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CANADA’S BEST EXECUTIVES 2 EDITOR’S NOTE 13 BIG IDEA 52 WEALTH Understanding why Fidelity portfolio 4 ADVISORY BOARD employees are chronic manager Mark Schmehl’s procrastinators can help opportunistic strategy 6 SEVEN THINGS combat dawdling is sometimes puzzling— Working from home is like owning airline stocks much more rewarding 16 ASK AN EXPERT in a global pandemic— for men than women, How do you ease a return but it’s hard to argue fear of pandemic flying from parental leave when with stellar returns persists and U.S. auditors there’s no one left in the prefer Republican CEOs office? 56 TURNING POINT to Democrats Max Dubois has built 18 THE EXCHANGE Montreal’s online-only 9 NEED TO KNOW Bruce Poon Tip won Altitude Sports into a Even bigwigs are global renown for raising mini-Amazon of outdoor dressing casual on video the bar on adventure gear—and one that’s calls, but hierarchy tourism. The travellers pivoted successfully even asserts itself in other have gone, but they’ll as bricks-and-mortar ways be back, and he’s busy rivals have faltered imagining even more seductive options

LEADING BY STYLE Aritzia president Jennifer Wong knows that fashion is equal parts glamour 22and analysis, and she leads off our inaugural group of Best Executives. /By Joanna Pachner

28 THE LIST 50 just-below-CEO-level leaders who help lift their organizations from good to great. 36 GROWING CONCERN A blockbuster merger made Nutrien the largest potash producer on the planet. So why aren’t investors impressed? The price of the stuff is still near rock bottom. /By Michael McCullough 42 EXECUTIVE EDUCATION GUIDE Campus life got challenging for Canada’s Northland MBA schools during Power CFO Pauline the pandemic, so they Alimchandani shifted online—fast. Page 33 /By Jennifer Lewington COVER PHOTOGRAPHED EXCLUSIVELY FOR ROB MAGAZINE BY EVAAN KHERAJ; (RIGHT) BRIANNA ROYE KHERAJ; EVAAN BY MAGAZINE ROB FOR EXCLUSIVELY PHOTOGRAPHED COVER

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 1

11_20_Contents.indd 1 2020-10-13 1:16 PM 11_20_EdsNote_Masthead.indd 2 Clap for theCEO’s righthand Editor’s Note 2 globeandmail.com robmagletters@ Send feedback to

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPOR shows what firms achieve by letting their best executives shine. Itstrengths.other’s each amplify Hill Brian WongCEO stein, Aritzia and logistics, technology, operations—those are allher.” Like Lütke andFinkel- analyst-in-chief,” writes contributor Joanna Pachner. “Finance, HR, facilities, nifer Wong, a Best Executive honouree and our cover story. “Wongtimes by labouringinunglamorous areas. It’sis trueof Aritziapresident Jen- Aritzia’s organization, we chose 10 honourees in each of our five functional areas. a successful many the different list run reflected final to needed our skills tenders based ontheirachievements and effectiveness asleaders. To ensure newsroom made theirown suggestions. Then, ourteam evaluated thecon- government andacademic institutions. Editors within The GlobeandMail of the moment. We also broadened our criteria to include not-for-profits, and issued a second call, seeking stories of individuals who had met the challenge keting, andtechnology. Asthemagnitudeof thepandemic becameclear, we in five functional areas: finance, human resources, operations, sales and mar- list inJanuary by callingfor nominations of excellent seniorexecs working or at the senior and executive vice-president levels. We began assembling this celebrate the accomplishments of 50 corporate leaders working in the C-suite SVPs and EVPs, along with chief operating, innovation and financial officers. company’s success to its CEO and downplay the contributions of innumerable like Apple’s Jony Ive or Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. But we often attribute a cessful business on their own. A few non-CEOs have earned their own fame, ning acompany. No chiefexecutive—no matter how smart—operates asuc- Sept. 29). But Finkelstein’s prominence underscores a simple fact about run- Finkelstein has earned another promotion—he became Shopify’s president on gating the weaknesses of their leaders instead of amplifying their strengths.” tional division of roles. “A lot of companies get that strengths,” Finkelsteinwrong. told me, explaining thereason behindtheunconvenThey- focus on miti- the place of chief executive Tobi Lütke. “We’ve just decided to focus on our face,public takingmost spokespersonand Shopify’smain as servedoften from his previous role as chief product officer. Regardless of title, Finkelstein stock market debut andafew monthsafter Finkelstein had been promoted Shopify. It was less than a year after the retail software company’s successful Back in2016, Iinterviewed Harley Finkelstein, the chief operating officer at All of these execsthese of All have profoundly improved organizations,their some - Which is why we’re launching the Best Executive Awards. In this issue, we In theensuingyears, Lütke hasstepped into thespotlightmore often (and T ONBUSINESS /James Cowan or 416-306-2003. from Factiva, at factiva.com/factiva available through to subscription Factiva.com tgam.ca/r Business on Report Indexed intheCanadianPeriodical Index. Copyright 2020, The GlobeandMail . The next willbeonNov. issue 28. [email protected]. Letters to theEditor: M5A 0N1.Telephone 416-585-5000. and MailInc.,351 King Street E.,Toronto published 10 timesayear by The Globe magazineis Report onBusiness Printing Inc.Prepress by DMDigital+1. Printed inCanadaby Transcontinental transparencies orother material. for unsolicited manuscripts, The publisheraccepts noresponsibility Publications mailregistration No. 7418. globeandmail.com 212-426-5932, ajrmediagroup@ America:AJR MediaGroup,North United States andcountries outside of Email: [email protected] Calgary 403-245-4987 Vancouver 604-685-0308 Montreal 514-982-3050 Branch Offices 1-866-999-9237 Telephone 416-585-5111 ortoll-free 351 King Street E.,Toronto M5A0N1 Head Office, The GlobeandMail, Advertising Offices Production Co-ordinator SALLY PIRRI Managing Director, Print Production Production RYAN HYSTEAD Product Manager ANDREA D’ANDRADE Manager,Senior SpecialProducts TRACY DAY and Ad Innovation Managing Director, Creative Studios ANDREW SAUNDERS Chief Revenue Officer Advertising JUDITH PEREIRA JASON KIRBY, JOANNA PACHNER, ROSEMARY COUNTER, TIMKILADZE, JOE CASTALDO, TREVOR COLE, DEBORAH AARTS, STEVE BREARTON, Contributors Dir BRENNAN HIGGINBOTHAM Associate Director Art DirectorArt DOMENICMACRI Art Copy Editor EditorSenior Assistant Editor Editor Editorial November 2020, Volume 37, No. 2 Editor, Report onBusiness GARTH THOMAS and Financial Products Managing Director, Business Publisher R DA Editor-in-Chief, ISABEL PHILLIP CR CLARE VANDER MEERS GARY S esearch VID WALMSLEY ector of Photography JAMES COWAN LE CABRAL ALEWICZ

CA AWLEY

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“DON’T Remotely working FORGET In our last issue, we reported on companies making a THE LITTLE workforce. Luckily, they can long-term switch to remote working. Then we invited THINGS. be addressed with the same A SIMPLE approach—trust. The knee-jerk executives from the Report on Business list of Canada’s ‘HOW reaction to having your entire Top Growing Companies to share their own insights into ARE YOU workforce move to WFH might how they’ve managed the pandemic-induced shift DOING?’ OR be to increase the number of BIRTHDAY meetings, almost turning them NEIL SEEMAN candid about the fact that stress CARD SENT into daily check-ins. Not only CEO, RIWI CORP. VIA SNAIL and confusion can build quickly MAIL WHEN will this kill productivity by Provides data and intelligence based from misunderstandings in a breaking up the flow of work on citizen sentiment YOU CAN’T remote context. It’s not really SEE ONE for your team, but it also kills about addressing the challenges ANOTHER morale by pretty much saying, Any leader who suggests of remote work—it’s about IN PERSON “I don’t trust you.” Instead, managing remote teams is easy authentic leadership. If you lead GOES A focus on results and output. amid a pandemic doesn’t have with transparency, the remote LONG If I have a team member who’s a finger on the pulse of reality. work stress will dissipate. WAY!” working from home, showing Clients, staff, consultants and up to the regular meetings, and SARAH CLARKE MARC LAFLEUR partner organizations are all DIRECTOR OF hitting their deadlines, I don’t experiencing what I call the CEO, TRULOCAL OPERATIONS need to know what that person “anxiety of walking about.” Often Operates an online marketplace for & PERSONNEL, is doing every second of the local meat suppliers the very people who appear JELLY DIGITAL business day. rock-tough are going through MARKETING & PR And not everything needs Offers digital grief or an immense personal Productivity and morale are marketing and to be a video call. If it can be challenge. The solution to my two biggest priorities when public relations handled on the phone, do that. improved remote work is to be it comes to managing a remote services Your team will appreciate it.

