 million,

McCullough recommends identifying yourtop three goals and then evaluating a handfulof multi-family offices by those needs.If you have more, consider setting up a

single-family office, which will give you ahigher level of control. It can cost two tothree times more than a multi-family office—McCullough ballparks it at $1 million to$2 million per year.

Are there any downsides to settingup a family office?Only the cost. “It comes down to numbers,and families considering setting up a single-family office will need to have a critical massof wealth before it starts to make sense,”says Jeremy Martenstyn, a senior tax managerat BDO Canada LLP in Toronto.

What’s the bottom line?In the end, says Moore, the primary goalof setting up a family office is typicallycontinuity. “It’s about providing the familywith a resource to deliver support acrossgenerations,” he says. It also involvesbuilding a set of core values that canwithstand transitions. “As most families thatare in a position to set up a family officehave sufficient wealth to sustain multiplegenerations, establishing the frameworkand governance to steward this wealth intothe future is key.” /Sarah Treleaven

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

750

500

250

02014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

DECODER

WHAT’SHAPPENINGWITHGOVERNMENTBONDS?

($BILLIONS)

TOTAL BONDSAUCTIONED

TOTAL BONDSBOUGHT BYINDIVIDUALINVESTORS

2-YEAR

3-YEAR

5-YEAR

7-YEAR

10-YEAR

30-YEAR

(YEAR TODATE)

SPECIAL EDITION ON INFRASTRUCTURE LAW OCTOBER 2019

CANADA’S LEADINGINFRASTRUCTURE LAWYERS

November 18–19, 2019SheratonCentre Toronto HotelToronto, Canada

27th AnnualCCPPPConferenceon Public-PrivatePartnerships

SPECIALOFFERS:• $495 for CCPPP public sector andnot-for-profit members

• 20% discount for first-time attendeesConference Presenting Sponsor Exclusive Airline Sponsor

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WWW.LEXPERT.CA | 2019 | LEXPERT 3

CONTENTS

fortuna favet fortibus

OCTOBER 2019Special Edition on Infrastructure

Editor-in-Chief Jean CummingArt Director Brianna FreitagPresident Tim DuceHead of Sales, Media SolutionsPaul BurtonConsultant, Strategy and BusinessDevelopment Ivan IvanovitchSenior Advertising Consultant Ritu HarjaiAccount Executive Steffanie MunroeAccount Manager Colleen AustinGlobal Production Manager Alicia ChinProduction Coordinator Joanne RichardsonLead, Custom Media Lynda Fenton(416) [email protected]

This Lexpert Infrastructure Insert is published oncea year by HAB Press, a subsidiary of Key Media20 Duncan St. 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 3G8Tel: (416) 609-8000 Fax: (416) 609-5840Website: www.lexpert.ca

Jean CummingEditor-in-Chief

CANADIAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAWYERSWelcome to the Lexpert/ROB Infrastructure Special Edition.Webring youintroductory biographical information onLexpert-ranked lawyers; theywould bepleased to tell youmore directly.We also bring you articles on the latest in Infrastructuredevelopments- including those outside of SmartCities (see FederalGovernmentPrioritizes Rural EconomicDevelopment- Including Infrastructure, p. 18).We canexpect that these rural projects will become issues in the upcoming federal election.Lexpert is pleased to partnerwithTheCanadianCouncil for Public-Private Partnerships

(CCPPP). Its advocacy, research and education on behalf of itsmembers has been a driverin the vitality of the sector.

P. 4 FOCUS ON P3SBy Julius Melnitzer

P. 12 FINANCING LONG-TERM PROJECTSBy Elizabeth Raymer

P. 18 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PRIORITIZES RURALECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — INCLUDING INFRASTRUCTUREBy Lexpert

P. 24 BIG DEALSCompiled by Elizabeth Raymer

Cover Photo Courtesy of the Fort McMurray West 500 kV Transmission Project.

LEXPERTSPECIAL EDITIONCanada’s LeadingInfrastructure Lawyers

4 LEXPERT | 2019 |WWW.LEXPERT.CA

WHENTHEDUST settled on the spate of provincialelections held in the past two years, public-private part-nerships appeared to be among the big winners.Best cases in point? Premier Doug Ford’s Conserva-

tiveParty victory inOntario in 2018 and JasonKenney’sUnitedConservative Party’s follow-up inAlberta earlierthis year.“Very often, a change of government brings a little bit

of uncertainty,” says Mark Romoff, the Toronto-basedPresident and CEO ofThe Canadian Council for Pub-lic-Private Partnerships. “But from the outset, Ford andKenney announced that infrastructure was among theirhighest priorities and that they were both advocates ofthe P3model.”Right-leaning governments also took power in Qué-

bec, where François Legault and his Coalition AvenirQuébec triumphed in 2018; New Brunswick, whereBlaine Higgs’ Conservatives formed a minority govern-

FOCUS ON P3SBy Julius Melnitzer

The futurelooks bright for

Canadian public-private partnerships

in the wake ofrecent elections

PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

PHOTO

COURTE

SYOFTH

ECAN

ADIANCOUNCIL

FORPU

BLIC-PRIVAT

EPA

RTN

ERSHIPS.


ment in 2018 after the Liberals fell on anon-confidence vote; andPrinceEdwardIsland, where Dennis King emergedwith a minority Conservative govern-ment earlier this year.They joined Scott Moe’s centre-right

Saskatchewan Party, now serving itsthird term, and Manitoba’s ProgressiveConservatives, firmly ensconced underthe leadership of Brian Pallister.The outliers are Stephen McNeil’s Lib-

erals in Nova Scotia, in power since 2017;Dwight Ball’s minority Liberal govern-ment, elected earlier this year in New-foundland; and John Horgan’s minorityNDPgovernment inBritishColumbia.WithP3s recently on the rise inAtlan-

tic Canada, BC may represent the onlyplace in Canada where the outlook for

P3s is not optimistic. But even with a federal electionon the horizon, that’s not likely to change — barringanNDP orGreen Party upset.“Both Conservatives and Liberals are strong, vocal

proponents of infrastructure and P3s,” Romoff says.All ofwhich is not to say that changes in government

or in governing party leadership don’t create bumps inthe road for P3s.“Whenever there’s a change in leadership or party,

there is a change in approach that at the very leastcan result in some delays in the pipeline,” says TimMurphy in McMillan LLP’s Toronto office. “Thesedelays, however, don’t necessarily reflect philosophi-cal differences about the viability of P3s but ratherdifferences in tweaking the process to suit the newgovernment’s ideology.”JustinTrudeau’sLiberals, for example,while remain-

ing committed to infrastructure andP3s, put their ownstamp on the process by replacing StephenHarper’s P3Canada Fund with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, amove that no doubt contributed to the funding delaysfor which the Liberals have been criticized.Similarly, the Ontario pipeline remains sluggish as

“JASON KENNEY’SELECTION

SIGNIFICANTLYINCREASES

THE LIKELIHOODTHAT INFRASTRUCTURE

MODELS WILLBE DEVELOPED

ALONG THEP3 MODEL.”

Geoff Stenger; Bennett Jones LLP


Antonopoulos, George Dentons Canada LLP(403) 268-7136 [email protected]

Mr. Antonopoulos acts for companies in the energy sector, focusing on theplanning, drafting, negotiation and completion of complex energy transactionsand project work in both the upstream and midstream oil & gas sectors,including advising clients on M&A, joint venture arrangements, commoditytransportation, storage arrangements, corporate re-organizations, and energyproject development.

Annibale, Jason J.McMillan LLP(416) 865-7912 [email protected]

Mr. Annibale is an expert in construction, P3 disputes and Ontario’s newConstruction Act. He deals with complex construction disputes affectinginfrastructure projects, including disputes involving the calculation ofrefinancing gains of P3 assets. He has also written the chapter on DisputeResolution in Tim Murphy’s recent text, Public-Private Partnerships in Canada:Law Policy and Value for Money.

Anderson, Jean E. Goodmans LLP(416) 597-4297 [email protected]

Ms. Anderson’s practice includes financing and corporate transactions,alternative finance and P3s. Her experience embraces project and structuredfinance, domestic and cross-border financings, asset-based lendingand debt restructuring.

Anderson, Garth K. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(403) 260-9778 [email protected]

Mr. Anderson’s infrastructure practice encompasses all types of publicand private infrastructure, with an emphasis on P3 transactions in thetransportation sector. He assists clients in structuring major design-build-finance-operate projects, as well as on the real estate and construction aspectsof various energy-related infrastructure projects.

Allen, Michael S. FARRIS LLP(604) 661-9311 [email protected]

In his 40 years of experience in project and corporate finance, Mr. Allen hasbeen continuously recognized by leading publications. In addition to theinfrastructure and public-private partnership sphere, his practice has includedmining, energy, forestry and telecommunications, within Canada and around theworld. He is called to the Bar in British Columbia, Ontario, and England & Wales.

Ackerley, Glenn W.WeirFoulds LLP(416) 947-5008 [email protected]

Mr. Ackerley advises owners, contractors and design professionals on landmarkcapital and public infrastructure renewal projects. He counsels his constructionindustry clients on contracts, procurement, risk avoidance, claims handling anddispute resolution. Often performing the role of “project lawyer,” he providesongoing practical advice from the start of a project through to close-out.

LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS

the Ford government gets its bearings.“Apart from investment in rural areas and small-

er projects, we’re still waiting on the P3 pipeline inOntario,” Murphy says. “But what that wait repre-sents is a hiccup rather than a change inphilosophyby the government.”Sharon Vogel, a lawyer in Singleton Urquhart

Reynolds Vogel LLP’s Toronto office, is of simi-lar mind.“There was a period of uncertainty before the

Ford government said what it would do with P3s,especially in light of the Auditor General’s criti-cisms,” she says. “But throughout we saw the con-tinued development of alternative financing andprocurement projects, like the Hurontario LRTand theGORail Expansion project.”As it turns out, Ontario has benefitted from a

“THERE WAS A PERIODOF UNCERTAINTY BEFORETHE FORD GOVERNMENTSAID WHAT IT WOULDDO WITH P3S, ESPECIALLYIN LIGHT OF THE AUDITORGENERAL’S CRITICISMS.BUT THROUGHOUT WE SAWTHE CONTINUED DEVELOPMENTOF ALTERNATIVE FINANCINGAND PROCUREMENT PROJECTS,LIKE THE HURONTARIO LRTAND THE GO RAILEXPANSION PROJECT.”Sharon Vogel; Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

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Berg, Ira Goodmans LLP(416) 597-4105 [email protected]

Mr. Berg focuses on P3s, alternative finance projects, public procurement andcomplex construction projects. He represents public and private-sector clientson transportation, bridge and infrastructure projects, and revenue-generatingasset transactions. He is leading the legal team at Goodmans for OntarioLottery and Gaming Corporation’s modernization of gaming in Ontario.

Beaudoin, Yannick Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(514) 982-4025 [email protected]

Mr. Beaudoin practises in the infrastructure, financial services, structuredfinance and real estate groups. He has significant experience in P3s, AFPsand project finance, including all aspects of major design, build, finance andoperate (DBFO) projects in Canada, working with private partners and lenders todeliver infrastructure assets or energy-related projects using private financing.

Barlow, W. Thomas Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(416) 868-3403 [email protected]

Mr. Barlow is a founding member and chair of Fasken’s infrastructure and PPPpractice, with experience acting on procurement, infrastructure development,alternative service delivery, and project finance in multiple sectors andjurisdictions in Canada and the US, including first projects in emerging PPPmarkets and trans-border infrastructure, such as the Gordie HoweInternational Bridge.

Banfai, Geza R.McMillan LLP(416) 865-7806 [email protected]

Mr. Banfai practises exclusively in McMillan’s Infrastructure and Constructiongroups. He has represented every participant in the construction pyramid,from construction lenders/owners, general contractors, subcontractors,material suppliers, and workers, as well as a variety of design professionals.He is the recipient of the 2016 OBA Award of Excellence in Construction andInfrastructure law.

Bakshi, Vivek Dentons Canada LLP(416) 863-4658 [email protected]

Mr. Bakshi represents clients in the energy, natural resources and infrastructuresectors. He specializes in the structuring, negotiation and documentation ofnatural resource projects and related financings, and in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the oil, gas, water and power sectors.

Astolfo, SandraWeirFoulds LLP(416) 947-5045 [email protected]

Ms. Astolfo has more than 24 years’ experience practising construction law.From contract administration to litigating, mediating and arbitrating disputes,she advocates for all project participants. She is a frequent program speaker,fellow of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers and 2019 recipient ofthe OBA Award of Excellence in Construction and Infrastructure Law.

long Liberal reign that allowed InfrastructureOn-tario (IO) to become a global model for P3 pro-curement. “Over the past eight years, IO has beeninvolved in more than 120 projects worth $50 bil-lion,” Romoff says.Still, despite rallying to the P3 banner, Ford’s

government is taking a hard look at the method-ology. “The Conservatives are more ruthlessly fo-cused on outcomes than the Liberals were,” Mur-phy says. “There’s alsomore of a focus on exportingour expertise internationally.”Doubtless, some of the impetus for cautionmay

have been the Ford government’s desire to avoidmore criticism about Ontario’s P3 program fromAuditor General Bonnie Lysyk, whose list of sys-temic problems included the higher costs associ-ated with private financing, significant conflicts



Bremermann, Eric H. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-6821 [email protected]

Mr. Bremermann is a partner in the firm’s Corporate Group and Co-chair of theToronto Energy Group. He advises on public/private infrastructure, renewableenergy and independent power production. He has great transactional andproject development expertise in the infrastructure sector, including itsstructuring and financing. His practice has an emphasis on Canadian-Europeancross-border issues.

Bourassa, Philippe Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(514) 982-4061 [email protected]

Mr. Bourassa practises in the area of corporate/M&A in the energy, privateequity and infrastructure/projects sector. He advises public and privatecorporations, as well as institutional investors on a broad range of domesticand international commercial transactions in a variety of industries, includingfinancial services, investment funds, natural resources, construction, energyand real estate.

Borsook, Lisa A.WeirFoulds LLP(416) 947-5003 [email protected]

Ms. Borsook acts for corporations, governments and their agencies regardingtheir retail, industrial, office and brownfield properties. Consistentlyrecommended as a leader in infrastructure, property development and leasing,she has superior expertise in sophisticated real estate development work,including mixed-use developments, sale-leaseback transactions, and publicprivate partnerships.

