SESSIONS

MARTIN NOËL

Senior Vice President & CFO
Premier Tech

Moderator

JEAN BÉLANGER

President and Chief Executive Officer
Premier Tech

Jean Belanger, CEO of Premier Tech, will share the origin of his company and how it became what it is today. He will share how Premier Tech has been able to generate sustained growth over the last 30 years while constantly reinventing itself through its focus on strategic planning and innovation, and now through its own digital transformation.

View presentations and exhibitors here

KEN BROOKS

Partner & EVP Strategy & Transitions
EY

MELISSA GILBERT

Executive VP & Lead, Finance
Beneva (created through the merger of La Capitale & SSQ Insurance)

ALEX POURBAIX

President & Chief Executive Officer
Cenovus Energy

JO MARK ZUREL

Corporate Director
Fortis Inc.

Join our panel members Alex Pourbaix, President & CEO Cenovus Energy, Jo Mark Zurel, Corporate Director Fortis Inc., Melissa Gilbert, EVP Finance, Corporate Actuarial & Risk Management, La Capitale, Beneva, and Ken Brooks, EY Partner, EVP Strategy and Transactions for a discussion on Canada’s active and vibrant mergers and acquisitions market.  The rise of globalization has exponentially increased the necessity for companies to be innovative and competitive.  Listen as the panel shares insights on the Cenovus Energy acquisition of Husky Energy, Fortis growth strategy, La Capitale and SSQ ‘mergers of equals’ and Ken’s view on the pulse of the market.

Lessons learned?  Canada’s brand?  Where do we go from here?

MARTIN KYLE

Chief Information Security Officer
Payments Canada

DAINA PROCTOR

Associate Partner, Security Intelligence & Consulting
IBM

RUBY RAI

Cyber Practice Leader
Marsh Canada Limited

Cyberattacks are becoming a significant problem for all sizes and types of organizations; an attack can impact your operations, client data, finances and your brand.  Recent tends highlight this increase in Cyber-threat activity.

cyber-threat (noun):  the possibility of a malicious attempt to damage or disrupt a computer network or system.

While having some form of cyber insurance in place will help a business in the event of an attack, in this new world, businesses are also responsible for implementing and maintaining their own cybersecurity program.  Join our panel discussion to find out more about risk mitigation in a wired environment.

HARLEY MINTZ

Partner
The Targeted Strategies Group

Moderator

ROSS CAMPBELL

Co-Founder
The MBO Group

JOHN FORESTER

CFO
DBG Canada Limited

DR. HOWARD E. JOHNSON

Managing Director and Canada Market Leader
Duff & Phelps

JEFF SHICKELE

Vice President Finance and Technology
Amacon

AMANDA VELLA

Senior Director, Business Advisory & Transition Consultant
ATB Financial

Join the leadership of your Private Company Committee in a discussion on the current key issues facing private company CFOs in the areas of Private Company Finance, M&A, Family Businesses and Entrepreneur Successions and learn how to get the most from your new Private Company Committee.

MARC OUELLET

Chair, 2021 Conference

Moderator

KHADIR AHMED

Vice President, Canada Payment Operations
ADP

While payroll may be a goldmine of workforce and financial data, few organizations today are leveraging it effectively to drive strategic business decisions.  In most cases, an organization’s payroll function tends to go unnoticed by executives, until something goes wrong.

Or we experience a pandemic.

Led by ADP Canada’s Khadir Ahmed, VP of Canada Payment Operations, you will learn about the driving technologies enabling a digital payroll transformation on our post-pandemic path to resiliency.

Key insights include:

• The latest developments in fraud management and security protocols
• How your payroll department can embrace artificial intelligence
• Which metrics best identify payroll inefficiencies
• Your company’s appetite for Non-Traditional payment methods; and
• The Road Ahead: Payroll Trends to Watch in 2021

CLÉMENT GIGNAC

Senior Vice President Investments & Chief Economist
iA Financial Group

Moderator

BRUCE KASMAN

Chief Economist & Head of Global Economic Research
JP Morgan Chase & Co

ROBERT HOGUE

Senior Economist
RBC

DAN NORTH

Chief Economist
Euler Hermes North America

March 2020 saw a global pandemic shutter the world’s economy leading to a stock market crash and oil prices falling off a cliff only to see it all come roaring back by the end of the year.  What will 2021 and beyond bring?  A return to growth spurred by as before unseen levels of stimulus spending or a hangover crash as Governments tighten their coffers?  Come listen to a panel of 4 of Canada’s most senior economists prognosticate on the future of Canada’s economy and what may be on the horizon.