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1110429801.ad 1 2020-10-07 1:57 PM 7 Things 2 The There is generation power in a union gap for “Union members are now more sports likely than non-members Generation Z, born after 1997, to express job is far less likely to watch a game satisfaction. than previous generations, Perhaps this according to Morning Consult. also spills over WATCH into other parts SPORTS 50% of their lives WEEKLY —expressed 3. 1 42% 11/20MEN WOMEN in their greater life satisfaction, happiness, and MORE PRODUCTIVE 77% 46% other facets of MILLENNIALS WORKING wellbeing whilst,

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TOO SOON 7 TO FLY Percentage of Canadians comfortable with flying within the country, Auditors according to Ipsos. 29%trust conservative Immigrants get the job(s) done CEOs 42% more jobs were created by immigrant-founded companies than firms started by those A study published born in the U.S., according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. in the Journal of Accounting and 5. Public Policy found executives who donate ADAPTABILITY 38.5% to the Republicans in RESILIENCE 18.1% the United States pay lower audit fees. The DECISION MAKING 11.2% authors write: “We find that Republican CEOs INNOVATION 10.6% 6 are associated with WHAT TRAIT DO COMMUNICATION 8.6% YOU BELIEVE lower inherent risk IS MOST and control risk, which FLEXIBILITY TRUSTWORTHINESS 7.5% IMPORTANT represent the two components of audit CAPACITY FOR RISK 2.6% FOR THE CEO OF IS KEY THE FUTURE? risk related to the firm, CEOs believe adaptability will be the OTHER 1.6% while their Democratic crucial characteristic for future corporate counterparts are seen leaders, according to a YPO poll. RELIABILITY 1.3% to have higher risks.”

6 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

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Erica Pimental, a doctoral candidate CPAs, and her focus had narrowed to Come as in accountancy at Concordia Univer- how remote working was affecting sity’s John Molson School of Busi- professionals across the country. you are ness, wanted to study how accoun- At the end of March, Statistics Can- tants and other professionals find ada reported that 39% of Canadians Remote working could meaning in their work. But, like many worked from home, compared with actually improve corporate others, she found herself modifying 12% to 14% before the pandemic. And culture—by forcing us her plan after the pandemic struck. this transition will be permanent for to admit we’re all human By the time she started her project, many. Roughly 36% of chief execu-

ILLUSTRATION ADRIAN FORROW ILLUSTRATION working from home was standard for tives say they will offer a full-time

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 9

11_20_NeedtoKnow.indd 9 2020-10-09 2:27 PM Need to know

TOP 1O PEEVES ABOUT CONFERENCE CALLS A survey of 1,569 found 98% had complaints about calling in

POOR AUDIO 50% TOO MANY PEOPLE TALKING 47 BACKGROUND NOISE FROM OTHERS 46 STUCK ON LAPTOP FOR HOURS 34 BACKGROUND NOISE FROM YOUR SIDE 32 YOUR VIDEO’S BACKGROUND 28 DIFFICULTY BRAINSTORMING 27 DIFFICULT SHARING CONTENT 24 DIFFICULTY TAKING NOTES 23 WHO’S ATTENDING 22

post-pandemic option to work from home, according to a recent study by YPO, gone over as well for a junior team mem- a networking group. ber meeting with a client. But recent expe- Pimental, a chartered accountant herself, interviewed 30 senior managers and rience offers some hope for a paradigm partners. A common topic with her interview subjects was that workplace cul- shift. “Do you do good work?” Pimental ture is growing less formal, with children and pets guest starring on video calls asks. “Then that’s what should be paid for. and leisurewear replacing business suits. This might actually benefit corporate If you come to work in a clown suit, I only culture in the short term, she posited, by creating new ways for colleagues to care about the quality of the work you pro- bond. Snippets of real life allow for new connections, similar to the Monday duce. We can extend that idea and use the morning update on a child’s soccer game. And as professionals adopted a more lack of physical presence of virtual work casual dress code, it also removed many of the visual cues used to convey rank to allow people to come to work as who or importance in the workplace. “If we’re just looking at what people say, not they are.” looking at how they’re projecting themselves,” she says. “I’m really wondering This new level of relationship might how that’s going to materialize itself in the long term.” actually make co-workers and supervisors She says the loss of formality surprised her, given that her experience suggests more likely to see their colleagues as peo- self-presentation was always a key to success within the industry. “There’s this ple with competing priorities, and encour- sense that we’re all at home together, and we’re all in this pandemic together,” age empathy over missing a deadline or a she says. constantly shifting schedule. But don’t But there were still subtle ways that corporate hierarchy asserted itself. If a expect it to last forever, Pimental warns. partner wore a hoodie on a video call, it was fine because the client knew the “All this research on remote work has individual had seniority “So they’re going to listen to whatever you say, however to be bookended by the fact that this is in you present yourself,” she says. That same comfortable clothing might not have a very unique context,” she says. “A year from now, remote work is going to be experienced very differently than it was experienced over the past six months.” PLEASE DONATE Pimental says companies contemplating or continued remote work need to consider the importance of human interaction and please donate find ways to foster it remotely if it will or benefit everyone. One interview subject PLEASE DONATE who lives alone spoke about the loss of all the micro interactions he had in a typi- When contacting customers, make sure the typeface matches the cal workday, from chatting at Starbucks tone of the message. A recent study conducted by researchers at Ohio to brainstorming with co-workers in the State University found the effectiveness of fundraising appeals aimed at shared kitchen. fighting hunger during the pandemic varied depending on the font used. “I think about all those spontaneous con- When the message was heartfelt, a typeface that mirrored handwriting versations that start at the water cooler. was 16% more appealing to recipients, according to a paper published You learn something really neat about in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. what someone else is working on, or see a Conversely, if the appeal focused on the effectiveness of the organiza- project you could collaborate on,” she says. tion, a more business-like font proved 14% more likely to solicit a dona- “That is valuable, not just for human con- tion. Picking the right typeface is an “easy and inexpensive” way to nection, but from an organizational per-

boost the power of your message, the researchers conclude. spective.” /Kim Hart Macneill INC. SURVEY SYSTEMS CISCO SOURCE

10 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_NeedtoKnow.indd 10 2020-10-09 2:27 PM And we couldn’t be prouder At Intact, of our very own Louis Gagnon. Our business has always been guided by our values we’re all and rooted in the belief that insurance is about people, not things. We exist to help our employees, customers, brokers and the communities where we live and work. about Louis has been steering Intact’s operations with this purpose in mind from the very beginning, and he people. inspires us to do the same every day.

Congratulations to Louis Gagnon, on winning a Report on Business Best Executive Award in the Operations category.

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1110411201.ad 1 2020-10-07 5:14 PM BIG IDEA

I’ll write the headline later and reading irrelevant sites”). The researchers found that Does it take more work for you to start a task or finish one? onset delay seems to be the bet- Understanding the different types of procrastination ter indicator of people who are is the first step to getting the job done prone to procrastination gener- ally, although they note delays in goal striving are more difficult You’ve likely been there, facing Using two studies involving to monitor, report and measure. down a nagging task and con- high school and university stu- Both types of procrastination tinually finding a reason to put dents in Norway, Steel and his narrow the available time for a it off. “You want to get this stuff co-authors separated these types task to be completed, which can done, and yet when the moment of procrastination. Participants lead to stress and suboptimal of truth—the time of action— used a five-point scale to evaluate work performance. comes, it’s thought that perhaps whether they agreed with vari- While many people view pro- tomorrow would be a better ous statements related to onset crastination as a character flaw, day,” says Piers Steel, the delay (“Even after I make a Steel sees it another way: There Brookfield Management decision, I delay acting is simply a mismatch between research chair at the Uni- upon it,” for exam- who we are and our modern versity of Calgary’s Has- ple) and sustained environment. “A lot of us are kayne School of Business. goal striving delay struggling with the overabun- The word “procrastina- (“When working dance of tempting alternatives. tion,” after all, comes from on a task, I find They’re everywhere,” he says. the Latin procrastinus, refer- myself browsing “The easier it is for people to do ring to something “belonging to tomorrow.” While many people have first- hand experience with procrasti- nation, there are differences in our delay tactics. Steel and three co-authors recently examined those differences in a paper pub- lished in the academic journal Personality and Individual Dif- ferences. Their research offers insights into tactics leaders can use to motivate employees and create a stronger work culture. Let’s go back to that afore- mentioned nagging task. Some would put off starting the job, an approach the researchers call “onset delay.” Others will pro- crastinate after they’ve begun, as they try to stay on track and meet the goal. The study refers to this as a delay related to “sustained goal striving.” Steel, who is also the author of The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done, explains the distinction in another way: Do you exert your energy at the beginning of the

PHOTOGRAPH ISTOCK PHOTOGRAPH task or later on?