Booth, QC, Robert (Bob) T. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3252 [email protected]

Mr. Booth’s commercial practice focuses on infrastructure for the energy andresources sectors and the security and defence sectors, serving clients in theoil & gas, transportation, energy utility and defence industries. He advises onpurchases and sales, business creation and joint ventures.

Bogden, John-Paul Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(604) 631-3375 [email protected]

Mr. Bogden’s practice is focused on M&A, PE transactions, infrastructure andprojects work. A co-leader of Blakes’ private equity group, he has advised onnumerous prominent secondary sale infrastructure transactions as well as onthe equity sponsor aspects of newly-procured infrastructure projects.

Blundy, Paul D. Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-4854 [email protected]

Mr. Blundy has specialized in construction and project finance for morethan 30 years and advises on all forms of construction and project financingtransactions, including P3 public infrastructure delivery. He acts for bothgovernment and private project participants, including debt and equityinvestors, underwriters, contractors, designers and service providersin all sectors.


over maintenance contracts and a lack of evidenceto justify certain projects going ahead as P3s.Arguably, however, Lysyk’s comments were tak-

en out of context by critics and many media out-lets. “What the Auditor General said was that ifthe Ontario government could deliver its projectson time and on budget on its own, it would havesaved $8 billion,” Romoff says. “But governmentshave shown they can’t do that, and that’s why youneed P3s — in fact, the same report praised In-frastructure Ontario for its accomplishments as aworld leader.”Murphy agrees that Lysyk’s criticisms had little

effect, politically or otherwise. “There was somebacklash, but that subsided when the TD Bankand others issued scathing assessments of the re-port, describing it as an inaccurate summary ofwhat’s actually going on,” he says.The point, Romoff argues, is that P3s get into

trouble when they’re regarded as panaceas, pro-ceeding without the value-for-money screen usedby IO. “That’s what happened in theUnited King-dom, where the country has paid a price for themandated use of P3s across the board, making itvery difficult for the program to get traction goingforward,” he says. “ButCanada has donemuchbet- PH

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Collett, R. MaxNorton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(604) 641-4912 [email protected]

Mr. Collett is a leading real property, planning and environmental lawyer.His practice includes re-development of industrial brownfield sites, publicinfrastructure projects, development of hospital and residential care facilities,complex mixed-use developments, and commercial joint ventures on FirstNation lands.

Carrière, Mathilde Dentons Canada LLP(514) 878-5823 [email protected]

Ms. Carrière leads the Corporate practice group of Dentons’ Montréal office.She is a lead for the local Infrastructure & PPP group, as well as the nationalConstruction group. She focuses on large-scale construction and infrastructureprojects, but also deals extensively with M&A and venture capitalinvestments. She has unique expertise in the energy, manufacturingand transportation sectors.

Carmona, Eric Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5597 [email protected]

Mr. Carmona is a partner in the Real Estate Group. His commercial real estatepractice focuses on real property transactions of commercial complexes,shopping centres, apartment buildings, hotels, retirement homes and long-termresidences. His corporate commercial law practice focuses on the acquisitionand/or privatization of public real estate enterprises and capitalmarkets transactions.

Card, Duncan C. Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-6446 [email protected]

Mr. Card leads complex infrastructure ventures globally, including intelligentinfrastructure, energy, airports, related complex concession and outsourcingservice transactions and public-sector modernization projects. He led the 30-year Bermuda airport redevelopment project, nominated as the world’s “BestTransit Project” for 2018 and which won “North America Airport Deal of theYear” for 2017.

Bursey, David W. Bennett Jones LLP(604) 891-5128 [email protected]

Mr. Bursey’s regulatory practice focuses on natural resource and infrastructuredevelopment, pipeline and public utility regulation, environmental assessment,water resource management and Aboriginal law. He advises natural resourceindustry clients, First Nations and government agencies. He appears beforefederal and provincial tribunals such as the NEB, BCUC and federal projectreview panels.

Bright, Denise D. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-4468 [email protected]

Ms. Bright’s practice focuses on corporate debt including secured, cross-border, syndicated and bilateral credit agreements, bonds and notes acrossa variety of industries, including electricity, generation, renewables, LNG,infrastructure and oil & gas. Her experience includes guarantees, consents,intercreditor arrangements, project and structured finance.

ter on that front.”Indeed, the future of the P3 pipeline inOntario

crystallized when the Conservatives’ April 2019budget committed $144 billion to infrastructureover the next decade. Transit is clearly the focusof the plan, with $66.7 billion allocated to publictransit and $22.1 billion to highways.“Ontario’s commitment remains very clear,

and we’re working closely with the government tomove projects to themarket,” Romoff says.

Alberta's promising P3 futureThe future for P3s looks equally promising inAlberta.“Jason Kenney’s election significantly increases

the likelihood that infrastructure models will bedeveloped along the P3model,” says Geoff Stengerin Bennett Jones LLP’s Calgary office. “The Pre-mier is on record that his government will be veryaggressive in pursuing P3 projects, which he be-lieves represent the most efficient way to developlarge infrastructure.”P3s, of course, also help Kenney pursue another

priority, namely the immediate reduction of theprovince’s debt while maintaining his commit-ment to infrastructure.



Dietze, Sterling H. Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-3076 [email protected]

Mr. Dietze’s domestic and foreign institutional financing and banking practiceextends to PPPs and infrastructure. He advises borrowers and lenders.His experience embraces infrastructure, project and internationalfinancing transactions.

Dépelteau, Jean-Pierre Dentons Canada LLP(514) 878-8814 [email protected]

Mr. Dépelteau is a member of the Construction and Infrastructure groups ofDentons’ Montréal office, with over 40 years of experience in the constructionindustry. He provides legal and strategic advice to a variety of public,semi-public and private-sector owners, as well as construction contractors,specialized construction companies and equipment suppliers.

David, Mylany Langlois lawyers, LLP(514) 282-7827 [email protected]

Ms. David’s Real Estate and Commercial Law practice encompasses themyriad legal and financing aspects inherent in developing renewable energyand infrastructure projects. She is mainly recognized for her expertise in PPP,implementing P3 arrangements and supervising large due diligence teams. Sheadvises and negotiates on behalf of developers, purchasers, governments andfinancial institutions.

Custodio, Sergio C. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(604) 631-3266 [email protected]

Mr. Custodio is Co-leader of the firm’s National Real Estate Law Group. Headvises clients on a broad range of business matters, with a focus on realestate, infrastructure and commercial transactions. He is sought out forhis ability to consistently close even the most complicated and fast-pacedtransactions from commercial deals, acquisitions and dispositions, financing,leasing and projects.

Curpen, Radha D. Bennett Jones LLP(604) 891-5158 [email protected]

Ms. Curpen is Managing Partner & Co-head of the firm’s Environmental& Aboriginal law practices. She provides strategic counsel on regulatorycompliance, the defence of environmental litigation, the avoidance and defenceof environmental-related prosecutions, crisis prevention and management,mitigating business disruption and advises on reputation management.

Cowan, Jeff G.WeirFoulds LLP(416) 947-5007 [email protected]

Mr. Cowan appears regularly before tribunals and all courts including theSupreme Court of Canada for both public and private clients focusing on publiclaw, regulatory law, judicial review of government decision-making, Indigenouspeoples, municipal law, finance, assessment and taxation, land use planningand development, freedom of information, professional discipline and realestate litigation.


To be sure, there was what Stenger calls a “P3hiatus” under Rachel Notley’s NDP rule. But pre-vious Conservative governments did resort to P3sto build about 40 schools, the ring roads in Ed-monton andCalgary, awastewater treatment plantand a composting facility in Calgary, among otherprojects— and Stenger expects Kenney to pick upwhere his Conservative predecessors left off.“The most immediate shift will likely be from

the social housing developments to which theNDP committed to more development under P3models,” Stenger says.Romoff is confident that the Kenney govern-

ment’s fall budget will feature a “significant role”for P3s, encouraged no doubt by a P3 consortium’srecent completion of the $1.6 billion FortMcMur-

ray to Edmonton transmission line. The consor-tium not only financed the project through thelargest P3 bond in history, but completed the proj-ect on budget and threemonths ahead of schedule.Also on time and on budget was the Stoney CNGBus Storage and Transit Facility in Calgary, a P3project led by Plenary Infrastructure.“When the Premier says he’ll move on P3s, P3s

will move,” Romoff says.

Québec P3s flourishSo, itappears,willP3scontinuetoflourishinQuébec.“There’s a history of P3s in the province and the

recent budget continued to identify infrastructureas a high priority,” Romoff says. “In fact, the Coali-tionAvenir has confirmed that itwouldprocure thenewdomeonMontréal’sOlympicStadiumas aP3.”And if there’s any doubt that public-private part-

nerships are beacons of innovation, the emergenceof Montréal’s $6.3-billion Réseau express métro-politain (REM), which brings a new P3 model tomarket, should silence the skeptics.The model is the brainchild of the Caisse de

dépôt et placement du Québec and its subsid-iary CDPQ Infra. What makes the REM modelunique is that CDPQ Infra is taking on the entirerisk of the project, mitigating it only by hivingoff interests to other investors. No portion of theproject resides on government balance sheets. But

“WHENEVERTHERE’S A CHANGEIN LEADERSHIP OR PARTY,THERE IS A CHANGE INAPPROACH THAT AT THEVERY LEAST CAN RESULTIN SOME DELAYSIN THE PIPELINE.”Tim Murphy; McMillan LLP


Emblem, Robert D.G. Clyde & Co Canada LLP(514) 764-3650 [email protected]

Mr. Emblem specializes in resolving construction disputes on behalf ofconstruction professionals, contractors and their insurers. He has handled,defended and settled hundreds of construction claims throughout NorthAmerica for over 25 years. Mr. Emblem is also one of Canada’s leading expertsin construction insurance.

Dyck, Michael Stikeman Elliott LLP(403) 266-9030 [email protected]

Mr. Dyck is a partner in the Real Estate and Banking & Finance Groups. Heprovides advice in connection with a broad range of real estate, developmentand construction transactions, advising on acquisitions and dispositions,commercial real estate financings and leasing. He also advises on generalcorporate financing, acquisition financing, subordinate financingand debt offerings.

Dunsky, Ilan Dentons Canada LLP(514) 878-5833 [email protected]

Mr. Dunsky is National Co-chair of Dentons’ Infrastructure and PPP groupand an active executive committee member of the global Infrastructure andPPP group. He represents both domestic and international clients in thedevelopment of infrastructure, public-private partnerships and project finance,particularly in the energy, transportation and health sectors.

Duffy, Patrick G. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5257 [email protected]

Mr. Duffy is Co-head of the Project Development & Finance Group. He hasconsiderable experience dealing with environmental assessments and otherregulatory approvals in a variety of sectors, including renewable and non-renewable electricity generation, electricity transmission, mining, transitand transportation, aggregate quarries, and waste management.

Drance, Jonathan S. Stikeman Elliott LLP(604) 631-1361 [email protected]

Mr. Drance specializes in energy law, including energy-related M&A, corporatefinance and project finance. He has participated in transactions involvingmajor pipelines, related oil and gas facilities, power plants and transmissionlines. He served on the Board of BC Hydro. He writes extensively on energy law,particularly energy project risks and investment trends.

Doyle, Catherine Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(416) 863-4160 [email protected]

Ms. Doyle is a financial services lawyer whose practice focuses on projectfinance, infrastructure, P3 and structured finance law. She regularlyadvises proponents of infrastructure projects in the transportation, socialinfrastructure, alternative energy, power and healthcare sectors. She hasalso represented a wide variety of financial institutions in the financingof infrastructure assets.


the government has an important role, serving asguardian of the public interest by identifying thepublic’s infrastructure needs. Once the govern-ment does so, it is the private sector that does theinitial planning and investigation to determinethe project’s commercial viability. It then propos-es alternatives to government, which decides onthe proposal that suits its purposes best.Competing with the REM as Québec’s star

project for the time being is the recently complet-ed Champlain Bridge reconstruction. Althoughit’s a federal P3 endeavour, some of the REMtransit traffic will pass over the bridge—demon-strating what collaboration between federal andprovincial governments can achieve when prop-erly executed.

Ambitious east coast projectsElsewhere, bothNova Scotia andNewfoundlandand Labrador have ambitious healthcare andhighway projects on the go.“Neither of these provinces have a strong his-

tory of P3s, so the latest developments are veryencouraging,” Romoff says.And even in the far north, P3s are thriving.

The Northwest Territories has brought severalprojects to market, including theMackenzie Val-ley Fibre Link and the 97-kilometre Tlicho all-season road connecting Yellowknife to Whati,now for themost part a fly-in community.Critical to the P3 scenario, of course, is the

federal government’s plan to invest $180 billionin infrastructure over 12 years. Although criticshave lamented what seems to be a slow flow forthe funding since the program’s announcementin 2016, it’s perhaps understandable because theprocess required bilateral agreements with all theprovinces, something thathasnowbeenachieved.“Even after that, it’s a two-way street because

theprovincesmust identify the projects forwhichthe funding will be used before the federal gov-ernment will release the money,” Romoff says.“But the alignment is now good with the fedsready tomove themoney out.”And the P3s in — except in BC, which seems

to be parting ways with the rest of the country.“PremierHorgan and his cabinet are not particu-larly strong P3 supporters,” Romoff says. “Butthey’re stillmoving aheadwith infrastructure, in-cluding a couple of design, build, finance projectsthat don’t include a maintenance component,which they are reserving for the public sector.”Going forward, Romoff can best be described

aswistful about the future of P3s under theNDP.“We continue working with the BC govern-

ment and trying to demonstrate how P3s are ad-vantageous,” he says. “But we’re pragmatic as tothe number of projects in the province that willcome to fruition on a P3model.”