THURSDAY, JUNE 3

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Session 1: Ethics: Unconscious Bias – The Hidden Influences Behind the Conscious Curtain

ERIKA SANDOVAL

Strategic Advisor III

UKG

Moderator

TAMMY TOWILL

Partner in the Cordura Group & Chair of the School of Business with Capilano University

We make tens of thousands of decisions every day. How can we better understand the hidden bias that shape our efforts to build innovative, dynamic, and inclusive organizations. In this session we will consider the drivers of unconscious bias and the impact on organizational decision making.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Session 2: How Internal Audit Supports CFOs & Overall Effective Governance

TONY MALFARA

Partner

KPMG Canada

STEPHEN FITZPATRICK

CFO

Currency Exchange International Corporation

NANCY RUSSELL

Senior Vice President & Chief Internal Auditor

Great-West Lifeco Inc.

In many organizations, the Internal Audit function is considered an adjunct of the CFO – a backstop to ensure internal controls are in place and are working.  But in a growing number of businesses, both privately and publicly owned, a new model has emerged – the 3 Lines Model and Internal Audit is at the heart of it.  It is a model for stronger governance, improved investor confidence and better management

Learning objectives:  Driven by the financial services sector in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, attendees will learn why and how the new model has evolved, as well as how it is being applied in practice through a case study.  In particular, attendees will learn how Internal Audit and the CFO being part or the second line are integral to management and the Board in getting full value from the 3 Lines Model.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Session 3: Une saine gouvernance : un vecteur de croissance pour votre entreprise

MARC OUELLET

Conference Chair

Moderator

DIANE FUGÈRE

Vice President

BDO Québec

LISE LAPIERRE

Corporate Director

Mettre en place et optimiser une structure de gouvernance est un facteur clé de saine gestion d’une entreprise. Comment identifier la structure adaptée à votre organisation? Quels sont les éléments essentiels du succès d’une telle mise en place? Toutes ces questions ainsi qu’un portrait d’ensemble d’une gouvernance efficace seront abordés de façon claire par une administratrice de sociétés et formatrice chevronnée.

3:15 PM – 4:15 PM CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Session 4: Effectively executing your growth strategy: from strategic planning to financing to execution

CONSTANTINE HATZIPANAYIS CFA

Partner, Growth Equity | Associé, Investissements de croissance

BDC

JESSICA LABRIE

Business Advisor, High Impact Firm | Conseillère d’affaires, Entreprises à impact élevé

BDC

NATHAN MCADAM CPA

Director, Corporate Financing | Directeur, Financement corporatif

BDC

Financial executives are integral to the successful execution of the long-term strategic growth plans developed by their company’s executive team (often in conjunction with a strategic consultant). We’ll delve into how financial executives can maximize their contribution to the implementation of a strategic plan, focusing on their core value add in the three critical phases of corporate strategy: strategic planning, financing and execution. We’ll draw on our team’s diverse set of backgrounds to give you multiple perspectives regarding the critical role you play in the strategic process.

4:15 PM – 5:30 PM CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Sponsored by:

From CFO to CEO: The Evolution of the Modern Finance Leader

The role of the CFO has transformed significantly in recent years with today’s senior finance executives drawing on their extensive knowledge and understanding of a company’s financial position to drive strategic business decisions and foster unparalleled organizational success.

Lead by three of Canada’s most recognizable C-Suite executives, this session will explore the trajectory of the CFO to CEO journey, including:

• Key Skills and Attributes: Evolving from the CFO office into the CEO space
• Challenges and Benefits: Executing a successful CFO/CEO merger
• Knowledge Transfer: Embedding financial knowledge and a metrics-driven approach into the leadership portfolio accountable for all business functions
• Capital Investment: Handling large capital ventures within a non-traditional leadership structure
• Lessons learned: What CFOs transitioning to the CEO role should consider

5:30 PM – 5:45 CLOSING REMARKS & LAUNCH OF 2022 CONFERENCE

NETWORKING BREAKS

PRESENTATIONS – WED, JUNE 2

2:25PM – 2:35PM

2:35PM – 2:55PM

2:45PM – 3:05PM

PRESENTATIONS – THU, JUNE 3

2:35PM – 2:45PM

2:45PM – 3:05PM

NETWORKING TABLES

• FEI Canada

• Robert Half / Protiviti

• Blackline

• RBC

• Private Companies

EXHIBITORS