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 13

11_20_BigIdea.indd 13 2020-10-09 11:23 AM Need to know

otherwise, the more often they’re annual profits would increase by going to do that.” In an age of Big “I’LL PUT IN A PITHY a percentage point. Data and machine learning algo- Gan says it’s important for rithms, those temptations are QUOTE LATER” managers to understand their only getting stronger. There’s an employees’ reasons for stalling. algorithm out there that’s being “Sometimes it’s disengagement; constantly refined to determine sometimes it’s boredom; some- exactly what tasty treat (like an times it’s unclear messages and online video or viral social media not knowing what the manager post) you should be served next, wants and therefore just not Steel says. being able to do the work,” she No one-size-fits-all solution says. In addition to clearly com- exists to counteract procrasti- municating expectations, she nation, considering the diverse advises managers to also take and complex factors that create time to get to know staff better. delays in the first place. But for “Find out what gives them that managers and executives, under- Consider, too, what could challenge in their work, and then standing when and why employ- cause employees to procrasti- give them those opportunities,” ees struggle with those tempting nate. Requiring people to react she says. alternatives can help. Consider to messages immediately, for While procrastination can that people stall in different example, creates constant inter- become a workplace problem ways—some people procrasti- ruptions that greatly affect pro- when it affects performance, nate before cleaning and some ductivity. “Don’t have a culture Gan notes the behaviour is people do it by cleaning—and where people are expected to often something to be aware of that various workplace projects respond to emails in minutes. and simply manage, rather than may lend themselves to certain That is a luxury,” Steel says. He entirely overcome. A procrasti- types of dawdling. recommends checking your nator herself, Gan has accepted Delays are more likely to occur inbox at specific times, such as she works best with a bit of when working on a big project, first thing in the morning and stress. “Everybody needs to rec- for example. There’s a longer before lunch, rather than as the ognize what they do to get the period of time to complete the messages roll in. job done,” she says. task, meaning more opportunity Hilda Gan is the president and Steel also has a propensity for things to go wrong with the chief people officer at People for procrastination. He learned endeavour. Plus, when a project Bright Consulting Inc., an he needs concentrated time to is so large that the finish line is HR firm based in Markham, succeed and has found various out of sight, it can be more dif- Ont., and previously co-founded tricks to make that possible, ficult to stay committed and iTrans Consulting, an engineer- such as using leisure time as a focused. “Long-term goal com- ing consulting company. Educat- reward. Those tactics have lim- pletion is in itself an important, a ing staff about productivity and its, though, in a world populated wonderful, a vital and an unnatu- what it means to the bottom line with distractions. Sometimes ral act,” Steel says. “Because it’s became a priority at her old firm, we’re still going to watch the lat- unnatural, it needs a little bit of Gan says, after in-house analysis est funny cat video, Steel says, infrastructure around it. It’s the showed if all employees could and that’s okay. “We have to be boss’s responsibility to provide have just 15 minutes more pro- a little bit more gentle with who that infrastructure, because most ductivity in a day, the company’s we are,” he says. /Cailynn Klingbeil people can’t do it on their own.” When it comes to accomplish- ing big goals in the workplace, Big Idea is produced with the support of our advisory panel Steel says the number one tool is requiring employees to com- plete weekly reports. By track- ing and sharing developments, employees have a clearer and Yrjo Koskinen, Associate Dean, Research; Yolande Chan, Associate Dean, Haskayne School of Business Research at Smith School of Business more manageable path toward Stephane Massinon, Director, Public Nancy Evans, Executive Director, the finish line, while leaders can Relations; Haskayne School of Business Marketing and Communications, identify and respond to prob - Smith School of Business. lems as they occur.

14 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_BigIdea.indd 14 2020-10-09 11:24 AM We are proud to congratulate

EvViace-President Salem of Marketing for being a recipient of the 2020 Best Executive Award in Sales and Marketing.

Eva’s work has consistently deepened customer connections, cementing the special role that Canadian Tire plays in the lives of Canadians.

Thank you to The Globe and Mail for recognizing Eva, who represents the best of Canadian leadership. On behalf of our entire family of companies, congratulations to Eva for earning this incredible distinction.

1110403201.ad 1 2020-10-07 4:25 PM Need to know

never interpret any lag as lack of commitment or engagement.” Realize the distinction between work and home lives that we fought to preserve is gone. Instead, build a culture where there’s no shame when worlds overlap—or dramatically collide. And when this inevitably happens, don’t miss the moment to fix what’s not working. “Ask what support they need,” suggests Bezanson. Changes as simple as offering half-days to ease in, quiet time from noon to 2 p.m. or the chance to opt out of Zoom calls that showcase their messy house can be easily accommodated. Others not so much, which brings us ASK AN EXPERT to the long, harder answer: “Obviously child care is the magic bullet in all of this, and Thanks for muffin policy choices have a huge long- My team is back in the office, but so many morale term impact on how employees boosters—after-work drinks, birthday cakes—are no-nos. and organizations function,” How can I thank my employees for their hard work? says Bezanson. If bosses really want to support parental leave and a successful return to the Laura Warren, manager at Rare lunch hour, or let staff leave work workforce, they need to put Affairs Event Management in an hour early,” she says. Make it a their influence to good use. B.C., acknowledges that this year surprise—and tell them to enjoy “Employers need to come out is unusual. “We need to think it because they’ve earned it. and speak publicly about their outside the box and generate support to build a pan-Canadian new ways of engaging people,” One of my vice-presidents is child-care policy,” she says. “We she says. Communal cakes and coming back from parental leave, need this message amplified.” mingling in close quarters are which started pre-pandemic. indeed gone for now, but there How do I make the transition My subordinates are all keen are so many other ways for a easier? to work at our office again, good boss to say thanks. A super- This question has both a short but I’m nervous. Am I a bad easy old-fashioned idea: “Take and a long answer, says Kate leader if I don’t join them? a moment to write a thank-you Bezanson, a Brock University Ditch the guilt. You aren’t, card,” suggests Warren, but don’t sociology prof and parental according to futurist and trends be lazy and just sign the bottom. leave expert. Let’s start with expert Jim Carroll—though “List two or three specific things the easy stuff—that is, specific he offers this great big caveat: they did well,” she says. Even actions you can take today to “Everyone’s risk perception and better, deliver it with a little help them transition back to comfort level are different, and something special, like a coffee work, remotely or otherwise. we have to respect that, whether card or potted plant. Birthdays “Recognize that everything’s you’re a leader or an entry-level are different, sure, but they different now and there’s lots of employee.” So if you choose aren’t cancelled: “You can still catch-up to be done. Make ample not to show up, you’d better order lunch for your staff, with time for these conversations,” offer the same work-from-home KENDRY

individual meals and cupcakes she says. Skip any formal option to everyone. “These are C instead of a whole cake,” says schedule in favour of flexibility. unprecedented times,” says Warren. And the easiest, least- For employees in general, but Carroll, but if you don’t want expensive, no-effort-required, parents in particular, she says, a bad rap for staying home, crowd-pleasing way to boost “Let go of the expectation of don’t judge anyone else for

morale? “Offer an extended immediate availability and their choice. /Rosemary Counter JOE M ILLUSTRATION

16 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_AskanExpert.indd 16 2020-10-09 11:01 AM ROB Top 50 Best Executive Award Winner

Larry Tomei Executive Vice President & Head of Wealth and Personal Banking HSBC Bank Canada

PROOF THAT BIG HEARTS AND BIG RESULTS CAN GO HAND IN HAND.

HSBC Bank Canada has always prided ourselves by living by our core values: Dependable, Open to new ideas and cultures and Connected to our teams and the communities we serve.

To announce that one of our own, Larry Tomei, has been acknowledged by ROB as one of Canada’s top executives is amazing. To know that the qualities that earned this honour were as much about his humanity as his record-breaking results makes it truly special.

If you’ve ever wondered “what’s the diff erence between working for someone or with someone?”, we can tell you – it’s a guy like Larry. He simply brings out the best in us and always makes a point of recognizing that. He is the embodiment of HSBC’s brand promise, “Together we Thrive.”

Who else would create his own annual Thank You Day for employees? Or be seen happily dispensing chocolate eggs to every office cubicle in rabbit ears at Easter?

For his passion and compassion. For his big picture thinking and his little gestures. For reminding us that great business results and humanity go hand in hand.

And above all, for reminding us every day that life is what you make it, we are proud to call him a colleague and friend.

HSBC Bank Canada would like to congratulate Larry, as well as, all of the Winners of the Top Executive Award.

1109881901.ad 1 2020-09-18 2:44 PM Need to know

THE EXCHANGE Grounded Bruce Poon Tip isn’t used to staying in one place for long. Now, because of COVID-19, he’s stuck— and so is travel company, G Adventures, whose business has nearly disappeared

BY TREVOR COLE

Eight months ago, the world was Bruce Poon Tip’s playground. He was at home at 30,000 feet, and his next stop could have been just about any country on the map. Over the previous 30 years, he’d built his Toronto-based G Adventures into a tourism brand recognized around the globe. He wrote bestsell- ing books (1), gave speeches at the United Nations, teamed up with National Geographic. In 2019, some 200,000 people took a G Adventures tour, and 50,000 more travelled under one of its subsidiary brands. And it all came to a shuddering stop, as Poon Tip remembers it, at four in the afternoon on March 14. That’s when the government of Canada issued an advisory recommending Canadians cancel all inter- national travel due to the spread of COVID-19. Now, like the rest of the tourism industry, Poon Tip is in limbo. At the moment of this Zoom interview, he sits in a nondescript hotel room in Calgary, waiting for the all-clear on his just-completed COVID test, so he can go visit his 88-year-old mom.