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WITHAN INTERNATIONALLY recognizedmodel for public-private partnerships andno short-age of projects, the Canadian infrastructure mar-ket is going strong with no signs of abating.Making long-term projects possible is long-term

finance and debt.“It’s typical that the life insurance companies are

engaged in providing long-termdebt for these proj-ects…while long-termfinancing is alsomade avail-able through institutional investors, private equityand so on,” saysMarkRomoff, President andCEOof The Canadian Council for Public-Private Part-nerships, from his Toronto office.Public-private partnerships by their nature tend

to be long-term, created for infrastructure projectssuch as public transit and hospitals, and “the pri-vate sector takes on responsibility for designingan asset like a hospital building and arranging for

FINANCING LONG-TERM PROJECTSBy Elizabeth Raymer

FINANCING

Canadianinfrastructure

projects attractinternational

investors, as themarket shiftsfrom facilities

and roads towardtransportation and

transit projects



some of the financing andmaintaining the assets,”says Romoff. While the project agreement maylast 30 years, the infrastructure itself is usually de-signed to live formuch longer.A major infrastructure project is the Gordie

Howe International Bridge, which is currently un-der construction, and the only binational projectthat Canada has at present. That bridge is project-ed to have a lifespan of 125 years and cost $5.7 bil-lion to design, build, operate andmaintain over 30years. Healthcare facilities such as hospitals mayhave a shorter lifespan, “but the financing and theproject agreements themselves are designed to lastfor around 30 to 35 years,” he says.

Investing in CanadianinfrastructureThere continues to be a strong appetite to investin Canada, and there’s no shortage of capital, butinvestors naturally look for stable long-term re-turns. Canada has developed a good track recordfor investing in infrastructure, which has created

Gangbar, Leonard A. Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-7478 [email protected]

Mr. Gangbar is one of Toronto’s most experienced development lawyers, actingfor many of Canada’s most prominent developers in the mixed-use space. Heand his team of highly skilled lawyers are routinely engaged to structure some ofthe most complex, high rise mixed-use developments in the City, having actedon upwards of 30,000 units in the mixed-use space.

Friend, QC, Anthony L. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3182 [email protected]

Mr. Friend’s practice areas include commercial and construction litigationand arbitration, assessment and taxation of privately held infrastructure, andcorporate arrangements and restructuring. He has acted in over 85 corporatearrangements and restructurings.

Fransen, Aaron Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5231 [email protected]

Mr. Fransen is a partner in the Corporate Group and the Project Development& Finance Group. His practice focuses on project finance of infrastructure andenergy projects in the bond and bank markets. He represents corporate clientsin M&A and other strategic transactions. His clients include banks, governmententities, resource companies, media and telecom companies, and private-equity firms.

Foxcroft, Simon R. Bennett Jones LLP(780) 945-4756 [email protected]

Mr. Foxcroft regularly advises clients on construction-related matters andhas been involved in a variety of construction projects including: gas plants;pipelines; power generation facilities; tank farms; food production plants;transloading facilities; light rail lines; coal mine infrastructure; an activatedcarbon plant; and various electrical distribution and transmission facilities.

Fews, Stefan Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-6493 [email protected]

Mr. Fews is a partner in the Corporate and Real Estate Groups. His practicefocuses on commercial real estate, secured financing and JVs. He acts forpension funds and institutional investors in negotiating and structuringpartnerships and other entities for real estate transactions in Canadaand abroad.

Ferris, QC, FCIArb, Craig A.B. Lawson Lundell LLP(604) 631-9197 [email protected]

Mr. Ferris acts for local, national and international mining, transportation,construction, power generation and other infrastructure clients in a variety ofdisputes including those related to public/private partnership agreements,transactions and joint ventures. He has appeared at all levels of BC courts,the Supreme Court of Canada and in private arbitration, both domesticand international.


Grenier, Pierre Dentons Canada LLP(514) 878-8856 [email protected]

Mr. Grenier is a partner in Dentons’ Litigation and Dispute Resolution group.His practice focuses on corporate and commercial matters as well as theconstruction, energy and real estate sectors. He represents owners anddevelopers, general and specialized contractors, equipment manufacturers andfranchisors, financial institutions, industrial corporations and investors.

Green, Bram J. Goodmans LLP(416) 597-4153 [email protected]

Mr. Green’s commercial real estate practice focuses on acquisitions anddivestitures, joint ventures, secured lending, hospitality, public/private projectsand renewable energy generation projects. He is assisting Ontario Lottery andGaming Corporation in the modernization of its land-based casino gaming.

Gordon, Carolena Clyde & Co Canada LLP(514) 764-3664 [email protected]

Ms. Gordon advises construction firms, construction professionals and theirinsurers in infrastructure projects. A creative and commercially mindedproblem-solver with extensive trial experience, she is known for her expertisein early mediation and negotiation in complex and multi-party litigation.Over 26 years, she has built a strong reputation as a strategic thinkerin dispute resolution.

Glaholt, Duncan W. Glaholt LLP(416) 368-8280 [email protected]

Mr. Glaholt, CArb, is one of Canada’s most highly recommended constructionlawyers, with experience in energy, infrastructure and mining projects. He is afellow of the CCCL, ACCL and IACL, and author of leading titles on constructionlaw and ADR.

Gilmour, Bradley S. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3382 [email protected]

Mr. Gilmour’s practice focuses on regulatory, energy, environmental andAboriginal law. He advises on regulatory and environmental approvals, releaseand incident reporting, contaminated sites and environmental investigations andprosecutions on a range of energy, chemical, petrochemical, natural resource,renewables and other industry types.

Gilbert, Geoffrey G.Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(613) 780-3764 [email protected]

Mr. Gilbert practises in the area of project finance, with an emphasis on public-private partnerships and infrastructure transactions. He regularly advises publicauthorities, private-sector participants and lenders, among others, on large andinnovative projects in Canada. He has been particularly active in the LRT space.


“lots of confidence on the part of the internationalmarket,” says Romoff. This includes building in-frastructure through public-private partnerships(P3s), of which transportation and healthcare fa-cilities account for the vastmajority of P3 builds inCanada, he says.“There’s been a robust interest in Canadian in-

frastructure for a long time,” says Ilan Dunsky, aMontréal-based partner inDentonsCanada LLP’sglobal Transportation and Infrastructure practice.Over the past few years he has seen an increasing

amount of Canadian entrance into the market;internationally, Spanish companies have been in-volved for a long time, as well as German, Ameri-can andBritish, among others, who invest as devel-opers of a project.More new foreign investors may be coming

into the Canadian market because of the shift inthe types of projects that are being undertaken inCanada, Dunsky adds, with the market shiftingaway recently from facilities and roads to transpor-tation and transit projects, bringing in a variety ofplayers who are experts in transportation and tran-sit. Many companies are ahead of Canada in theiruse of concession agreements in P3s, for example,having been involved in these projects in manycountries around the world, and have expertise inoperating transit systems.“P3 is a vibrant market,” agrees Mark Bain, a

partner in Torys LLP in Toronto who specializesin infrastructure and project finance. “We’ve seenthe entire world land on theCanadian doorstep toget a piece of thatmarket.”Canada currently has 286 P3 projects in op-

eration or under construction valued at approxi-mately $140 billion, he notes. Many of Canada’sinfrastructure projects only proceed via a govern-ment sponsor, and governments have an enor-mous appetite for more and more infrastructurein Canada, says Bain; that runs across all politicalparties. “More and better infrastructure is a great

“IT’S TYPICAL THATTHE LIFE INSURANCECOMPANIES AREENGAGED IN PROVIDINGLONG-TERM DEBTFOR THESE PROJECTS… WHILE LONG-TERMFINANCING IS ALSOMADE AVAILABLETHROUGH INSTITUTIONALINVESTORS, PRIVATEEQUITY AND SO ON.”Mark Romoff; CEO, The Canadian Councilfor Public-Private Partnerships


Haythorne, John S. Dentons Canada LLP(604) 691-6456 [email protected]

Mr. Haythorne practises in the areas of construction, engineering and infrastructure,with special emphasis on negotiating, drafting and advising on contracts. He isparticularly experienced in public-private partnerships, advising owners on thestructure and administration of procurement and legal issues relating to designand construction. He is a Registered Professional Engineer.

Hardwicke-Brown, MungoBlake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(403) 260-9674 [email protected]

Mr. Hardwicke-Brown advises on major infrastructure project developmentwith a broad range of experience in P3 projects. His practice is primarily focusedon the energy and natural resources sector, including petroleum, natural gas,oil sands, electricity, potash and other commodities, pipelines, storage, LNGterminalling and supply arrangements, power generation and transmission.

Hankinson, QC, Stuart B. Bennett Jones LLP(604) 891-5188 [email protected]

Mr. Hankinson’s practice focuses on complex construction, commercial andinsurance dispute resolution. He counsels developers, EPC & EPCM contractors,design-builders, design professionals, construction insurers and constructionproject managers to mitigate and manage disputes. He also acts as a refereeon complex projects and as a member of Dispute Adjudication Boardsand Dispute Resolution Boards.

Hamilton, Peter E. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5564 [email protected]

Mr. Hamilton is a partner in the Banking & Finance Group. His practicehas a particular focus in the areas of corporate finance, project finance,the regulation of financial institutions, derivatives, structured finance andinsolvency. He advises international banks on the acquisition of Canadianassets, the establishment of Canadian business, transactional matters,and regulatory requirements.

Groulx, Karen Dentons Canada LLP(416) 863-4697 [email protected]

Ms. Groulx’s practice includes negotiation and drafting of various typesof construction documents on behalf of owners and general contractors;and dispute resolution and litigation involving the awarding of contracts,construction liens and related proceedings on behalf of owners, generalcontractors and subcontractors as well as mortgagees. She has particularexpertise in E-Discovery.

Griffiths, Leonard J. Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-7473 [email protected]

Mr. Griffiths is part of the Environmental and Energy team that assists clientswith a wide variety of energy, industrial, mining and transportation projects,including obtaining approvals, completing environmental assessments,conducting M&A/financing transactions, risk management and litigation. He iscertified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist in Environmental law.


economic booster as well.”Strategically,Bain says,Canada is seenas a spring-

board to the US markets, which have the opportu-nity to becomemuch larger given that their need forinfrastructure corresponds to their population size(approximately 10 times that ofCanada). Althoughhe is seeingP3deals in theUS, “we’rewatching for itto becomemuchmore active.”International investors are coming toCanada to-

day, seeing theUnited States as being themarket oftomorrow, he says; in the United States the marketfor P3 and other private participation is less robustbecause they don’t have the centralized procure-ment agencies that exist in Canada. “The politicalinfluence in theUS tends to bemore localized thaninCanada.”

FinancingA traditional P3 approach to financing an infra-structure project is for the private sector to deliverthe infrastructure, then arrange its own financingto pay for the construction costs and amortize thatconstruction cost over the life of the asset, says PaulBlundy, a partner in Bennett Jones LLP inTorontoand leader of the firm’s public infrastructure proj-ects practice.“The project vehicle would finance that [cost] by

issuing bonds or any long-term debt. And there’s avery healthymarket for that long-term debt.”The Fort McMurray West 500-kV Transmis-

sion Line, which now runs from Fort McMurrayto southwest of Edmonton in Alberta, producedCanada’s biggest infrastructure bond offering todate, Blundy says: a $1.4-billion bond offering,for an estimated project cost of $1.6 billion. “The[financing] structure there was that the projectvehicle went out and borrowed all the money theyneeded to build the project, and are paying it backover a period of 25 years to … bondholders. That’smore the traditional model for P3.”But in Ontario, at least, the pricing of that

long-term debt by the design-builders has beenperceived as too high relative to the cost for theprovince to raise the money independently, saysBlundy; this has led to a model in which thegovernment pays most of the capital cost as theconstruction proceeds. Infrastructure Ontario’sHighway 401 Expansion Project, for example,has been set up to have three “milestone pay-ments” to the piece, he says, “so that basically theproject vehicle just does short-term constructionfinancing, and the bulk of the financing is donedirectly by the province.”Projects costing more than $200 million were

traditionally financed by bonds rather than bankdebt, but more recently the new Canada Infra-structure Bank has been financing a subset of theseprojects, Dunsky says. Last year a $1.28-billion in-


Jackson, Richard J. Stikeman Elliott LLP(604) 631-1357 [email protected]

Mr. Jackson is the Managing Partner and former Head of the Real Estate Groupin Vancouver. His practice emphasizes large commercial and residential realestate transactions, including advising on all aspects of major multi-use realestate development projects. His practice also includes acting for the Provinceof British Columbia on all four modern-day land claims treatieswith First Nations.

Imerti, Vince F. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5555 [email protected]

Mr. Imerti is a partner in the Real Estate, Private Equity and Tax Groups. Hispractice focuses on domestic and cross-border corporate, trust and partnershipmatters. He has extensive experience forming funds and structuring, negotiatingand implementing direct and indirect infrastructure, real estate and private-equity investment transactions for both Canadian and international clients.

Hudec, Albert J. FARRIS LLP(604) 661-9356 [email protected]

Mr. Hudec is an M&A and securities practitioner with 30+ years experiencein cross-border mergers & acquisitions, public- and private-equity and debtfinancings (including bought deals and tax-incentive financings), corporategovernance and board and independent committee representation. He alsopractises extensively in the area of Aboriginal law, leading consultationson major resource projects.

Howe, Robert Goodmans LLP(416) 597-5158 [email protected]

Mr. Howe practises infrastructure, administrative and regulatory law,emphasizing municipal and land development matters. He focuses on allaspects of land development for private- and public-sector clients throughoutOntario, especially the financial aspects of land development, including thefinancing of significant public infrastructure projects and developmentcharge matters.

Holmstrom, Jon J. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(416) 865-5125 [email protected]

Mr. Holmstrom’s practice is focused on corporate and commercial bankingtransactions, cross-border acquisition financing, project finance (mining, windpower and infrastructure), derivative products, corporate loan workouts andrestructurings and securitizations. He provides strategic advice to both financialinstitutions and commercial borrowers across a multiplicity of industries.