It must feel strange, not being on a plane all the time. It’s the weirdest thing ever. Six weeks, maybe, would be the longest I’d been in one place, so 1. Poon Tip’s the idea of going six months has books include Looptail: How caused all kinds of challenges. One Company What is the state of things right Changed the now in the travel industry? World by Reinventing The entire industry’s in Business (2013); hibernation until people decide Do Big Small they’re comfortable to travel Things (2015), again. So we’re all kind of a life and travel journal; and, most scrambling to figure out a way recently, Unlearn: we can keep people safe. The Year the Are you running any tours? Earth Stood Still, Last weekend we had four an Instabook that explores travel departures—the first trips in six in the wake of months. And we had 20 depart in COVID-19.

18 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Exchange.indd 18 2020-10-09 5:25 PM PHOTOGRAPHS SAHAR RANA SAHAR PHOTOGRAPHS

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 19

11_20_Exchange.indd 19 2020-10-09 5:25 PM Need to know

September. That might seem like opportunity to restructure a bit. 2. I Am Legend an acquisition strategy to look something, but it’s just a start. But then with every cut, it gets stars Smith as a at companies we can acquire. virologist who’s We basically have no Americans, closer to the bone. The third the last human And we’re taking this downtime no Australians on any trips, phase was people answering in New York to rethink and double down on ’cause those countries are shut phones. Phase four was when we after a virus technology. Sometimes it’s very off. Those are two massive started to look at job duplication. wipes out most hard to change the wheels on a of humanity... markets for us. Canadians are Phase five would be cutting except for the car when it’s moving, right? But limited—it’s only Canadians who to the bone of our key people. hostile mutants. now that we’re forced to stop, are willing to quarantine when On Monday, March 16, we there’s so many opportunities for they get home, so that limits were enacting phase one. By 3. There’s a us to streamline things. History list of where the numbers to next to nothing. Wednesday, I gave the order to the grants are has shown when there’s been And then there’s Europeans. Our go right to phase five. going on the any disruptions in the economy, groups are filled with Europeans Wow. company’s great opportunities exist for Instagram page. taking European trips. It escalated that quickly. And companies that stay aggressive. And there’s always the possibility then it got to a point where One of the things G Adventures the rules will change at a we were in survival mode to tried to do is give travellers a moment’s notice. just preserve our institutional genuine experience. And that We had some trips to depart to knowledge and make sure we experience itself is changed Spain in September, and then have the top people who could now, right? Spain shut. Greece is open. bring this knowledge with them In the short term, for the Croatia’s open. Switzerland’s to the other side. Someone who’s customers who want really open for Mont Blanc. Italy’s exceptionally good at one thing intimate experiences with local open, which is a big destination became less important to us than communities, we have to find for us. Morocco, Egypt—they’re someone who did many different ways we can make them feel safe. open for Europeans. But other things, or had been there longer A lot of those small communities than that, it’s a day-to-day fluid and moved around in different don’t have the standards of situation. We’ve lived through departments. sanitation and disinfecting SARS, Ebola, Zika. This one, Is what the company used to be required right now. I can think when it started escalating, went still relevant to what you will be? of an elephant orphanage we from being just a virus to living It’s extremely relevant. We’ll still visit in Africa, and the women’s in a Will Smith movie. (2) have all the partners, we’ll still weaving co-op in Peru, and the How has it affected your have all the trade relationships, San people in South Africa. bottom line? we’ll still have all the same Customers are going to be less Oh, it’s devastating. Leading up customers. I’m pretty excited likely to want to do things like to the pandemic, we grew 35% about things at the moment, that in the short term. As an to 40% every month. We were ’cause we’re almost in startup operator, our job is completely absolutely crushing it. Right now mode. The idea that I get to changed because we’re suddenly it’s impossible to make money. rethink everything is super educating all these small So we’re losing money. I’m not exciting. operators. They want to know shying away from that. What will change? what to do to get travellers back. Have you plotted out how long you We’ve already had a few What will it take? can last in the state you’re in? companies declare they’re not Without tourism dollars, what’s It’s all about cash burn. We going to make it to the other happening to the communities G were in a good position, luckily. side. We’re actually going into Adventures has helped lift up out Last year we made acquisition of poverty? offers on three companies. I was Some—a majority—are fine. actually angry when all three fell They have to adjust, but they can through. But if any one of them survive; they have other forms of had gone through, we would income. But many are in a very have been in a very different difficult situation. We’ve actually cash position now. started a relief fund. I personally How have you decided whether to -66.3%Drop in tourism spending in Canada between the first and match donations. We are sending terminate or lay off employees? second quarter of 2020, as lockdowns took hold food parcels to some of these When this all started, we had communities. We’re helping with a five-phase plan. The first medicine and medical care with two phases were quite easy. a lot of them. (3) We’re a 30-year-old company. You’ve said that prior to the We had assistants of assistants pandemic, the travel industry of assistants. It was actually was in a very dangerous place. a breath of fresh air to get an -58.6%Drop in domestic tourism spending by Canadians What did you mean by that?

20 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Exchange.indd 20 2020-10-09 5:26 PM The idea that I get

The destination was irrelevant me to create that change. in tourism. People were selling to rethink Your comment about amenities. The main form of entrepreneurs being self- travel was about whether you’re centred—are you speaking going to have 10 restaurants to everything from personal awareness? choose from, Broadway shows, One hundred percent. To bring indoor ziplines, swim-up bars, your ideas out of your head into the thread counts on sheets. the world takes an unnatural The amenities and distractions is super level of confidence. Not just your took away the connection to first idea; it’s your next 10 ideas. destination. When people travel Being an entrepreneur is very with this mindset that it’s their exciting emotionally draining, because right to travel, they suddenly your company becomes part of demand these things they have at you, and it reflects on you. I think home. They want to feel like they entrepreneurs are the artists in never left home. the business community. Do you try to change that mindset, We create every day. or do you target customers who Looking ahead to next year, where don’t think that way? do you think things will open first? There’s been an evolution on The countries that are going that for us. For our first 15 or 20 to open first are the ones that years, we were a very unknown, have handled COVID the best— cool company, and we were countries like Vietnam, Korea, preaching to the converted. It Thailand, Croatia, Greece. Italy was a very small market. And was one of the worst, but the way then it started crossing over they handled it was incredible. A into the mainstream. Now, G majority of the countries people Adventures is recommended by travel to in the developing world every travel agent on the planet, want passengers as soon as and we’re right up there beside possible. I think it’s going to the Disney Cruise. That’s where be the developed countries we’ve always wanted to be, to get that are going to have the issues more people off cruise ships. with opening. What are the chances that the The next time I step foot in a place pandemic will actually have I’ve never been before, what’s one a positive effect on that? thing I must do? I think it’s going to have a huge Break bread with a local person. effect. I don’t think the cruise You can always find someone to industry’s going to stop. But take for lunch. You don’t have to it’s so massive that it just takes speak the same language. Buy a small percentage of people packs of those postcards with the changing how they travel to most cliché images of Canada— change the entire landscape. the kind you find in airports. You’ve been doing this for 30 years 4. Poon Tip’s company. They love me. They Take those corny pictures with now. How have you changed? most recent EY want to work hard every day. you on holidays, along with Entrepreneur of The biggest change for me is in the Year award That constant self-evaluation images of your family. And when my leadership style. The easiest came in 2016. He as an entrepreneur is very you’re having lunch, show them form of leadership is to lead by was named one hard. ’Cause entrepreneurs where you’re from. Show your example. If everyone who works of Canada’s Most are notoriously self-centred family and your kids. That’s all Admired CEOs for you is in your office, and they in 2018. On the egomaniacs. you need. No one should leave see you work hard, they work Glassdoor list Some of my proudest moments any country without having a hard. Evolving into a leader by of top CEOs for have been in the past year— meal with a local person. coaching and developing people 2019, he officially getting Most Admired CEOs in That’s my advice, always. placed 10th (one is very difficult. The next stage of five execs with Canada. Getting Entrepreneur This interview has been edited is what I call inspired leadership, a 96% approval of the Year for the third time. and condensed. where you have to inspire people rating) in Canada. And then Glassdoor put me at Apple CEO Tim because you don’t have contact Cook was indeed No. 6 for the top-rated CEOs in Trevor Cole is the award-winning author with them. Fifty percent of my on that list, a few North America, ahead of Tim of five books, includingThe Whisky employees, I never meet in their spots lower. Cook, I might add. (4) Those King, a non-fiction account of Canada’s entire careers. Yet they love the kind of things really motivate most infamous mobster bootlegger.

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 21

11_20_Exchange.indd 21 2020-10-09 5:26 PM CANADA’S BEST EXECUTIVES

Leading by Aritzia president tyle Jennifer Wong built a fashion empire by worrying about everything— except the fashion. Along the way, she earned a spot on our list of Canada’s 50 best executives

by Joanna Pachner photographs by Evaan Kheraj

Vegan leather skirt. Cropped sweater, softer than a Persian cat’s fur, for those long days stuck at home. And a puffy goose-down parka—over- sized, like the yellow one Justin Bieber’s wife, Hailey, sported around Toronto last year. These are your fall 2020 must-haves, and Aritzia’s got them all. (The company even has a men’s collection for the first time in 36 years, after the celebrity-driven puff coat craze spilled over the gen- der line.) As retail director Georgina McMichen leads the way around the flagship store on Toronto’s posh Bloor Street West, she also points out the expanded selection of sweats and denim. “I mean, COVID, right? Leisurewear is selling a lot more.” The arrival of the fall lines is something of a relief, given the spring and summer seasons were largely cancelled by the pandemic. When this store reopened in May, a two-hour lineup of shopping-starved women

22 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

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11_20_Aritzia.indd 23 2020-10-09 10:55 AM snaked around the block, held at bay by a fashion. “One of the hardest things to pull off in the apparel industry crew of masked staff armed with disinfec- is consistency,” says Petrie, “and Aritzia approaches things in a very tant bottles. On this Tuesday in September, methodical way.” the store is busy but not crowded—some- As a second wave of COVID-19 threatens to roil retail again, however, thing it may never be again if COVID-19 even the most painstaking preparations may not be enough. permanently changes how we shop. But Aritzia, the fourth-largest Canadian- owned women’s apparel retailer, has a bet- One of the amusements of Zoom-enabled remote work- ter chance than most chains of coming out ing has been the chance to peek inside the private lives strong, if not stronger. While the pandemic of colleagues: a bold wallpaper choice here, a child barg- halted a run of 22 consecutive quarters of ing in there. But Jennifer Wong has given little away comparable sales growth, the Vancouver- because she’s been in the office almost every day since based retailer registered a smaller revenue the lockdown started, co-ordinating Aritzia’s pandemic drop than many rivals, thanks to its nimble response. Dressed in a dark blouse with white polka dots, pivot to e-commerce. her dark blond hair perfectly in place, Wong could be a A key reason Aritzia is in this enviable model for the company’s business-casual Babaton label. position is its president and chief operating The pale wood desk in her office is so clean it seems to have been staged officer, Jennifer Wong. Having spent her for a photo shoot, but she insists it always looks this way. A wall of win- entire career at the retailer, she led many of dows overlooks the Port of Vancouver. That’s about all the details the the inconspicuous but essential initiatives videoconference screen reveals. that proved so crucial at the start the crisis, Her polished demeanour was apparently in evidence even when she from establishing a robust technological was a teenager. Aritzia CEO Brian Hill first noticed the young sales infrastructure that enabled the company’s associate during a visit to the Robson Street store three years after the e-commerce platform to respond to the company’s founding in 1984. “She had an ability to cut out the noise and sudden demand spike, to developing a cen- eloquently share an opinion,” he says. Wong was studying economics tralized distribution system that helped the at the University of British Columbia and planning to get “a real job” in retailer manage its supply chain while oth- finance. While commerce was in her blood—her father was a banker, ers struggled. “You think of fashion as buy- and she used to play “business” on a toy IBM typewriter as a child—she ers, creative designers—all very glamorous often sketched textile patterns during class and drove her mother crazy on the outside. But we’re very analytical,” with wilful clothing choices. she says. And Wong is Aritzia’s analyst- Hill, a third-generation retailer whose family’s Hill’s of Kerrisdale in-chief. Finance, HR, facilities, logistics, department store has been a Vancouver fixture for almost a century, technology, operations—those are all her. put Wong in charge of footwear for Aritzia’s four stores. Her first big Now, Aritzia aims to capitalize on other success was managing the Dr. Martens craze, working directly with the retailers’ woes by snapping up choice loca- British factories to keep the iconic boots in stock. From there, she moved tions for pennies on the dollar, even as it through human resources, legal, finance, marketing and technology, and expands online. With almost 100 boutiques was named COO in 2007. Five years ago, she also became president. across Canada and the U.S., it plans to open Wong believes Aritzia’s first big turning point was the decision in five or six stores this year. The end of bricks the 1990s to create multiple in-house brands aimed at different demo- and mortar? Not if you know how to do graphics, creating “an assortment of fashion apparel to appeal to mum, bricks and mortar right. grandma and daughter,” as she once described it. Over time, the collec- The retailer’s rapid growth since going tion grew to more than a dozen brands, some featured in standalone public in 2016 stands in sharp contrast to boutiques. “Aritzia is the name on the door,” Wong explains, “but there industry trend lines. Even before the pan- is no Aritzia on the labels.” Today the three main labels are Babaton, demic hit, Canadian fashion retail was lit- youthful TNA, and breezy Wilfred, with various sub-brands and off- tered with flame-outs, including Reitmans, shoots such as handbag lines and denim. Outside brands like Levi’s Le Château and Danier. And nine Cana- make up less than 10% of its sales. dian apparel retailers have filed for bank- ruptcy protection so far this year, along with the Canadian operations of seven Aritzia’s revenue is on foreign-owned chains, according to indus- an upward trend 980.6 (in millions of dollars) try research firm Trendex. It forecasts the 874.3 country’s clothing sales will plunge 30% from 2019; the biggest previous one-year 743.3 667.2 drop, in 2009, was 2.3%. So far, says Mark Petrie, an analyst with 542.3 CIBC World Markets, Aritzia has shown 427.4 admirable discipline in making the most of its strengths: a multibrand approach, ver- tical integration that makes it less vulner- able to supply-chain tangles, and “afford- able luxury” positioning in a world of fast 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

24 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Aritzia.indd 24 2020-10-09 10:56 AM ful products that get refreshed year by year, says Stephen MacLeod, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets. He estimates about half its stock is proven sellers, accounting for about 80% of sales and keeping revenues stable year to year. “That helps them be nimble in periods of market disruption, particularly through COVID,” says MacLeod. “They’re not going to be sitting on obsolete inven- tory if they miss a season.” Calibrating trends is not Wong’s domain, she admits. “I give feedback as a consumer. I’m usually the boring one who has to say, ‘I’d never wear that.’” Hill and Wong have established a clean division of duties. She describes her job as “whatever Brian wants to do, wherever he wants to go with this business—I make it happen,” quickly add- ing, “with the team.” MacLeod is more effu- sive. “Brian is the creative genius behind the brands and how they go to market, and Jennifer is a phenomenal operator. She’s done a great job of putting the strategic dream into place.” One of the initiatives Wong is most proud of is implementing a SAP enterprise management system in 2007. The board was against it, pointing out that Lulule- mon across the street had done a similar technological transformation at half the cost. But management persevered because Wong’s analysis showed “it was the right long-term decision, strategically,” she says. She grows animated while relating the epi- sode. “I don’t know if that [opposition] drives me, but we said, ‘We are going to do it, and we are going to do it successfully. We. Know. This. Is. Right,’” she says, punc- tuating each word. A similar willingness to stick to convic- tions propelled Aritzia’s move into the U.S. “Every Canadian business that went state- Leisurewear—like the TNA COZYAF hoodie and sweat pants (topped by a side retreated with their tail between their Babaton slouch coat)—has been a big seller throughout the pandemic legs—what makes you guys any different?” she recalls advisers asking the team. They The opportunity to build a lifelong style journey with clients makes said the company couldn’t do it. “In fact, we each new customer more valuable to Aritzia than to competitors that did,” says Wong defiantly, launching the have a more narrow demographic focus. The company gives each brand first stores right in the middle of the finan- a unique aesthetic steered by a dedicated creative team. “Companies cial crisis. Aritzia’s sales at its roughly 30 sell through private labels for two reasons: Margins are higher, and the U.S. locations have consistently exceeded labels give them a point of differentiation, so consumers have to come expectations, and the market is now its back to that retailer,” says Randolph Harris, publisher of industry news- main growth engine. letter Canadian Apparel Insights. Wong’s stamina in the face of opposition The house-of-brands approach also enables the company to shift focus and the way she fiercely embraces a chal- and inventory with fashion’s ebbs and flows. “As consumer tastes shift lenge make her a great sparring partner and lifestyles change, a multibrand strategy mitigates the risk,” says Hill. for Hill. But it’s her analytical and organi- This flexibility is further assisted by the fact that Aritzia buys its own zational talent that make her invaluable. materials, designs its own lines and even shoots its own ads, giving it “Our marketing department cringes when greater control over pricing and quality, and enabling faster adaptation I say this, but fundamentally, Aritzia sells to trends. While the retailer adds trendy items each season, it stocks clothes,” he says. “We’re in the fashion small quantities to gauge customer demand in case a fad proves to be business. I run the fashion; she runs the short-lived. Meanwhile, it makes “deep buys” of historically success- business.”