Helmstadter, Jane C. Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-7470 [email protected]

Ms. Helmstadter acts for real estate, natural resources and renewable energyclients in domestic and cross-border transactions. She advises on mattersrelated to real estate: acquisition/disposition, financing and structure ofownership vehicles. She assists clients in transactions involving office,retail & industrial property, multi-family residential developmentsand renewable energy projects.


vestment by the Infrastructure Bank and CDPQInfra completed the $6.3-billion financing of theRéseau express métropolitain (REM) light rail inthe Montréal area through an “ultra-low interest-rate loan.”TheBank’smandate is to provide grants or loans

to finance large public infrastructure projects,helping to attract investors by absorbing some ofthe financial risk. In June, the federal governmentannounced that the Bank would help to developVia Rail’s multibillion-dollar high-frequency rail

project between Toronto andMontréal, at least infinancing further studies for the project.And a discussion is starting as to who is the ap-

propriate payor for infrastructure, says Bain. Tra-ditionally the payor would pay for facilities suchas hospitals, and users of infrastructure such astoll roads, power and water systems.There may bea little more user-pay in future, he says, in part asconsumers expect to pay something for their tran-sit and utilities.“We had a long run of projects that were fi-

nanced purely by government, such as powerplants, and then other projects that were largelyprivately financed on the back of government’scommitment to pay,” such as hospital projects, hesays. Canada has now gone from this binarymodelto a hybrid one, blending private and governmentfinance. This includes telecommunications proj-ects in ex-urban areas, which are underpinned bya public policy imperative “to make sure everyonehas good internet.“Those sorts of projects have some revenue asso-

ciated with them, but the Bells and the Teluses ofthe world aren’t going to build their own systems,”Bain points out. “The solution to those kinds ofprojects is some kind of government subsidy orcontribution” to make the project viable finan-cially, particularly, for example, in more remoteregions with a smaller pool of users.The government-funded model may be less

popular for shorter-term projects, where in Brit-ish Columbia, at least, there has been a slightshift in the market towards the design-build, orbuild-finance model where there is no long-termcomponent to the infrastructure projects, says

“P3 IS A VIBRANTMARKET. WE’VE SEENTHE ENTIRE WORLDLAND ON THE CANADIANDOORSTEP TO GETA PIECE OF THATMARKET.”Mark Bain; Torys LLP


Kelsall, Brian C. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(416) 865-5493 [email protected]

Mr. Kelsall’s practice is focused on project finance and development,infrastructure, public-private partnerships and banking. He has considerableexperience in infrastructure development and finance, spanning Canada, theUS and emerging markets. Projects include Gordie Howe Bridge, UC MercedCampus Redevelopment, Pennsylvania Bridges, Eglinton LRT and MackenzieVaughan Hospital.

Karayannides, George J. Clyde & Co Canada LLP(647) 789-4831 [email protected]

Mr. Karayannides’ commercial litigation and arbitration (domestic andinternational) practice embraces a wide range of complex and high-stakesbusiness disputes, including infrastructure and construction, shareholderremedies, product liability and class actions. He regularly works with foreigncounsel on cross-border issues and disputes.

Junger, Robin M.McMillan LLP(778) 329-7523 [email protected]

Mr. Junger advises clients on environmental, Aboriginal and regulatory matters,and has helped proponents of energy, infrastructure and other major projectssecure a range of approvals. He previously served as BC’s Deputy Minister ofEnergy, Mines & Petroleum Resources, Chair of the BC Oil & Gas Commission,head of the BC Environmental Assessment Office and a Provincial ChiefTreaty Negotiator.

Johnson, Mark Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(416) 863-3318 [email protected]

Mr. Johnson’s practice focuses primarily on major power, infrastructure andpublic-private partnership projects, and related joint ventures, investments,acquisitions and dispositions. He has led significant transactions in a variety ofindustry sectors and asset classes, including social and defence infrastructure,transportation, nuclear, renewables, manufacturing and telecommunications.

Jenkins, William K. Dentons Canada LLP(403) 268-6835 [email protected]

Mr. Jenkins is Co-lead of Dentons’ Banking & Financial Services practicegroup in Calgary and has a diverse transaction-based practice advising onthe structuring and implementation of debt and equity financings, projectfinancings, mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures. He has experienceadvising financial institutions on issues relating to lending practices and capitalmarkets compliance.

Jacquin, Maxime Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-2444 [email protected]

Mr. Jacquin is a partner in the Corporate Group. His practice focuses primarilyon banking, project finance, P3 and infrastructure & energy M&A. He alsohas extensive experience in the energy industry, in particular with respectto renewable energy.


Samantha Cunliffe of McCarthy Tétrault LLPin Vancouver. In this model a single contractorwith design, construction and facilities manage-ment expertise funds, designs and builds theproject and then operates it for a period of time.The project is then leased to the client over anagreed number of years.

Creatingcommunity equityIn June, when Canadian Utilities Limited (CU)and its partner Quanta Services Inc. sold its in-terest in Alberta PowerLine (APL) - the design-builder of the Fort McMurray West 500-kVTransmission Project - CU offered an opportu-nity for Indigenous communities along the trans-mission line route to obtain up to a 40-per-centequity interest in APL. “This model will providea long-term stable investment and further enableeconomic development in the local communities,”CU said in a press release.The final ownership mix of APL will be deter-

minedupon close of the purchase option for Indig-enous communities, says Blundy. “It’s an opportu-nity for them for a high-returning equity” on thepowerline that runs through their communities.Bain also describes the 97-kilometre Tlicho

All-Season Road (TASR) project in the North-west Territories that will improve urban accessfor members of theWhatì, Gamètì andWekweètìcommunities, which have relied on a winter iceroad to leave the region -- made all theharder withclimate change shortening the winter season.A plan was developed to build an all-season

gravel road, which would give residents year-round access to other destinations in the North-west Territories and Alberta, and provide accessto mines to the north.The First Nations piece ofthe project is multifold, says Bain -- whose firmacted for the government of the Northwest Ter-ritories in the deal – including creating localjobs, obligations to hire local trades, and eco-nomic participation requirements“The [Whati] First Nations community was

allowed to invest up to 20 per cent equity in theproject; they are partners, so they share in all theups and downs in the project,” says Bain.“That, I think, is a bellwether [for] things that

you’ll see coming along. … Trans Mountain,every [infrastructure project] that goes ahead,there’s clearly a strong desire to have some indig-enous participation – not just to accommodatethe project, but to have some economic partici-pation in the project.“I’m not an optimist generally,” he says, “but I’m

certainly an optimist in [the infrastructure] space.We’ve got a good thing going, and I think there’smore to come.”


FEDERAL GOVERNMENTPRIORITIZES RURALECONOMICDEVELOPMENT— INCLUDINGINFRASTRUCTUREBy Lexpert

RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

The governmenthas created a new

economic developmentstrategy that focuseson rural Canada, as

well as a connectivitystrategy that provides

high-speed accessfor all Canadians


Ledgett, Michael Dentons Canada LLP(416) 863-4793 [email protected]

Mr. Ledgett centres his practice on corporate and commercial law, corporategovernance, mergers and acquisitions, PPP, and the transportation industry.His clients include businesses (domestic and foreign), governments and theiragencies, and not-for-profit organizations, as well as private-sector developers,operators, lenders and investors on P3 projects.

Leblanc, Nicolas Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(514) 397-5262 [email protected]

Mr. Leblanc is Co-head of Fasken’s Real Estate group in Montréal. He is alsoactive in the Infrastructure group. Mr. Leblanc provides strategic adviceto a wide range of players in the financial, real estate, transportation andinfrastructure markets on the development of projects requiring interactionwith administrative, government and community stakeholders.

Kyte, Kevin Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-3346 [email protected]

Mr. Kyte’s infrastructure practice focuses primarily on domestic andinternational mergers & acquisitions, governmental requests for proposals andcontracts and regulatory issues in business and financing transactions. He hasworked extensively with many industries, including energy, aluminum, steel, pulp& paper, construction and engineering.

Kussner, Barnet H.WeirFoulds LLP(416) 947-5079 [email protected]

Mr. Kussner’s municipal law practice covers P3s; infrastructure and publicfacilities; residential, commercial and mixed-use developments; and OfficialPlan, Secondary Plan and zoning bylaw reviews. He has extensive experienceacting for public- and private-sector clients before municipal councils, the LocalPlanning Appeal Tribunal and all court levels, including the Supreme Courtof Canada.

Krawchuk, Leanne C. Dentons Canada LLP(780) 423-7198 [email protected]

Ms. Krawchuk is the Canada Co-chair and a global Lead for Dentons’ Mininggroup and a member of the Dentons Canada LLP National Board. She routinelyadvises mining producers on commercial and other mining legal matters.She has expertise in the drafting and negotiation of construction contractsand procurement contracts primarily in the oil sands, mining and generalconstruction industries.

Kortbeek, Mark P. Bennett Jones LLP(780) 917-4273 [email protected]

Mr. Kortbeek has experience in the areas of infrastructure development,commercial real estate, and commercial law. His infrastructure practice focuseson providing advice to owners/developers and contractors in connection withlocal and international projects including infrastructure, electric transmission,power, and LNG projects.


“SMART CITIES” are all over the CanadianInfrastructure scene. However, the federal govern-ment launched a newMinister and a new strategythis year.Why do we hear less about rural projectsthan urban, and is this set to change?Brian Kelsall of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin

LLP in Toronto puts rural Infrastructure in con-text: “There are two dynamic tensions” in thissector: first, projects “tend to be smaller and oftenmunicipally focused, albeit with provincial or fed-eral support.”Second, says Kelsall, they often have inherent

complexities as a result of where they are, includ-ing, “short construction season, difficult access

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Little, David W. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(604) 631-3180 [email protected]

Mr. Little is the Co-leader of the Procurement group and a Fasken lawyer inWestern Canada, with a focus on construction and infrastructure, procurement,public-private partnerships, development and service delivery. He has extensiveexperience with major projects, facilities, service models, transportationand energy.

Lewis, Mark V. Bennett Jones LLP(604) 891-5180 [email protected]

Mr. Lewis’s experience includes the acquisition, financing and developmentof lands for transportation (rail, marine, air and truck) and other publicinfrastructure purposes, education facilities, seniors' housing properties andall-season resorts on government-tenured lands. He has extensive experiencestructuring co-ownership, joint-venture and partnership relationships for realestate projects.

Lewis, QC, Gregory D.Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(604) 641-4923 [email protected]

Mr. Lewis is the Canadian Head of the firm’s Infrastructure group and Co-headof its North American Infrastructure Group. His practice focuses on commercialtransactions in infrastructure, energy and other industry sectors. His experienceincludes PPPs in a variety of sectors, as well as port developments, hydro andco-generation projects.

Levy, Serge Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-3194 [email protected]

Mr. Levy’s practice is focused on banking law, corporate finance, financial servicesand commercial law. He is involved in sophisticated infrastructure debt financingtransactions representing corporate borrowers and financial institutions alike.He regularly acts on mining, PPP, restructuring, real estate, and leveragedbuyout transactions.

LeMoine, James (Jay) J.Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(604) 641-4844 [email protected]

Mr. LeMoine’s practice focuses on the commercial aspects of infrastructureprojects and business transactions and includes the negotiating, draftingand implementation of commercial contracts, business structures,public-private partnerships, and infrastructure agreements.

Legge, Jennifer G. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5660 [email protected]

Ms. Legge is a senior partner and member of the Toronto ManagementCommittee. She provides advisory services on all aspects of business law andhas expertise in two core areas: financing/secured lending and M&A. Sheacts for borrowers and lenders in domestic and international, secured andunsecured financings in a range of industries and financing types, includinginfrastructure financing.


and supply, vagaries of ice roads and permafrost,and heightened environmental sensitivities.”Also First Nations are often involved, which

brings in another level of government.In short, says Kelsall, rural Infrastructure proj-

ects “can be hard to do, small and a bit risky, mak-ing them harder to finance and attract big players.”Having said that, Fasken as well as Torys LLP

and other firms are working on some very large ru-ral projects, often in the Energy sector.Torys LLP is acting as counsel to Watayni-

kaneyapPower, a partnership between24FirstNa-tionCommunities and FortisOntario Inc., in con-nection with the Wataynikaneyap TransmissionProject in northwesternOntario. According to thefirm’s website, “Torys acted for WataynikaneyapPower in the selection of a transmission partnerand in the negotiation of the related partnershiparrangements with FortisOntario, and continuesto provide ongoing advice to the partnership on allcommercial and regulatory matters related to theproject’s development and financing.”Fasken represented the Ontario government on

theWataynikaneyap project.The federal government has made significant

overtures into the rural Infrastructure sector in2019. In January, Prime Minister Justin Trudeauappointed the Honourable Bernadette Jordan asCanada’s first Minister of Rural Economic Devel-opment. InfrastructureCanada’s website says “TheMinister provides rural Canadians with a dedi-cated voice at the Cabinet table, representing ruralperspectives and championing economic opportu-nity and quality of life in rural Canada. MinisterJordan is also leading the roll-out of broadbandand infrastructure investments in rural Canada.”By the end of June, Minister Jordan released

a new federal strategy: “Rural Opportunity, Na-tional Prosperity: An Economic DevelopmentStrategy for Rural Canada,” which “is based onconsultations with the people living andworkingin rural communities — like forestry workers,entrepreneurs, and farmers — as well as commu-nity leaders, associations, businesses, academics,municipalities, Indigenous groups, and provin-cial and territorial governments. It directly re-sponds to the input we received and puts people,

“[RURAL INFRASTRUCTUREPROJECTS] CAN BE HARDTO DO, SMALL AND A BITRISKY, MAKING THEMHARDER TO FINANCEAND ATTRACT BIG PLAYERS.”Brian Kelsall; Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP


MacKay-Dunn, QC, R. Hector FARRIS LLP(604) 661-9307 [email protected]

Mr. MacKay-Dunn has over 30 years of practice experience providing legaladvice to high-growth public and private companies over a broad range ofindustry sectors including infrastructure, energy, mining, life sciences, healthand technology, advising on corporate domestic and cross-border publicand private securities offerings, M&A and international partnering andcorporate governance.

MacDonald, QC, Ross A. Stikeman Elliott LLP(604) 631-1367 [email protected]

Mr. MacDonald’s diverse real estate and commercial practice emphasizesacquisitions, leasing, financing and all aspects of major commercial realestate development projects. His practice also includes real estate-basedinfrastructure projects, such as the Vancouver/Richmond/YVR Canada Linerapid transit project.

Macaulay, David J. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3479 [email protected]

Mr. Macaulay represents domestic and international developers of commercialenergy projects, with an emphasis on structuring power, pipeline, oil & gas,storage and other infrastructure projects.

Lyons, Catherine A. Goodmans LLP(416) 597-4183 [email protected]

Ms. Lyons counsels private- and public-sector clients in planning andenvironmental law and social licence matters. Her practice includesinfrastructure finance and cost-sharing agreements and associatedenvironmental assessment approvals.

Lutz, J. Steven Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-5732 [email protected]

Mr. Lutz specializes in project, asset-based, cross-border, equipment andsyndicated financings. His clients include Canadian and international banks,project developers, private-equity and corporate borrowers.

Lucky, Donald C.I.Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP(780) 497-3354 [email protected]

Mr. Lucky is experienced in the negotiation of complex constructionarrangements and has acted in relation to mega projects throughout Canada,the United States and in Australia. The matters have ranged from industrialpower generation (oil, gas, solar, wind, carbon capture) to public-private(P3) infrastructure projects (hospitals, transportation). He also adviseson construction disputes.


places, and partnerships at the centre of ruraleconomic development.”Launched concurrently andmostwould saynec-

essarily, the government released its “High-SpeedAccess for All: Canada’s Connectivity Strategy”with a plan to ensure that “all Canadians have ac-cess to affordable, high-speed internet, no matterwhere they live. It also commits to improve cellularaccess where Canadians live and work, and alongmajor highways and roads.”According to the Strategy, it “was designed to

address the priorities of rural Canada. This grass-roots Strategy was built on ideas submitted by ru-ral Canadians from across the country. MinisterJordan and Parliamentary Secretary Marc Serrétoured the country and met with hundreds of ru-ral Canadians to hear first-hand about their localneeds.They spoke with people living and workingin rural communities — like forestry workers, en-trepreneurs, and farmers — as well as communityleaders, associations, businesses, academics, mu-nicipalities, Indigenous groups, and provincial andterritorialMinisters.“Canadians were also invited to submit their

ideas directly to the new Centre for Rural Eco-nomic Development at Infrastructure Canada.We heard that rural Canada is facing rapid andunprecedented changes, but more importantly, ithas a solid foundation for building a prosperousfuture. While every community’s ideas were dif-ferent and specific to their needs, common themesand challenges emerged: the need for reliable andaffordable high-speed Internet and mobile con-nectivity; a desire to maintain vibrant local econo-mies; the need to attract and retain talent (includ-ing through skills development and immigration);the need for affordable and attainable housing; theneed for new or improved Infrastructure wherepeople live and work that is resilient to climatechange; a need for community capacity toplan andimplement improvements and change.”A key part of the Strategy is to extend high-

speed internet and wireless connectivity to allCanadians. “Access to reliable, high-speed Inter-net is essential for success. It’s needed for businessgrowth, skills training, public safety, access to ser-vices, and participation in the democratic process.Rural and remote communities are particularlyhard to connect, given their low population den-sity, remoteness, and often challenging terrain.As a result, as of 2018, 4.9 million Canadianslacked access to the government’s target speeds of50 megabits per second download (Mbps) and 10Mbps upload (“50/10”). In fact, only 37 percent ofrural households are currently able to access thesespeeds, compared to 97 percent of households inurban areas. Cellular coverage is also an issue. Asof 2017, 14 percent of major Canadian roads andhighways still lacked mobile wireless coverage.


Martin, Karen Dentons Canada LLP(604) 691-6455 [email protected]

Ms. Martin practises in the areas of construction, infrastructure and PPP.She provides strategic advice to minimize legal risk during procurement andconstruction. She advises on the preparation of contracts to avoid disputes,and develops proactive solutions to project issues. She negotiates resolutions,and acts as counsel in the mediation, arbitration and litigationof construction claims.

Margie, John Glaholt LLP(416) 368-8280 [email protected]

Mr. Margie has extensive experience and expertise in strategically resolvingcomplex construction disputes regarding all types of construction claimsconducted in the courts and in domestic and international arbitrations. Hisexperience ranges across a wide variety of projects from infrastructure projects,institutional, industrial and commercial projects to condominium projects.

Mantini, S. Paul Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-4837 [email protected]

Mr. Mantini practises public infrastructure, commercial real estate, projectfinance, corporate/commercial (with an emphasis on lending and securedtransactions) and gaming law. His experience encompasses some of Canada’slargest P3 projects, including Toronto Waterfront Revitalization, NiagaraFallsview Casino, MaRS Discovery District, Humber River Hospital and the RailDeck Park Development.

Maguire, Patrick T. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3184 [email protected]

Mr. Maguire’s practice spans all areas of commercial energy law includingenergy project and infrastructure development, joint ventures, asset and sharesales and project financing. Most recently, he has been particularly active inconnection with the development, sale and use of pipelines, gas plants andrelated energy infrastructure.

MacWilliam, Alexander G. Dentons Canada LLP(403) 268-7090 [email protected]

Mr. MacWilliam is Canada lead for the global Environment and NaturalResources, and Climate Change Strategies groups. He advises on regulatoryapprovals, compliance, contaminated land, climate change, transportation ofdangerous goods, dealing with regulatory agencies, responses to governmentpolicies, and development of internal environmental practices and systems.

MacKenzie, Daphne J. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5695 [email protected]

Ms. MacKenzie is Head of the Banking & Finance Group in Toronto. Her practicefocuses on banking, project finance, restructurings and insolvency. She actsfor financial institutions and borrowers in domestic and cross-border banking,leveraged acquisition, project finance and restructuring transactions.She was an adjunct professor at the University of Western Ontario.


This gap in coverage poses safety con-cerns formotorists and travellers ….”Renewing Rural Infrastructure is

specifically called out: “Strong andmodern infrastructure is an essentialbuilding block for Canada’s competi-tiveness and the long-term prosper-ity of Canadians, whether they livein large cities or small communities.Canada, which is the most trade-dependent nation among the G7, re-

lies on its transportation network and supportinginfrastructure to get goods to market. Together,population and economic growth are putting in-creasing pressure on Canada’s public infrastruc-ture. The need to upgrade and replace Canada’sinfrastructure is becoming urgent. Better infra-structureplanning and construction can reduce theimpact of human activity, help protect and improvethe environment, and contribute to the health andprosperity ofCanadians.”Minister Jordan and Parliamentary Secretary

Serré heard from rural community representa-tives and business leaders who “frequently spokeabout the challenges related to maintaining agingpublic Infrastructure. Leaders spoke about hav-ing to delay or cancel business park expansions orhousing development projects due to inadequateinfrastructure, and how that has slowed economicgrowth. Community Infrastructure, like recre-ation and cultural centres, was also cited as impor-tant to attracting new workers and immigrants,and creating places where existing residents wantto stay.“Yet many noted that the terms for accessing

government funding programs are often beyonda small community’s capacity or financing ability.The capacity of small communities to effectivelyplan for, manage, and renew Infrastructure assetsis a concern. The Federation of Canadian Mu-

“WE HEARD THAT RURALCANADA IS FACING RAPIDAND UNPRECEDENTEDCHANGES, BUT MOREIMPORTANTLY, IT HAS ASOLID FOUNDATION FORBUILDING A PROSPEROUSFUTURE. WHILE EVERYCOMMUNITY’S IDEASWERE DIFFERENT ANDSPECIFIC TO THEIR NEEDS,COMMON THEMES ANDCHALLENGES EMERGED.”Honourable Bernadette Jordan;Canada’s Minister of Rural Economic Development


McKenzie, Maria K. FARRIS LLP(604) 661-9319 [email protected]

Mrs. McKenzie advises the public and private sectors and lenders on all aspectsof the planning, development, procurement and implementation of infrastructureand construction projects, including public-private partnerships. She alsoadvises on other commercial transactions, and other financing transactionsfor both lenders and borrowers.

McIver, Colin J. Dentons Canada LLP(604) 443-7128 [email protected]

Mr. McIver is instrumental in structuring and assisting clients through the realproperty and major project development processes including public-privatepartnerships. Working closely with vendors, purchasers and developers,he is a trusted advisor in connection with property and development projectsspanning a wide variety of commercial, residential, industrial, resortand financing matters.

McInerney, Thomas W. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-4484 [email protected]

Mr. McInerney advises clients in the energy sector on a broad range of domesticand international commercial transactions. He has considerable experiencein energy-based acquisitions and divestitures, with a particular expertise inenergy project development involving oil sands, pipelines, electrical powertransmission and generation including solar, wind and biomass renewableenergy projects.

McCormick, Timothy Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5674 [email protected]

Mr. McCormick is a partner practising corporate and securities law. He hasextensive experience in commercial and corporate finance matters, includinginitial public offerings, restructurings, reorganizations, joint ventures, and debtand equity financings. He has set up Canadian operations of multi-nationalcorporations, and the incorporation and shareholders’ agreements for domesticstart-ups.

Massicotte, Alain Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(514) 982-4007 [email protected]

Mr. Massicotte has extensive experience in project financing and P3s. Inaddition to advising on major projects that include the Markham StouffvilleHospital redevelopment project; the CHUM hospital complex and the CHUMResearch Center project, he has counseled many foreign governmentswith respect to infrastructure projects and P3s (concessions, delegatedmanagement of utilities).

Massé, David Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-3685 [email protected]

Mr. Massé’s practice focuses on domestic and cross-border public and privateM&A, debt and equity offerings and corporate finance transactions. He also hassignificant experience in energy and mining-related M&A, corporate finance,joint ventures, royalty and streaming transactions, and project development.


nicipalities estimates that 60 percent of Canadianmunicipalities have five staff members or fewer.These rural municipalities are less likely to haveasset management plans, yet rural municipalitiesown up to 49 percent of Infrastructure assets. Ru-ral municipalities also typically have an extensiveInfrastructure network and a limited tax base tofund the maintenance and renewal of their Infra-structure assets.”In the “What We’re Doing” section of the Re-

port, the government outlined that it is “providingsignificant investments in infrastructure throughthe Investing in Canada plan and initiatives suchas theNational TradeCorridors Fund.The Invest-ing inCanada plan is investing over $180billion infunding across the country, in five priority areas:rural and northern communities’ Infrastructure;public transit infrastructure; green Infrastructure;social Infrastructure; and trade and transportationInfrastructure.“As of May 2019, the Government of Canada

has approved more than 48,000 Infrastructureprojects, and nearly all are underway or completed.Cost-sharing for rural and northern Infrastruc-ture projects is the most flexible in recognition ofrural needs, with the Government of Canada ableto contribute up to 60 percent of eligible projectcosts in small communities with populations un-der 5,000. In addition, Budget 2019 provided aone-time top-up of $2.2 billion through the federalGas Tax Fund to address short-term priorities inmunicipalities and FirstNations communities.”


Digital Colony completes$720M purchase of Cogeco Peer 1On May 1, 2019, Digital Colony, a global invest-ment firm dedicated to strategic opportunitiesin digital infrastructure, announced the comple-tion of their purchase of Cogeco Peer 1, a leadingprovider of colocation, network connectivity andmanaged services, from Cogeco CommunicationsInc. (TSX: CCA) for $720 million to create astandalone business under a new brand.Cogeco Peer 1’s portfolio includes over 3,300

route kilometres of owned, dense metro fibre ingreater Toronto and Montréal, as well as severaldata centres across North America and Europewhich serve a global blue-chip customer base. Thenew entity will include a fibre division which willbe Canada’s first independent neutral-host pro-vider of small cell and 5G infrastructure and en-

BIG DEALSCompiled by Elizabeth Raymer

BIG DEALS

Significantcorporate

transactions

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Naccarato, D. JohnNorton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(613) 780-8608 [email protected]

Mr. Naccarato’s practice focuses on P3 and alternative financing projects,where he brings his 35 years of experience in commercial real estate andconstruction law to infrastructure redevelopment. He has also been involved inmany merger and acquisition, asset-based lending, corporate and commercial,banking, development, leasing and project finance transactions over the courseof his career.

Murphy, Timothy J.McMillan LLP(416) 865-7908 [email protected]

Mr. Murphy’s practice focuses on transactions comprising a public componentand involving project finance, infrastructure, energy and construction law.He acts for authorities, concession companies and lenders in structuring P3arrangements. His public-sector experience includes serving as Chief of Staffto Canada’s Prime Minister, Chief of Staff to Canada’s Finance Minister and asan Ontario MPP.

Morency, Claude Dentons Canada LLP(514) 878-8870 [email protected]

Mr. Morency is Managing Partner of Dentons’ Montréal office. His practicefocuses on corporate, commercial and construction litigation. He has extensiveexperience in managing and conducting large-scale litigation before arbitral orjudicial courts. He has represented parties where hundreds of millions of dollarswere at stake and very complex technical evidence issues were involved.

Mitchell, Craig Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5509 [email protected]

Mr. Mitchell is a partner in the Banking & Finance Group with a practicefocus on restructurings and workouts. He has expertise in private acquisitionfinancings, take-over bid financings, debtor-in-possession financings, asset-based lending and mezzanine lending. He counsels both lenders and borrowerson domestic and cross-border financings internationally.

Michael, Ian C. Bennett Jones LLP(416) 777-5778 [email protected]

Mr. Michael’s practice is focused on corporate and securities law with anemphasis on infrastructure consortia, particularly in the aviation industry,M&A involving public companies, private-equity investments and corporatefinance. He also works extensively with Asian companies in connection with theirCanadian investments and acquisitions.

Merrick, Jeffrey Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(604) 631-3386 [email protected]

Mr. Merrick is the Chair of the Blakes national Infrastructure Group. He hasexpertise in P3s and AFPs, including all aspects of major design, build, financeand operate projects working with private partners and governments to deliverinfrastructure assets using private financing. His clients include PE funds,Canadian pension funds and their advisors, private investorsand significant developers.



Perrin, Scott Stikeman Elliott LLP(604) 631-1310 [email protected]

Mr. Perrin is a partner who practises in the areas of corporate lending,construction financing, acquisition financing, and public-private partnership(P3) financing. He acts for lenders or borrowers in connection with all aspectsof loan financings and other secured transactions.

Paura, C. Mario Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5638 [email protected]

Mr. Paura is Head of the Toronto Real Estate Group and Co-head of the NationalGroup specializing in commercial real estate and leasing, financing and M&A forprivate and public companies and REITs. He advises on privatization of publicreal estate companies, capital market transactions, purchases and divestituresof businesses by way of share and asset purchases, partnershipsand joint-ventures.

Parappally, Justin Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5591 [email protected]

Mr. Parappally is a partner in the Banking & Finance Group at the Toronto office.He has expertise in acquisition financing, gold streaming transactions, miningdebt finance, project finance, debtor-in-possession financing, and asset-basedlending transactions. He acts for financial institutions, non-bank lenders andborrowers in domestic, cross-border, and international banking transactions.

Ouimet, François H. Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-3057 [email protected]

Mr. Ouimet’s corporate, real estate, and private and institutional financingpractice includes experience with P3s and infrastructure projects,capitalizations, syndications, commercial contracts, leasing, securitiesand securitizations.