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 25

11_20_Aritzia.indd 25 2020-10-09 10:57 AM backbone technology and upgrading the online experience, improv- ing the layout, photography, fit information, packaging and many other facets that kept the online experience consistent with the store experi- ence, says CIBC’s Petrie. When the pandemic hit, the company couriered clothes to models to photograph at home and moved stock from stores to During the fateful ides of March, that the distribution centre. It didn’t lay off any staff, instead shifting many to business faced a catastrophe. At 5 a.m. on help with e-commerce and call centre operations. The online infrastruc- March 15, Wong was in Whistler, B.C., on ture held up despite days that were as busy as Black Friday and Cyber spring break with her family when she got Monday, says Wong. During the first months of the pandemic, Aritzia’s a call from Hill. Wong dropped off her two e-commerce revenue surged by more than 150% compared to fiscal 2020. school-aged boys at ski school and drove “It’s a testament to their discipline in investing in their business,” says to the office to meet with Hill and Aritzia’s Petrie. “A strong e-commerce platform has been the single biggest dif- COVID-19 task force. They spent all Sat- ferentiator between winners and losers over the past six months.” urday huddled in discussions and on calls The COVID-19 crisis has borne out the wisdom of Aritzia’s omnichan- with the board. By evening, the decision nel strategy. It’s a big buzzword in retail, says Harris, “but you can count was made: “We had to close all the stores who does it well on three or four fingers.” Since reopening most stores in an abundance of caution,” Wong recalls. in May, the retailer has continued to keep its digital and bricks-and- The following day, Aritzia boutiques went mortar businesses in close synch. Numerous studies show that having dark. As Pippa Morgan, executive vice- stores in a market drives significant e-commerce activity. The push president of the retail division, puts it: “It also goes the other way: When Aritzia took 36 years to open 100 stores and 36 opened boutiques in Minneapolis and hours to close them.” Denver, e-commerce sales in those In the preceding weeks, Wong and the “I have never markets doubled, says Hill. pandemic task force had spent long days To strengthen the links between the running through scenarios based on infec- worked as hard,” online and offline, the company has tion trajectories, various degrees and dura- Wong says of boosted its customer analytics and tions of closures, and triangulated them equipped sales staff (“style advisers”) with anecdotal reports from staff in differ- the pandemic’s with hand-held devices that allow ent cities. “We analyzed everything left to early days. them to record or review a client’s right, top to bottom,” Wong says. “Day after “But as stressful information and purchase history, day, we were figuring out what our next which is synched with online data. move was going to be.” as it was, it was Aritzia’s digital concierge platform Once the decision was made, they scram- amazing to see helps staff serve as personal stylists, bled to put together a communications plan. giving them access to records of cus- Wong oversaw the engineering of new pro- how many people tomers’ preferences and enabling mar- cesses at the distribution centre to allow it stepped up” keting personalization. A new app will to continue supplying online orders, with also allow advisers to stay in regular health personnel on-site and employees touch with customers, even sending working in pods so if someone became ill, packages of curated selections to those only that group was affected. Wong had set who prefer not to come in. up a war room, its walls covered in charts Hundreds of retail employees re-ceived remote training on the con- and reports, and she met there daily with cierge platform, its live-chat features and email marketing. At the retail- her top lieutenants, sometimes spending 14 er’s behest, some also went into social media overdrive, which has been hours in their own social bubble inside the growing increasingly important to the retailer as it makes inroads state- otherwise empty head office. “I have never side. “Our whole marketing objective is to get famous in the U.S.,” says worked as hard,” she says. “But as stress- Hill. “We’re still an unknown entity. Social media is one of many vehi- ful as it was, we had each other’s backs, and cles, but in the fashion business, it’s an important one.” When Meghan it was amazing to see how many people Markle, Duchess of Sussex (whose stylist has a connection to Aritzia), stepped up.” was photographed in a Wilfred Cocoon coat, Aritzia team made sure the Many of the strategic decisions Aritzia world knew it, and the line sold out. Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Hailey had made in earlier years bore fruit dur- Bieber and the supermodel Hadid sisters are other famous figures who ing the crisis. For one, having control over gave Aritzia a social media boost. The popularity of the Super Puff, an its supply chain gave the retailer the abil- all-time bestseller, has been almost entirely due to social. To boost sales, ity to essentially stop the presses on some Aritzia invested in an Instagram campaign with Kendall Jenner, who inventory orders for spring and summer. reportedly gets north of US$500,000 per post. Other celebrity sightings With stores closed, Wong’s bigger worry led to stock sellouts, which further fuelled the buzz. The latest Super was demand, so the company veered hard Puffs, now also available for men, are the stars of fall window displays in toward e-commerce. “That’s my game, and Aritzia’s flagship stores, and the company recently opened Super Puff this was the ultimate stress test,” says Wong. pop-ups in New York and L.A. Aritzia’s website, launched in 2012, was Stores continue to be the company’s primary marketing vehicle. In more than two years in the making. Over recent years, it expanded several flagships, adding coffee shops where time, the company kept investing in the style advisers can grab drinks for clients and larger fitting rooms with

26 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Aritzia.indd 26 2020-10-09 10:58 AM team of architects and designers to curate everything from fixtures to Wong recalls a TV commentator opining artwork to music. The efforts have paid dividends. Aritzia’s sales per that there was nothing special about its busi- square foot are well above its peers, analysts report, and recently opened ness model; it was just a good executer. “I stores have returned the investments within two years. remember Brian and I looked at each other, It remains to be seen whether COVID-19 will permanently change and we were like, ‘That’s a bad thing?’” The shopping dynamics. “Customers will need more reason to visit stores,” top leaders spend more time in stores than in says Petrie. “Now it’s not about staying longer in the store—companies their offices, and she personally visits stores need to be consistently introducing excitement into their assortment.” regularly, partly to stay on top of operations Harris, however, believes the slump in store traffic will be brief. “A year (“When I say something in front of a group from now, Canadian apparel retailing will look exactly the same as it at a podium, I need to know what the frick did a year ago, and the COVID period will be viewed as a bad dream.” I’m talking about”) and partly to scope out While consumers might make fewer trips to malls, clothing is less vul- staff standouts who would benefit from nerable to the e-commerce shift than sectors like groceries because it’s grooming and promotion, as she did herself. not a commodity. He points out that Winners is the No. 1 clothing retailer Looking back on the months of closures, in Canada because its tactile browsing experience can’t easily be dupli- Wong sounds relieved. “We were planning cated online. for a lot worse.” But the recent resurgence Hill has given every indication that Aritzia’s boutique expansion will of the virus makes it clear the pandemic continue, especially stateside. The company has identified roughly 100 isn’t over, which could mean more emer- locations that could support stores, and given the troubles of its retail gencies ahead. After 33 years, is she not competitors, there are many deals to be had. Aritzia secured its New tempted to try something else? She pauses York Super Puff pop-up location, for example, at less than 30 cents on to consider. “I haven’t had to go anywhere the dollar compared to a few years ago. for career challenges or opportunities,” Despite its strong navigation of the pandemic to date, Aritzia has been she says. With every major initiative she hit hard. In the second quarter, net revenue was down more than 25% took on, she had no direct previous experi- from the previous year, and in-store sales in July were roughly 60% of ence, yet she was entrusted with leading it. pre-COVID levels. A long-term shift toward more casual clothing may “I like to drive things to be solved or fixed permanently impair its Babaton and Wilfred labels. And Petrie warns an or built,” Wong says. “I always have to be overreliance on influencers could put Aritzia’s image at risk. moving the peanut forward, so to speak. If I But it has been a model of strong execution. Around the time of the IPO, don’t feel forward motion, I’m less happy.”