O’Leary, Dean A. FARRIS LLP(604) 661-9316 [email protected]

Mr. O’Leary’s practice focuses on corporate and commercial law, with anemphasis on energy and infrastructure matters. He regularly advises publicutilities on a range of issues, including power supply arrangements and capitalexpenditure projects. He also advises government and private-industry clientson public-private partnerships, land use, expropriation and other realproperty matters.

Nordick, D’Arcy Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5508 [email protected]

Mr. Nordick is Co-head of the Capital Markets and Public Mergers &Acquisitions Groups in Toronto. He is a member of various internal and externalgroups focused on infrastructure and the financing thereof. He advises clientson mergers and acquisitions (public and private), corporate finance, securities,licensing and joint ventures, project development and general corporate andcommercial law.


terprise and wholesale fibre connectivity, as well asa data centre division, which will concentrate onenabling multi-cloud services for enterprises whilereinforcing its role as a leading hybrid-solutionsmanaged service provider.Miller Thomson LLP acted on behalf of the

purchaser, Digital Colony, with a team led byAndrew Cohen (Corporate/M&A), Andrew Et-covitch (Corporate Tax), John Israel Galambos(Relationship Partner andCorporate Tax), and in-cluding Philippe St-Louis, Philipp Park, LawrenceWilder, Louis-Philippe Borduas, Jean BernardRicard, Elissa Brock, Grégory Morin-Maltais, Ju-lien Morier and Jamie Eichenbaum (Corporate/M&A),KeyvanNassiry,NoraOsbaldeston, EthanCampbell and Jean-Charles Panzini (FinancialServices), Chantal Joubert, Alexandre Hébert,Ali Baniasadi, Danielle Parry, Nadia Guizani andStuart Chaimberg (Real Estate & Leasing), EricDufour and Robyn Burns (Competition), LisaGoodfellow, Daphnée Beauchamp, Greg Bushand Kim Ozubko (Labour & Employment), RonChoudhury (Sales Tax), Anne-Frédérique BourretandClaireDurocher (Environmental and Regula-tory) and Lonnie-Brodkin Schneider, AlexandreAjami andKarenDurell (Intellectual Property).Cogeco Communications Inc., the seller, was

led in-house by Christian Jolivet and supported bya team from Stikeman Elliott LLP led by War-ren Katz and including Olivier Godbout, BarbaraSheng, Jordan Altman and Jules Dumas-Richard(M&A and Corporate), Neil Bindman, StefanFews, Andrew Elliott and Amelia Mounsey (RealEstate), Luc Bernier and Nathaniel Lacasse (Tax),Maxime Jacquin and Marie-Claude David (Bank-ing), Jeff Brown, Susan Hutton, David Elder andMichaelRosenstock (Regulatory),MichelLegendre(Pension andBenefits), JustineWhitehead and Jon-athanAuerbach (IP),MyriamFortin (Environmen-tal), Stephanie Weschler and Stephanie Pasternyk(Labour), Liliana Raffo (Paralegal) and CandaceCerone andPhilippe St-Hilaire (Students).The syndicate of lenders to Cogeco Commu-

nications Inc., led by CIBC, was advised by Mc-Carthy Tétrault LLP with a team consisting ofMathieu Dubord (Financial Services), Eve TessierandMarjolaineHémondHotte (Business Law).

Inter Pipelinecompletes $200Mbought deal financingOn November 7, 2018, Inter Pipeline Ltd. (“InterPipeline”) closed its previously announced equityoffering of 9,620,000 common shares at $20.80per share for gross proceeds of $200,096,000.Theofferingwasmade on a bought deal basis through asyndicate of underwriters co-led by TD SecuritiesInc. and BMOCapitalMarkets.


Prete, Jana Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-4478 [email protected]

Ms. Prete advises oil & gas and power clients on corporate commercial law,M&A, joint ventures and other energy-related matters. She advises on a varietyof aspects pertaining to energy project development, including joint ventures,operation and maintenance, transportation, processing and marketingarrangements as they relate to LNG, oil sands, shale gas, powerand petrochemical projects.

Porter, Dana Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5533 [email protected]

Mr. Porter is a partner in the Real Estate Group. His practice focuses onthe acquisition and financing of income properties, structured and projectfinance, P3s and other public-sector transactions. He represents a number ofinstitutional investors, lenders and advisors, public-sector entities and private-sector suppliers of services and materials to the public sector.

Plotkin, Ella Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(416) 865-4489 [email protected]

Ms. Plotkin is the Leader of the firm’s Global Infrastructure & Projects Group.Her practice focuses on project finance and development, banking, corporatefinance and public-private partnerships. With considerable experience ininfrastructure development and finance, her expertise spans Canada andthe US as well as emerging markets.

Plater, L. Greg Stikeman Elliott LLP(403) 266-9051 [email protected]

Mr. Plater is Head of the Real Estate Group in Vancouver, Co-head of the NationalReal Estate Group, and a member of the Project Development & Finance Group.He advises governments, Crown corporations and private-sector clients ondevelopment projects, infrastructure projects, renewable energy projects, jointventures, construction arrangements and project-related environmental lawin BC and AB.

Picco, QC, FCIArb, Dennis L. Dentons Canada LLP(780) 423-7322 [email protected]

Mr. Picco’s practice focuses on contract disputes, construction, riskmanagement and insurance. He is an experienced arbitrator who representsvarious companies in the construction industry, including architects andengineers in professional liability disputes, and counsels clients in the areasof intellectual property, commercial and contractual disputes.

Perry, Chrysten E. Stikeman Elliott LLP(403) 266-9010 [email protected]

Ms. Perry is Managing Partner of the Calgary office and Co-head of the EnergyGroup. She has over 30 years’ experience practising corporate, commercial andmergers and acquisitions law related to oil and gas projects, spanning severalindustry sectors including conventional petroleum and natural gas, LNG, NGLs,heavy oil, shale and coal-bed methane.


The net proceeds will be used to partially fundthe acquisition of NuStar Energy L.P.’s Europeanbulk liquid storage business by Inter TerminalsLtd., a European subsidiary of Inter Pipeline, andfor general corporate purposes.Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP were

counsel to Inter Pipelinewith a team that includedBill Maslechko, James Kidd and Jessica Brown(Corporate) andHeatherDiGregorio (Tax).Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP acted

as counsel to the underwriters with a team thatincluded Marcus Archer, Peter Allegretto, EricMalysa, Katherine MacPhail and Caitlin Jenkins(Corporate) andDion Legge (Tax).

Gordie Howe InternationalBridge Project achievesfinancial closeOn September 28, 2018, Windsor-Detroit BridgeAuthority, a Crown corporation of the Govern-ment of Canada, reached financial close withBridging North America General Partnership (apartnership indirectly held by ACS Infrastruc-ture Canada Inc., Fluor Canada Ltd. and AeconConcessions, a division of Aecon ConstructionGroup Inc.) for the design, construction, financ-ing, operations, maintenance and rehabilitation ofthe Gordie Howe International Bridge Project, anew publicly owned international bridge crossingbetweenWindsor, Ont., andDetroit,Michigan.The Gordie Howe International Bridge Proj-

ect is the largest and most ambitious bi-nationalinfrastructure project along the Canada-UnitedStates border.The fixed-price contract for the project, which

includes the longest cable-stayed bridge span inNorth America (and one of the longest in theworld), two port of entry facilities on each side ofthe Canada-United States border and the High-way I-75 interchange in Detroit, is valued at $5.7billion (nominal value). The project is being con-structed by BNA Constructors Canada GP, thepartners of which are Dragados Canada, Inc., Flu-orCanadaLtd. andAeconInfrastructureManage-ment Inc. Once completed it will be operated andmaintained byBNAO&MGeneral Partnership, apartnership indirectly held by ACS InfrastructureCanada Inc., Fluor Canada Ltd. and Aecon Con-cessions, a division of Aecon Construction GroupInc.Theproject is also being designedbyAECOMCanada Limited.Construction on the project began on October

5, 2018, with the bridge expected to be in serviceby the end of 2024. Financing for the project is be-ing provided through the issuance of medium andlong-term bonds underwritten by RBC Domin-ion Securities Inc. andHSBC Securities (Canada)Inc., aswell as a short-termcredit facility andhedg-


Rimer, Philip M. Dentons Canada LLP(613) 783-9634 [email protected]

Mr. Rimer leads Dentons’ Real Estate, Project Development, and Banking andFinance practice groups in Ottawa, and has distinguished himself as one ofthe country’s most valuable lawyers and respected dealmakers in all areas ofcommercial real estate and infrastructure projects. He advises diverse clients,including institutional stakeholders such as pension funds, banks and public-sector entities.

Richer La Flèche, Erik Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-3109 [email protected]

Mr. Richer La Flèche’s practice in Canada and abroad extends to projectfinance, social infrastructure, rail, ports, roads, energy and mining. He hascompleted mandates in more than 35 countries and is a member of the Ontarioand Québec Bars.

Ricard, Alain Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(514) 847-4872 [email protected]

Mr. Ricard is the Canadian head of the transport team. He has represented alllevels of stakeholders in local, national and multijurisdictional transactionsregarding a wide variety of projects and project financings. He has acted aslead counsel for various clients, including CDPQ Infra on the $6.3B automatedlight-rail transportation project for the greater Montréal area.

Reynolds, FCIArb, R. Bruce Singleton UrquhartReynolds Vogel LLP (416) 585-8601 [email protected]

Mr. Reynolds is Co-chair of the International Projects Group at SingletonReynolds. He represents Canadian and International clients in the litigation,arbitration and mediation of disputes and advises on contract developmentfor major infrastructure and construction projects including public-privatepartnerships. He was recently named Who’s Who Legal’s Construction Lawyerof the Year.

Rajpal, Deepak (Dee) Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5576 [email protected]

Mr. Rajpal is a partner in Toronto. His practice focuses on M&A, corporatefinance, corporate governance, restructuring and compliance matters, with anemphasis on cross-border and international transactions. He advises dealers,institutional shareholders, investment funds, private-equity investments andboards of directors. He is also the leader of the firm’s India initiative.

Pritchard, Andrew Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(613) 780-8607 [email protected]

Mr. Pritchard practises corporate and commercial law with an emphasis onenergy-related projects including real estate, land use and development andregulatory matters. He has extensive experience in acquisitions, dispositions,financings and development of energy projects, including the structuringof ownership and management projects.


ing program provided by Fédération des caissesDesjardins du Québec, HSBC Bank Canada,Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Royal Bank of Canada andTheToronto-Dominion Bank.Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority and Her

Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada were rep-resented by Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLPwith a team led by Tom Barlow and Brian Kelsall,that included Doug R. Scott, Barbara Miller, EllaPlotkin, Sean Morley, Kathleen Butterfield, MarcLefler, Louise Kennedy and Zackary Burashko,together with Alison Lacy, Clifford Sosnow, NeilSmiley, Rosalind Cooper, Christopher Steeves,Sean Stevens, PaulCasuccio,Daniel Fabiano,Gor-don Hunter, Scott Ma and others. Windsor-De-troit Bridge Authority was led in-house by VickyTuquero andKathleen Roberts. Advice onUS lawmatterswas providedbyWarnerNorcross+JuddLLP with a team that included Timothy HornerandCharlie Goode.Bridging North America General Partnership

and BNA O&MGeneral Partnership were led in-house by Marc Aron, Chief Legal Officer, MarkPlatteel, General Counsel, Greg Walters, VicePresident, Legal andMenoTessema,AssociateVicePresident, Legal for ACS, by Steven Pascoe, VPLaw for Fluor and by Yonni Fushman, ExecutiveVice President&Chief LegalOfficer for Aecon.Blake, Cassels&GraydonLLP acted as coun-

sel to Project Co with a team that included Cath-erine Doyle, Mark Johnson, Aaron Palmer, Kath-leen Penny, Samantha Rossman and CatherineYoudan, together with Christine Ferguson, ChrisFlood, Robert Frazer, Laura Gagnon, MeganShaw, Aletha Utley, Jon Viner and Joe Zed. Ad-vice as to US securities law matters was providedby Skadden, Arps, Slate,Meagher&FlomLLPwith a team that included Riccardo Leofanti andAnnabelle Gardere.BNAConstructorsCanadaGPwas represented

in house by Adam Brody, General Counsel forDragados Canada Inc., Jonathan van Ginhoven,Senior Counsel for Fluor and Patricia Skringer, PH

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Shapiro, Elliot Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP(514) 847-4516 [email protected]

As Co-chair of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Canadian Corporate Finance andSecurities team, Mr. Shapiro’s transaction-oriented and cross-border practicefocuses on corporate and securities law, public and private M&A, Boardadvisory, governance and disclosure, and private-equity and infrastructureand project financing transactions. He also works on commercial licensing andrelated transactions.

Schyven, Melissa Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5232 [email protected]

Ms. Schyven is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy-Power and Banking &Finance Groups. Her practice focuses on commercial real estate as well as avariety of banking transactions with an emphasis on project and acquisitionfinance. She also acts for developers and lenders with respect to powergeneration matters including renewable energy.

Sandrin, Larry R. Bennett Jones LLP(604) 891-5142 [email protected]

Mr. Sandrin’s practice includes real estate components of, and majorgovernmental approval processes in, PPP infrastructure projects. Thesehave included several of British Columbia’s most prominent transportation,healthcare, educational, utility and community recreational projects.

Sallée, Clémentine Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(514) 982-4077 [email protected]

Ms. Sallée practises in the area of infrastructure, project finance, constructionand procurement law. She advises on the development and preparation of tenders,drafting and negotiation of partnership and other commercial agreements oninfrastructure projects and clean energy ventures, as well as on the administrationof the design, construction and/or operational phases of such projects.

Roth, Robert R. Dentons Canada LLP(780) 423-7228 [email protected]

Mr. Roth advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, project development(including P3s), corporate finance, corporate structuring and governance andcommercial transactions. With more than 25 years of experience, his practiceis focused on planning, structuring and implementing transactions, draftingcomplex commercial agreements, and advising Boards on mattersof governance and policy.

Roth, Jason D. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-2070 [email protected]

Mr. Roth is head of the firm’s Capital Projects Industry Group. He advises oninfrastructure development projects and represents owners/developers andcontractors in relation to domestic and international infrastructure, LNG, power,electrical transmission, pipeline, natural gas processing, mining, agricultureand other projects.