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“He says people overestimate Erin Crowe CANADAS what they can do in one year Chief Financial Officer, Martello ’ but underestimate what they Technologies Group Inc. can do in 10,” explains Ozzie For repeatedly doing what Goldschmied, who dwells less cannot be done on the former to focus on the latter—then works backward. Erin Crowe—formerly CFO BEST “Number one is make large, of the Ottawa Senators— ambitious goals. Number two thrives on a challenge. Here’s is ignore the noise.” just one: an $18-million acquisition mid-pandemic, Duncan Fulton causing tons of turmoil Chief Corporate Officer, for the Ottawa-based EXECUTIVESRESEARCH BY ROSEMARY COUNTER Restaurant Brands International communications service For improving investor and firm. “It would be really media perceptions easy to just give up, but you Sam Bendavid we never get credit for,” she just can’t. You need to push Senior Vice-President says. Educating consumers Timmy’s new CCO is no through,” she says, with the of Advanced Coatings is usually a slow process, but stranger to Canadiana: He unmistakable attitude of a & Procurement, TC COVID-19 boosted website dropped out of university to hockey coach. Transcontinental Inc. traffic 40-fold. Rather than a work for then Ontario premier For securing a billion-dollar looming technical disaster, Dalton McGuinty, moved to Christopher Phillips annual revenue boost Salem saw a makeover the Prime Minister’s Office SVP, Corporate Systems opportunity. Almost next, and then went back to Technology, RBC A dozen years ago, overnight, Canadian Tire school to head up Canadian For bringing cutting-edge Sam Bendavid joined pivoted to e-commerce. Stores Tire and Sport Chek. “When tech to a big bank Transcontinental, the became warehouses, with I had a chance to work at packaging and printing curbside pickup and speedy Canada’s other iconic brand, Technical whiz Christopher powerhouse, as a financial delivery as their new norm. I couldn’t resist,” he says. The Phillips oversees RBC’s analyst. His strategy for best part of his sweet gig? myriad behind-the-scenes climbing the ladder was Seema Lakhani “Operating a global company digital tools. Among them, twofold: First, pretend he was Chief Product Officer, Wattpad, in more than 100 companies there’s an AI-based fraud already top dog. “I had the and GM, Wattpad Labs from right here in Toronto,” detector to spot financial mindset that if this business For transforming a free online he says. Although, for crime, the internal social was all mine, how would I platform into a money-maker someone who loves Canada as media platform RBC Connect think and act and behave?” much as he does, the travel’s and Phillips’s newest project: Next, he combined that Seema Lakhani came up with pretty great, too. “I’ve had the “a back-to-work app with a boss-level confidence with not one but three solutions unique opportunity to see the health screener you can use an entry-level work ethic. “I to generate revenue for whole country up close.” on your mobile phone.” always try to overperform and Wattpad, the publishing overdeliver,” says Bendavid, platform: Paid Stories, where Ghazala Parvez Joel Abramson who is charged with divesting “wattpadders” can support Chief Financial Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, underperforming assets and writers they enjoy; a premium Nulogy Fully Managed acquiring better ones. His customizable ad-free For revamping an outdated For solving IT problems most recent purchase of experience; and Tap, an pricing model of the future in advance Coveris, a packaging company, interactive storytelling app. added more than $1 billion “It’s basically Choose Your Nulogy developed software If you happen to work for to Transcontinental’s Own Adventure,” Lakhani to streamline supply chains the L.A. Lakers, and you’re annual revenue. says of Tap, though the same for packaged food companies also having a computer issue, could be said of Wattpad’s of all sizes—and charged the it’s the Ottawa-based Fully Eva Salem multipronged revenue model, same price to all of them. “A Managed team that will solve Vice-President of Marketing, which “serves the different million-dollar business and your problem from afar. The Canadian Tire Corp. needs of unique users.” a $50-million business paid same is true for 5,000 other For modernizing mid-pandemic the same amount. Meanwhile, clients and their employees, Ozzie Goldschmied the value you were getting and it is Joel Abramson’s Eva Salem has put her Chief Technology Officer, was completely different,” responsibility to manage branding skills to work Ceridian HCM Holdings Inc. says Ghazala Parvez. She their experience while at Canadian Tire after a For managing a team of 1,000 spearheaded a “year of adding new products to Fully glam career in cosmetics to deliver big results difficult conversations,” Managed’s roster, which marketing. When it comes to in which clients were told includes IT management her admittedly less swanky The former CTO of software the company would now and 24-7 support. “I try to BURDEN BRENDAN new company, people think company Ceridian (he left charge by volume. By spot emerging trends well in of paint and screwdrivers, earlier this fall) thinks often of miracle—or maybe by advance and grow our strategy

but “we have top brands that Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Parvez—everyone stayed. around them,” he says. PHOTOGRAPH

28 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_BestExecs.indd 28 2020-10-09 5:02 PM 11_20_BestExecs.indd 29 PHOTOGRAPH For making strategic decisions (at least, in retrospect) Chief Financial Officer andChief Operating Officer, CanadianMedical Association Jimmy Mui and finance—came together nicely. I consider myself very lucky.” All these pieces—experience in private and public, technology the Ottawa Police Service, which is completely different again. which was totally outside my realm, and then switched again to changed fast. I joined a technology company as an IT consultant, university fully convinced I’d have a career in accounting. That “It’s so fortuitous, the way things happen. I graduated from NOVEMBER 2020 / zero outbreaks. months, Bimbo had exactly advance,” she says. Over nine now, we were doing well in “Everything everyone’s doing and temperature screening. tracing, physical distancing sanitation, internal contract workers through enhanced down on safety for essential government did and doubled sent people home before the made a crisis plan in January, is safety,” she says. Langrock ourselves, so our top priority do that if we can’t protect Canadians, but we can’t mission: “Our job is to feed Lynn Langrock is on a crisis management team, As head of Bimbo Canada’s of coronavirus For squashing the spread Canada Bread) Bimbo Canada (formerly Relations &Corporate Affairs, Vice-President, Human Lynn Langrock to businesses—and then mainly delivered packages For half a century, Purolator decades-old model For reinventing a Officer, Purolator Inc. and Chief HumanResources Senior Vice-President Ken Johnston more than 300%. Revenue, meanwhile, is up perspectives and opinions.” says. “We’re after different quotas or anything else,” she “We don’t focus on gender or almost half of them women. The team grew from 20 to 100, and from private to public. GTY Technology Holdings— through a $140-million sale to strategic sourcing software Kitchener, Ont., developer of Veenstra began guiding the at Bonfire in 2017, Kim Within six months of arriving traded company a startup to a publicly For transitioning from Bonfire Interactive Inc. Chief Operating Officer, Kim Veenstra

REPORT ONBUSINESS

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29 CANADA’S BEST Roy Ratnavel Jane Fedoretz. You can fixate Head of Distribution and on mistakes, she explains, or EXECUTIVES Executive Vice-President, you can use these moments CI Financial Corp. to build and expand. the world changed. “The For living a dream-come-true The same is true for the growth of home delivery now 109-year-old coal company vastly outpaces deliveries at Roy Ratnavel, a Sri Lankan TransAlta, which is currently work, so we had to change immigrant with no financial modernizing and pivoting to as fast as the market did,” training and $50 to his name, renewable energy. says Ken Johnston. And landed an entry-level job in when overnight delivery is CI’s mailroom. One fateful Megan Paterson already the industry standard, day, he complimented a Chief Human Resources customer service becomes well-dressed man’s tie. “A Officer, Kinaxis Inc. king. Johnston’s job is to few weeks later, he delivered For championing find those rare workers— a shopping bag of designer neurodiversity technical, flexible, friendly, ties to my cubicle. I was the patient—and keep them best-dressed mailroom kid Thanks largely to Megan happy and motivated. on Bay Street.” Under his Paterson, Ottawa-based mentor’s guidance, Ratnavel software company Kinaxis Erfan Kazemi finished high school and has committed itself to Chief Financial Officer, then university, and began diversity and inclusivity, Sandstorm Gold Royalties climbing the CI ladder. Now including people on the For strategic financial he’s the VP who gifts his old autism spectrum. “These leadership in a bull market ties to new hires. people do so well in school, but they can’t get jobs Erfan Kazemi never thought Louis Gagnon because they don’t interview he’d land in the gold industry. President, Canadian Operations, in a neurotypical way,” she “I thought I’d probably work Intact Financial Corp. says. Kinaxis’s Autism at in film,” he laughs, “but then I For rebranding an insurance Work program identifies fell in love with the business company with values unique talents and makes model.” And how could he necessary accommodations not? Gold is a hot commodity Louis Gagnon joined what for employees on the right now, and Kazemi’s would become Intact just spectrum—who currently bold moves have raised in time for ING to sell it in represent 1.9% of Kinaxis’s $300 million in equity while 2009. His timing could not staff. doubling the annual cash have been worse. “It was over flow. While the going is good, Christmas and New Year’s Beth Tyndall he’s trying hard to savour the during the worst year of the Chief People Officer, Ontario experience. “I try to enjoy past 50,” he says of making Teachers’ Pension Plan every moment, especially the the risky move in the midst For COVID-proofing the simple stuff.” of a global financial crisis. organization’s culture But a careful values-based Roxanne Rose rebrand—integrity, respect Because of Beth Tyndall, Vice-President of Global Human and generosity were among the OTPP doesn’t have a Leena Thampan Resources, Linamar Corp. the virtues—hit all the right regular human resources Chief Product Officer, For her lightning-fast notes just when people department; it has a people Wagepoint reaction time needed them most. “Ten and culture division. “There For leading payroll tech with years later, we’re the top was already something very exactly zero tech background “One of the very best things brand of personal insurance special about this business,” we do is react,” says Roxanne in the country.” she notes about her arrival Of all people, it was Leena Rose. Linamar usually focuses in 2017, “so my challenge Thampan’s fiancé who lured on making components for Jane Fedoretz became strengthening an her away from a secure the automotive and aerospace Chief Talent & Transformation already awesome culture.” advertising job to risky tech industries, but when the Officer, TransAlta Corp. First up, she implemented startup Wagepoint, an online company’s Asian operations For changing course and a monthly survey that payroll service provider. “He spotted the coronavirus embracing change measured engagement, must have seen something months before most, it which became a de facto that I didn’t,” she says, and pivoted to make ventilators. You don’t go from social communication channel for he was right: After five years “We put in screening, worker to lawyer to human 1,300 workers. While other of heading Wagepoint’s testing and mask protocols, resources leader if you fear companies scrambled to marketing and customer MICHAEL KUBY and got right to work.” Next change. “My whole career organize and stay in touch support team, Thampan’s up: a COVID-19 contact- has been propelled by being virtually when COVID-19 hit promotion to CPO made tracking bracelet that uses self-aware enough to know in March, the OTPP was set sense—even though she lacks

Bluetooth tech. when I need to change,” says up and ready. a tech background. “I had so PHOTOGRAPH

30 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_BestExecs.indd 30 2020-10-09 5:03 PM Kelly Blackett Executive Vice-President, Human Resources & Corporate Communications, CWB Financial Group For believing everyone has a talent waiting to be found

“My job involves making sure we’ve got the right people in the right place at the right time. I truly believe everyone has a superpower they can bring to the workplace, and it’s about finding what it is and matching it to an opportunity. Creating the right conditions to make this match is my absolute favourite part of my day.”