Director, Operations Legal – East for Aecon, withsupport from DLA Piper (Canada) LLP with ateam that included Andrew Burton, ElizabethMayer andNatasha Rana.The underwriters, lenders and hedge providers

were represented by McCarthy Tétrault LLPwith a team that included Linda Brown, MorganTroke, Samantha Cunliffe, Liezl Behm, AilbishSkinner and Brianne Paulin.

Brookfield Infrastructure acquiresEnercare Inc. for $4.3BOn October 16, 2018, Brookfield Infrastructureand its institutional partners (collectively, “Brook-field Infrastructure”) completed the acquisitionof all the issued and outstanding common sharesof Enercare Inc. for $29.00 per common share or,in the case of certain electing Canadian residentshareholders, 0.5509 of an exchangeable limitedpartnership unit (“Exchangeable LP Unit”) foreach common share elected.The Exchangeable LPUnits are exchangeable, on a one-for-one basis fornon-voting limitedpartnershipunits ofBrookfieldInfrastructure Partners L.P. (“BIP”). The transac-tionwas valued at $4.3 billion, including debt. En-ercare’s common shares were subsequently delistedfrom the Toronto Stock Exchange and Enercarehas ceased to be a reporting issuer under applicableCanadian securities laws.The acquisition leverages Brookfield Infrastruc-

ture’s substantial presence in the utility, homebuilding and multi-residential sectors in NorthAmerica, and provides significant opportunitiesfor growth and value creation.BIP is a global infrastructure company that

owns and operates high-quality, long-life assets inthe utilities, transport, energy and data infrastruc-ture sectors acrossNorth and SouthAmerica, AsiaPacific and Europe. BIP is focused on assets thatgenerate stable cash flows and require minimalmaintenance capital expenditures. BIP is the flag-ship listed infrastructure company of Brookfield


Stuber, Ron Dentons Canada LLP(604) 443-7129 [email protected]

Mr. Stuber is the Co-lead of Dentons’ Renewable Energy team in Canada. Hispractice focuses on the development and financing of projects and majorcommercial transactions, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors.He has extensive international experience advising proponents, lenders andothers involved in major projects and transactions.

Stenger, Geoffrey Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3642 [email protected]

Mr. Stenger’s practice is focused on the development of infrastructure projects,including in the oil & gas, industrial, transmission, renewable, pipeline, LNG,and government infrastructure industries, both in Canada and internationally.His experience includes assistance on EPC, EPCM, DB(FM), OEM, O&Mand JV agreements as well as RFP, lien and performance security(LC, PCG, bonds) matters.

Smith, Marianne Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(416) 863-3156 [email protected]

Ms. Smith’s practice encompasses public procurement, infrastructureand public-private partnerships. She advises clients on the development,preparation and ongoing administration of public tenders and procurementprocesses, and the development and negotiation of commercial agreements forthe design, construction, financing and maintenance of infrastructure projects.

Smith, QC Lawrence E. (Laurie)Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3315 [email protected]

Mr. Smith acts for utilities, pipeline/LNG/offshore projects before federal andprovincial regulators and has appeared before federal and provincial appellatecourts and the SCC. He is former counsel to the National Energy Board; a formerfederal ministerial policy advisor; and has testified as an expert witness in aNAFTA Chapter 11 arbitration and before the California Energy Commission.

Skelton, Christopher R. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3309 [email protected]

Mr. Skelton is a partner in Bennett Jones’ Calgary office and a member of thefirm’s Oil & Gas and Private Equity groups. His practice relates primarily tocommercial transactions, with a focus on private investments and acquisitions,and project joint ventures, construction and procurement.

Singleton, QC, John R. Singleton Urquhart ReynoldsVogel LLP (604) 682-7474 [email protected]

Mr. Singleton is the founding member and managing partner of SingletonReynolds. He has concentrated his practice in the areas of construction,insurance, professional liability and environmental matters, on behalf ofproperty owners, architects, engineers, contractors, regulatory agencies andinsurers, and has acted as counsel in many precedent-setting cases for clientsin these areas.


Asset Management Inc., a global alternative assetmanagerwith approximatelyUS$285billion of as-sets undermanagement.Enercare Inc. is one of North America’s largest

home and commercial services and energy solu-tions companies, as well as the largest non-utilitysub-metre provider inCanada.McCarthy Tétrault LLP advised Brookfield

Infrastructure with a core team led by JonathanSee, Jake Irwin and Isabel Henkelman that in-cluded Cameron Belsher, Robert Richardson,Scott Bergen and Nicole Chiarelli, and includingPatrick McCay and Yaroslavna Nosikova (Tax),Ian Mak and Noel Chow (Financial Services),Sarit Pandya andAndrejsMistiouk (Real Propertyand Planning), Catherine Samuel, Andrew Arm-strong, Shauvik Shah, Paulina Bogdanova andAndrea Schneider (Corporate),Oliver Borgers andJonathan Bitran (Competition/Antitrust), GeorgeVegh and Heloise Apestéguy-Reux (Energy Regu-latory), Joanna Rosengarten (Environmental),Adam Ship and Paul Kunynetz (Franchise andDistribution), Nancy Carroll (Insurance), TrevorLawson, Patrick Pengelly and Matthew Demeo(Labour and Employment), Ana Badour (Regula-tory), Eric Block and Kosta Kalogiros (Litigation),Deron Waldock and Kelleher Lynch (Pensionsand Benefits), John Boscariol and Robert Glasgow(Trade) and Ryan Prescott (Technology and In-tellectual Property).White & Case LLP advisedBrookfield Infrastructure in the US with a teamthat included Oliver Brahmst, Samuel Raboy andAdam Cieply (Corporate), and Binoy Dharia andShanaWhite (Financial Services).Enercarewas led in-houseby JohnToffoletto,Se-

nior Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Cor-porate Secretarywith a team that includedChelseaProvencher, Senior Legal Counsel and MoniqueLampard, Legal Counsel. Enercare was advised byDavies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP with ateam that included Bill Ainley, Brett Seifred, HaNguyen, and ToddWierenga (Corporate/M&A),Anita Banicevic and David Feldman (Competi-tion) and Paul Lamarre (Tax).The acquisition was financed, in part, through

a new credit facility entered into between Brook-field Infrastructure and a syndicate of lenders andtheToronto-Dominion Bank (“TDBank”), as ad-ministrative agent and as issuing bank. TD Bankwas advised byStikemanElliottLLPwith a teamthat includedCraigMitchell, KellyNiebergall andLaura VonHeynitz.

Veridian Corporationand Whitby HydroComplete MergerOn April 1, 2019, Veridian Corporation andWhitby Hydro Energy Corporation amalgam-ated to form Elexicon Corporation, and their


Voore, Mihkel E. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5646 [email protected]

Mr. Voore is a senior partner in the Capital Markets and M&A Groups inthe Toronto office. His corporate and securities law practice includesspecializations in M&A, corporate finance (infrastructure and P3 projects),corporate governance and contested shareholder meetings. He has beeninvolved in a number of innovative transactions including bond and hybridbank/bond financing structures.

Vogel, FCIArb, Sharon C.Singleton Urquhart ReynoldsVogel LLP (416) 585-8602 [email protected]

Ms. Vogel is a partner at Singleton Reynolds and co-chairs the firm’sConstruction and Infrastructure practice group. She specializes in infrastructureand industrial project dispute resolution and contract negotiation in relation tohighways, railways, tunnels, pipelines, hospitals and mines. She was recentlynamed one of the top 25 women in litigation by Benchmark Canada.

Vilder, Sébastien Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(514) 982-5080 [email protected]

Mr. Vilder specializes in bank financing, project financing and asset-basedfinancing. He has been involved in numerous bank and project financings inCanada, Europe, Africa and Asia. Other areas of expertise include energy andinfrastructure projects. He acts for financial institutions, investment funds,development banks, sponsors and companies.

Turcotte, Maxime Stikeman Elliott LLP(514) 397-2421 [email protected]

Mr. Turcotte focuses on corporate finance, private and public M&A, P3 sponsorwork and infrastructure & energy M&A. He also has extensive experience in theenergy industry, in particular with respect to wind power and hydro projects. In2018, he was included in The Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading500 Lawyers in Canada.

Tosto, Anna M. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(613) 696-6887 [email protected]

Ms. Tosto’s practice focuses on corporate financing for the technology andtransportation sectors. She regularly assists clients on asset-based finance aswell as mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and large contract negotiations.A leader in the international transportation community, she serves as Canadiancounsel on financing transactions to many of North America’s Class 1 railways.

Torrey, John W. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP(416) 865-4394 [email protected]

Mr. Torrey has a practice focused exclusively on lending transactions. Withexperience in all areas of lending, he has particular expertise in project andacquisition financings and in all aspects of mine finance. He acts on behalf ofboth borrowers and lenders and has extensive experience with a broad range offinancings in a broad range of industries.


subsidiaries amalgamated to form a single regu-lated electricity distribution subsidiary, ElexiconEnergy Inc., and a non-regulated subsidiary, El-exicon Group Inc.Elexicon Energy is a local distribution company

regulated by the Ontario Energy Board (“OEB”)and is the successor to Veridian Connections Inc.and Whitby Hydro Electric Corporation. It willprovide more than 162,000 residential and busi-ness customers with reliable, affordable energyservices in parts of Durham Region and beyond.Elexicon Energy is the fourth-largest municipallyowned electricity distributor inOntario.Elexicon Group is not regulated by the OEB

and will provide a wide range of energy solutionsto customers.Elexicon Corporation will operate primarily

as a holding company. Its board of directors com-prises six independent directors and themayors, ortheir designates, of the five municipalities (Whit-by, Pickering,Ajax,Clarington andBelleville) thathold shares in theCorporation.VeridianCorporation is aholding company that

ownsVeridianConnections Inc., anOEB-regulat-ed utility that distributes electricity to more than121,000 residential andbusiness customers inninecommunities east and north of Toronto.WhitbyHydroEnergyCorporation is a holding

companyownedbyTheTownofWhitby, and con-taining two subsidiaries: Whitby Hydro ElectricCorporation andWhitbyHydro Energy Services.Aird&Berlis LLP acted as joint legal counsel

to Veridian andWhitbyHydro in relation to themerger and to the Mergers, Acquisitions, Amal-gamations and Divestitures application to theOntario Energy Board, with a team comprisedof Ron Clark, Jeremy Burke, Stephen Craw-ford and Sarah Newman (Corporate), DennisO’Leary (Energy), Barbara Worndl (Tax), Lo-renzo Lisi and Barbra Miller (Labour & Employ-ment), and Jill Fraser andAlyssaGebert (FinancialServices).Suzanne Murphy (Corporate), Kimberly

Howard (Corporate), Chris Zawadzki (Cor-porate) and Bill McCullough (Real Property)of McCarthy Tétrault LLP were IndependentCounsel to Whitby Hydro and Counsel to theTown ofWhitby.BordenLadnerGervaisLLP acted as indepen-

dent counsel to Veridian and counsel toThe Cor-poration of theCity ofBelleville,TheCorporationof the City of Pickering and The Corporation oftheMunicipality of Clarington, with a team com-prised of Bernadette Corpuz (Corporate, Energy),Jessica-Ann Buchta (Corporate, Energy), RickCoburn (Environmental), Tamila Ivanov (RealEstate) and James Fu (Labour&Employment).Thomas J. Timmins of Gowling WLG was

counsel to the Town of Ajax.


Abbott, Neil S.; Gowling WLG

Alati, John M.; Davies Howe LLP

Alter, Matthew R.; Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Arquin, Anthony; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Atlas, Kenneth S.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Aycan, Nurhan; Gowling WLG

Ayotte, Daniel; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Bain, Mark W.S.; Torys LLP

Balasubramanian, Amanda C.; Torys LLP

Barutciski, Milos; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Bauer, Robert T.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Beaumont, D. Robert; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Beavis, Merie-Anne E.; Gowling WLG

Beckman, Kimberly; Davies Howe LLP

Belli-Bivar, Eric C.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Bendell, Ian; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Bennett, Chris; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Berezowskyj, Stephen J.; Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

Bertoldi, Linda L.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Betts, Ted; Gowling WLG

Bhattacharjee, Subrata; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Bird, Donald G.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Bird, Sarah J. F.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Blair, David F.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Blanchard, Emma; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Boulanger, Louis-Nicolas; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Bouvette, Sylvie; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Braul, Waldemar; Gowling WLG

Bray, Catherine E.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Brindle, QC, Derek A.; Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

Brooks, S. Michael; Aird & Berlis LLP

Brown, Darryl J.; Gowling WLG

Brown, Linda G.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Buchner, William; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Burrell, QC, Keith E.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Caines, QC, George A.; Stewart McKelvey

Callaghan, Frank S.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Carson, Lorne W.; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Chamberlain, Adam; Gowling WLG

Choe, Irene; Gowling WLG

Christie, Steven D.; McInnes Cooper

Christopher, Chris; Torys LLP

Chtaneva, Anastassia; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Clark, Ron W.; Aird & Berlis LLP

Coburn, F. F. (Rick); Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Connolly, Jaime O.; McInnes Cooper

Corbett, Anne C.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Costin, Abraham (Bram); McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Crochetière, Serge; Crochetière, Pétrin

Currie, John C.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Cusano, Luigi A. (Lou); Torys LLP

D’Amour, Normand; Miller Thomson LLP

D’Angelo, Rocco; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Dagenais, Jean-Francois; BCF LLP

Dahme, Harry J.; Gowling WLG

Daoust, J.E. Dennis; Daoust Vukovich LLP

David, Guy; Gowling WLG

Davies, Jeffrey L.; Davies Howe LLP

De Caprio, Sam; Miller Thomson LLP

Dell, David A.; Torys LLP

Demers, Michel; Stein Monast L.L.P.

Di Iorio, Enzo; Miller Thomson LLP

Dipple, John A.; MLT Aikins LLP

Dorion, QC, AdE, Marc; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Dorion, Robert; Gowling WLG

Downing, John K.; Miller Thomson LLP

Dubord, Mathieu; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Dzulynsky, Myron B.; Gowling WLG

Eggerman, Chad P.; MLT Aikins LLP

Ellingson, Beverly G.; Terra Law Corporation

Emakpor, Tobor; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Fairey, Peter D.; Gowling WLG

Fecenko, Mark J.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Feldman, Michael K.; Torys LLP

Ferguson, James A.; MLT Aikins LLP

Filmon, David C.; MLT Aikins LLP

Finney, Lana J.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Flaman, Derek S.; Torys LLP

Flowers, Mark; Davies Howe LLP

Ford, Daniel A.; Torys LLP

Fortier, Michael J.; Torys LLP

Fowler, Bruce E.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Frazer, D. Suzan; McInnes Cooper

Freitag, Shane; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Furlan, Stephen; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Gagnon, Nicolas; Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.

Gagnon-Larocque, Annie; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Gherbaz, Sabrina A.; Torys LLP

Gibbons, Andy; Torys LLP

Gilain, Guy; Miller Thomson LLP

Gillott, Roger J.; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Godber, H. John; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Gosse, F. Richard; Cox & Palmer

Grandilli, Danny C.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Grant, QC, Robert G.; Stewart McKelvey

Gratton, Éloïse; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Grégoire, Louis-Pierre; Gowling WLG

Gurlesky, Andrew; McLauchlin & Associates

Hammel, QC, Scott J.; Miller Thomson LLP

Harricks, Paul H.; Gowling WLG

Hazan, Neil Ezra; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Heard, Joel A.; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Helbronner, Valerie; Torys LLP

Hickman, QC, Stephanie; Cox & Palmer

Hill, Krista F.; Torys LLP

Hoffman, Derek D.; Miller Thomson LLP

Holder, Faithe H.; Gowling WLG

Houle, Yvan; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Howie, Kent D.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Hoyt, QC, Leonard T.; McInnes Cooper

Huart, L. Michel; Langlois lawyers, LLP

Hull, Robert G.S.; Gowling WLG

Hurley, John; Gowling WLG

Isaac, Thomas; Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Ivanoff, Paul A.; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Janetos, Jim; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Johannsen, Helmut K.; Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP

Johnson, Philippe; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Johnston, R. Brock; Clark Wilson LLP

Jolicoeur, Marc M.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Kauffman, David H.; De Grandpré Chait LLP

Karantzoulis, Gus; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Keizer, Charles; Torys LLP

Kenny, QC, William J.; Miller Thomson LLP

Keyes, Colleen P.; Stewart McKelvey

Keyes, Kevin W.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Kierans, David B.; Gowling WLG

Klein, James G.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Kraag, Scott; Torys LLP

Krupat, Howard; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Kuski, QC, Deron A.; MLT Aikins LLP

Laflamme, Mathieu; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Langdon, Christopher W.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Laval, Cyndi D.; Gowling WLG

Leclerc, Philippe; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Lee-Andersen, Selina; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Lefebvre, Jasmin; Miller Thomson LLP

Lever, David A.N.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Lissoir, Luc; Gowling WLG

Lissoir, Pierre; Gowling WLG

Livergant, QC, Stephen; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Other Lexpert-Ranked Lawyers


Younger, Douglas Aird & Berlis LLP(416) 865-4140 [email protected]

Mr. Younger is Chair of the Aird & Berlis Infrastructure Group. He has advisedon P3 projects since their inception in Canada, including some of the largesttransactions in the country. With domestic and international experience,he provides sound advice to governments, equity sponsors, fundersand subcontractors on a wide variety of civil, transportation andaccommodation projects.

Wise, Howard M. Goodmans LLP(416) 597-4281 [email protected]

Mr. Wise’s practice includes trial and appellate work as well as mediation andarbitration of construction disputes. He also advises on P3, DBFM and EPCcontracts. He regularly acts for owners, contractors and sub-contractors. Authorof the Manual of Construction Law and co-author of Construction, Builders’and Mechanics’ Liens in Canada (7th ed.), Carswell. Certified Specialist inConstruction law.

Wilson, Judy Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP(416) 863-5820 [email protected]

Ms. Wilson is a leading practitioner in the field of alternative finance andprocurement projects and infrastructure development projects. She hasextensive experience in contracts to engage the private sector in the provisionof traditional government services. She has developed and implementedprocurement and contract documentation to support a wide range of public-private partnerships.

Willis, Peter A.McMillan LLP(416) 865-7210 [email protected]

Co-chair of the firm’s Infrastructure and Energy group, Mr. Willis advises clientson matters relating to corporate finance and construction, with an emphasison project finance and public-private partnerships. His practice includesadvising consortia, arrangers, lenders and other P3 participants; and assistingdevelopers and equity participants involved in renewable energy projects.

Whitlock, QC, Wayne R. Bennett Jones LLP(403) 298-3331 [email protected]

Mr. Whitlock focuses on restructuring and workouts of real estate loans, realestate lending and zoning and development approvals and the purchase andsale of condominiums, commercial and retail projects and real estate jointventures and partnerships. His clients include land development projects,shopping centres, offices, hotels, golf course resorts, entertainment centresand condominiums.

Waitzer, Edward J. Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5587 [email protected]

Mr. Waitzer is a senior partner in Toronto. His practice focuses on complexbusiness transactions and advising clients in respect of public policy andgovernance matters. He is the former Chair of the OSC and of the firm. He isa Professor (endowed Chair) and Director of the Hennick Centre for Businessand Law at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business,York University.


Mackay, Tara A.; Torys LLP

MacLellan, James W.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Madras, Mark L.; Gowling WLG

Mahony, Dennis E.; Torys LLP

Manzer, Alison R.; Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Markatos, Stathy G.; MLT Aikins LLP

Martin, Steven R.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Martins, Manuel A.; Gowling WLG

Mascarin, John; Aird & Berlis LLP

Massicotte, Etienne; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Mayer, Elizabeth; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

McCullough, William D.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

McFarlane, Andrew E.C.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

McGarva, Bernie; Aird & Berlis LLP

Melling, Michael W.; Davies Howe LLP

Ménard, Yves J.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Mercier, Marc; Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Miachika, PEng, David L.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Mix, Martin; Gowling WLG

Mondrow, Ian A.; Gowling WLG

Morrison, Patricia L.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Muggah, Sean A.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Musgrave, Tristan; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Newman, Charles; Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

Ngo, Phuong; Gowling WLG

Nieuwenburg, Roy A.; Clark Wilson LLP

Northey, Rodney V.; Gowling WLG

O’Doherty, Richard; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Orzech, Jamie D.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Osadchuk, Dale J.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Palm, W. Ian; Gowling WLG

Papadimitriou, D. James; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Parsons, Lynn; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Peever, QC, E. Wells; MLT Aikins LLP

Pennycook, Carol D.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Pound, Christine C.; Stewart McKelvey

Pybus, Katherine L.; Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP

Quinn, Peter D.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Rego, Conrad Albert; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Roberts, John C.; McInnes Cooper

Rodger, J. Mark; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Roy, Laurent; BCF LLP

Runge, Aaron D.; MLT Aikins LLP

Sadikman, Jacob; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Salim, Kasim; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Sanders, PEng, Douglas R.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Sanderson, Laurie J.; Gowling WLG


Zacher, Glenn Stikeman Elliott LLP(416) 869-5688 [email protected]

Mr. Zacher is a partner in the Litigation group and Co-head of the Energy Group.His practice focuses on complex commercial disputes in the energy sector andon energy regulatory matters. He represents clients before courts and tribunals(including the OEB and NEB) in regulatory and appeal proceedings, including inregards to the approval and permitting of major infrastructure projects.


Scheibel, Phillip J.; Rose LLP

Seaman, Paul; Gowling WLG

Sears, Daniel E.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Sebastiano, Rocco M.; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

See, Jonathan; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Seidel, QC, Robert A.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Shaban, Rick H.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Shapiro, QC, Bryan S.; SHK Law Corporation

Sherrard, Matthew; Gowling WLG

Shirreff, Craig; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Shopiro, Murray B.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Shouldice, Robert R.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Sibay, Godyne N.L.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Sinha, Awanish; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Skene, Michael A.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Smellie, James H.; Gowling WLG

Smith, Nancy D.; Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP

Smythe, Scott D.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Southam, Gregory G.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Spadaro, Anthony; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Stoll, Scott; Aird & Berlis LLP

Stratton, QC, David J.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Tenaille, France M.; Gowling WLG

Treacy, QC, Heather L.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Tremblay, Louis-Michel; Miller Thomson LLP

Troke, Morgan A.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Umar-Khitab, Faran; Gowling WLG

Vallis, QC, FCIArb, Jeffrey D.; Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Veilleux, Niko; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Vesey, Derek R.G.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Vukovich, Natalie; Daoust Vukovich LLP

Warren, Wayne B.; Gowling WLG

Weisz, Jonathan B.; Torys LLP

Welsh, Mario; BCF LLP

Westersund, QC, Lowell A.; Rose LLP

Whyte, R. Cameron; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Willcocks, Gordon F.; McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Williams, Nicholas C.; Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP

Wilmot, John A.; Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP

Wong, Lilly A.; Gowling WLG

Wong, Richard G.C.; Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

Wong-Chor, Trevor P.; DLA Piper (Canada) LLP

Zemanek, Milosz A.; Torys LLP

Other Lexpert-Ranked Lawyers

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axaxl.comRanked Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Large Commercial Insurers by J.D. Power, three years in a row.XL Catlin, now a part of AXA XL, received the highest score among insurers in the J.D. Power 2016-2018. Large Commercial Insurance Studies of customers’ satisfactionwith their commercial insurance. Visit jdpower.com/awards.AXA, the AXA and XL logos are trademarks of AXA SA or its affiliates. AXA XL is a division of AXA Group providing products and services through four business groups: AXA XL Insurance, AXA XL Reinsurance, AXA XL Art & Lifestyle andAXA XL Risk Consulting ©2019 AXA SA or its affiliates. In Canada, insurance coverages are underwritten by XL Specialty Insurance Company - Canadian Branch and AXA Insurance Company - Canadian branch. Coveragesmay also be underwritten by Lloyd’s Syndicate #2003. Coverages underwritten by Lloyd’s Syndicate #2003 are placed on behalf of the member of Syndicate #2003 by Catlin Canada Inc. Lloyd’s ratings are independent ofGroup. Not all of the insurers do business in all jurisdictions nor is coverage available in all jurisdictions.

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Congratulations totheserecent appointeesPhillip Crawley, Publisher & CEO of The Globe and Mail, extends best wishes to thefollowing individuals who were recently featured in the Report on Business Section ofThe Globe and Mail newspaper. Congratulations on your new appointments.

OctOber 2019

To make arrangements for an Appointment Notice, please call 1-800-387-9012 or email [email protected] all appointment notices online at www.globeandmail.com/appointments

Scott Ewertto Board of Directors

Empire Life

Nicholas R. Bellto President

and CEOGlenbow Museum

Fahad Khanto Board of DirectorsUnited Corporations

Limited

Susan Hallto VP Corporate

BankingCoast Capital

Savings

James Fralickto Director,

Merchandisingand Marketing,

Imaging DivisionGentec International

E. Peter Auvinento Firm Chair

Miller Thomson LLP

Richard Petersto Senior DirectorLoan Syndications

Coast CapitalSavings

Paul Woodto President

and COOGiant Tiger Stores

Limited

Shannon Fijalto Executive Director

RichardsonFoundation Inc.

Amar Ahluwaliato VP Corporate

Development& PartnershipsCoast Capital

Savings

Patricia Volkerto Board of Directors

Empire Life

Tony Chowto President and

member ofNorth American

Leadership TeamKellogg Canada Inc.

Don Janesto Director

Commercial BankingCoast Capital

Savings

Mary Dalimonteto Board of DirectorsGiant Tiger Stores

Limited

Michael Moskowitzto Chairman

and CEOPanasonic

Corporation ofNorth America


PHOTOGRAPHKATEDOCKERY

guys staring at me. And the bigguy in the middle said, “I’veheard a lot of great things aboutyou.” And I realized, “Do I actlike me? Or do I becomemorecorporate?”

I said, “I must be somethingspecial, because not everyCanadian lesbian gets to dress upin Reitmans pants to sit with thefive of you in San Francisco.” Andthey turned red, they looked ateach other, and then they starteddying laughing. That turnedmysevenminutes into an hour.

They say women aren’t on boardsbecause they sit back and theydon’t say their piece. They saymen are bolder.Well, in thisindustry, those characteristicsplay for women. They taketheir time. They do it right.Companies grab women comingout of skilled trades programsfor heavymachinery operationsfor that reason.

When Sobeys opened theirFreshCo, I called my lawyer, andshe’s like, “Even though you’refederally incorporated, if theother company is an entirelydifferent area of expertise,they’ll let them incorporate.”

I said tomyself, “You can feelsorry for yourself, or you canrebrand—andmake fun of thatdamn grocery store every stepof the way.We became Freshco,not the grocery store.”When yousee our mobile washrooms outthere, they all have “Freshco,not the grocery store” on them.

Working in amale-dominatedindustry, I’ve never faceddiscrimination. People ask,“Mandy, how is that possible?”And I don’t knowwhat to tellthem, other than, when I’maround guys, I don’t pretendto be someone else.

As the only shareholder in mycompany, I control all of mygrowth. And when we hire, wego through 10 people before wefind one who understands whowe are. /Interview by James Cowan

I grew up in a small town, and I came from a fairly big family—therewere four kids. I watchedmy parents fight every day about money.That does something to you. My father was a lobster fisherman. Iknew I could makemoney andmake their lives easier. And so, at 10,I became the bait broker on the street, because I saw an opportunity.

I like to say I hadmy teeth kicked in so many times in my late teensand in my 20s that they grew back straighter and whiter every time.

Maintenance waswhere I started.They’d call me for a roof leak, atripping hazard, somebody peed on the carpet—you name it. Butthen I realized the refresh business was completely untapped. Thepeople in maintenance weren’t innovative enough, and the biggerconstruction companies didn’t have the regimes set up to support it.

We’re a retrofit company.A brand will come to us and say, “This storelooks five years ago.We need to be this now.”We’re able to work withtheir teams to give the shopper something that’s really new and fresh.

There I was, walking down the hallway of the headquarters of one ofthe biggest retailers in the world, and this guy looked at me and said,“Hey, Canada—you got sevenminutes.” The hem of my pants wasfalling out. My friend fromNewfoundland grabbed a stapler.

I remember walking into the meeting, and there were five corporate

MandyRennehanFounder andCEOof Freshco, a retail facilities companyworkingwithApple, Lululemon, Gap and others. Doesn’twork at a grocery store

I’ve always ledmore throughintent than I havewithgreed

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CANADA'S GROWING COMPANIES No. - The Globe and Mail

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