much first-hand experience two friends, he vowed to let people be great at what it’s her job to “look at socio- with customers that I knew close the price gap. Article they do, only do more of it. It’s economic market trends and exactly what people were was born. “We’re entirely a pretty simplistic business build technology to help.” looking for,” she says. Luckily, online—no showrooms, and model, actually, but it’s very, no coding skills are required. we do our own delivery—so very successful.” Jody Sperling we can track every expense Senior Vice-President, Human Andy Prochazka and inefficiency with data- Debbie Gamble Resources, Equitable Bank Co-founder and Chief informed decision making.” Chief Officer of Innovation Labs For 14 years of human empathy Marketing Officer, Article and New Ventures, Interac Corp. For cutting out the Carmele Peter For being a fintech visionary “Everyone needs HR—that’s furniture middleman President, Exchange my thought. We look at every Income Corp. Every time you pay for a latte individual as an individual A decade ago, product For making 10 acquisitions with your iPhone, you might and deal with people with manager and keen traveller that tripled the market cap want to thank Debbie Gamble. compassion. I take the time Andy Prochazka was in the For decades, she’s been a to build direct relationships market for a leather sofa. “I “Our philosophy is different leader in secure transaction with staff, especially those remember being shocked than that of a lot of private technologies—from debit struggling. I get personal and by the discrepancy between equity firms; we buy, hold, cards to bitcoin to Apple personally involved. I’m told the [overseas] factory and nurture and grow. We don’t go Pay. She’s twice worked for I have empathy disorder, but the showroom.” With help in looking to change things or Interac, most recently as the really, I just care. That’s the from his twin brother and preaching synergy—we just head of innovation, where secret to HR.”

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 31

11_20_BestExecs.indd 31 2020-10-09 5:03 PM CANADA’S

BEST CP’s 12,000 employees—to of customers who were Larry Tomei appreciate the practicalities desperately in need of advice. Executive Vice-President & EXECUTIVES of their business as well. “The For those clients, the bank Head of Wealth and Personal bulk of our CP family is out launched Ready Advice, Banking, HSBC Bank Canada Michelle Kisil in the field, operating trains, which equips tellers and call For being the people’s banker Vice-President, Canada Key fixing railcars and laying centres with “the ability to Accounts, Baker Hughes tracks,” he says, “not sitting in read customer cues.” Bankers often get a bad rap, For building the most an office.” For the desk-bound but Larry Tomei is walking unlikely of bridges to understand and appreciate Leen Li proof that the stereotypes the work, Velani has a simple Chief Financial Officer, aren’t always accurate. “We After 20 years in oil and gas, solution: “We send them out Wealthsimple change people’s lives for the including the past decade at to do conductor training or For having a career trajectory better; we help build wealth, Baker Hughes, Michelle Kisil track inspection courses.” worthy of a Hollywood biopic send your kids to school, has earned a reputation as Learning the trade makes for buy your home,” says the VP a bridge-builder—between a better accountant, he says. Wealthsimple’s cheeky and “proud banker” for 26 groups and businesses, motto—“Get rich slow”— years. He’s known to frequent the like-minded and the Alexandra Voyevodina could just as easily describe branches just to meet his staff adversarial. Her secret to Chief Financial Officer, Endy the career of its CFO, the fifth and present awards—each finding common ground?Be For revolutionizing your child in a rural Chinese family one signed personally by the common ground. “I try comfy night’s sleep too poor for indoor plumbing. hand. “I want them to know to make genuine, personal At 25, Leen Li came to Canada that if they’ve worked hard connections with colleagues, If you’ve bought a new for an MBA. Twenty years enough to earn this, then the customers and communities. mattress in the past five later, she’s leading one of the least thing I can do is sign it.” Every interaction is an years, it’s likely you skipped country’s most innovative opportunity to build a the showroom in favour of a online investment firms, Carrie Baker connection,” she says. so-called “bed in a box,” a new where she expertly combines President, North America, mattress model that exploded her background in both Canada Goose Holdings Elliot Kazarnovsky seemingly overnight. Leading finance and technology. “We For boosting a brand from Chief Financial Officer, the Canadian market is Endy, use a hybrid of humans and unknown to iconic Marlin Spring which, under Alexandra computers to help you choose For building a real estate Voyevodina’s watch, grew and manage investments,” she It’s hard to fathom, but the empire for real people from zero to $70 million in says. iconic coat with the signature revenue in two short years. round red logo—seen on the Five years after its founding in “Any startup’s success comes Tania L. Little arms of such celebrities as 2014, real estate development from a great team and good Chief Development Justin Bieber, Kate Upton and company Marlin Spring has luck,” she says. Endy operates & Partnerships Officer, Drake—wasn’t in the public 30 projects in the works. a lean team of 50 that caters Food Banks Canada Canadian consciousness less Naturally, collaboration is directly to consumers who For raising more than than a decade ago. “We were key—but never at the expense are increasingly confident a $100 million when 50 years old, but no one had of individuality. “I always give shopping online—even for Canadians need it most really heard of us, especially people latitude to succeed in mattresses. outside Canada,” says Carrie their own style and their own Food Banks Canada usually Baker of the brand. With a way,” Elliot Kazarnovsky says. Betsey Chung raises $20 million annually. little bit of luck and a whole “I set goals at the top, and Senior Vice-President Since the pandemic struck lot of Baker’s masterful public as long as they meet them, & Chief Marketing in March, it has collected relations skills, Canada Goose I don’t care how it’s done.” Officer, Canadian Banking, more than $120 million, conquered the market so The result is a wide portfolio, TD Bank Group thanks largely to the tireless strongly and swiftly that it from townhouses to highrises, For boosting digital IQ efforts of Tania Little— feels like it’s been here the that caters to every kind of though she won’t take much whole time. customer. Thanks to Betsey Chung, 500 credit. “During COVID-19, TD marketers completed Canadians were triggered by Mike Chmura Nadeem Velani what you might call digital a primal fear around food,” Chief Technology Officer, Executive Vice-President boot camp: “We covered she says. But while most BlueDot & Chief Financial Officer, everything from targeting of us saw greedy shoppers For predicting pandemics Canadian Pacific Railway customers to the economics hoarding toilet paper, Little before they happen For offering holistic of digital marketing to looked deeper to see “that leadership that merges deepening customer fear could trigger empathy Years before you’d ever heard white collar with blue relations,” she says of the and motivation.” Her team the word “coronavirus,” program. It was so successful mobilized donors, expanded Mike Chmura had identified Long before he was a VP, that it was immediately the donor base and organized and studied what was Nadeem Velani was what he expanded to other teams— “Stronger Together,” one of called “Disease X.” “We BRIANNA ROYE calls a “career railroader.” including front-line workers. the most successful charitable knew there’d be a pandemic He still is, and he expects his Chung’s timing was perfect, TV broadcasts in Canadian eventually, so it was our job

finance team—a fraction of as COVID-19 brought droves history. to build the infrastructure PHOTOGRAPH

32 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_BestExecs.indd 32 2020-10-13 1:16 PM PHOTOGRAPH BRIANNA ROYE 11_20_BestExecs.indd 33 PHOTOGRAPH For seeing the big picture—especially now Chief Financial Officer, Northland Power Pauline Alimchandani promoting virtually. We still need to move forward, and we are.” technology is pretty good, and we’re still growing and hiring and pandemic has shown us that companies are really resilient and I don’t know when I will. It’s been a challenge, definitely, but the company. I haven’t met most of my colleagues in person yet, and “I’ve just started—completely remotely—as a leader at a new NOVEMBER 2020 / savings of $9 million. in a decade—not to mention satisfaction rate it has seen enjoyed the highest residential immediately: Hydro One move that paid off almost care was a risky, expensive Top-notch in-house customer didn’t make sense,” he says. between us and customers just centre, but having a third party we outsourced our contact way. “For years, like most, boldly moved the other usually is, Jason Fitzsimmons that can be outsourced In a field where everything customer service For gambling on Hydro One & Customer Care Officer, Chief Corporate Affairs Jason Fitzsimmons fighting plan. to the country’s pandemic- disease analytics platform recently added Chmura’s Minister Justin Trudeau, who impressed clients is Prime 70 languages. Among many news, media and radio) across analyzing data (including outbreaks at the source by technology to spot would-be uses AI-driven detection says Chmura. BlueDot and framework we’d need,” help, so we did,” Shah says. were in a fortunate position to available and totally free. “We polling. Best of all, it’s widely homework, questions and platform” with lectures, tests, mobile, a “fully active learning classroom app on web and software to create a virtual Shah. Top Hat shifted its accelerated,” says Bhavin plans were expanded and Then COVID-19 hit. “All our for post-secondary professors. Hat built classroom software educators, Toronto-based Top increasingly important for Knowing technology is virtual classrooms For creating free Officer, Top Hat Chief Technology Bhavin Shah

REPORT ONBUSINESS 2020-10-09 5:03 PM

33 CANADA’S

BEST Pitts watched a slow but Pierre St-Laurent product: ethanol for hand steady trajectory toward the Executive Vice-President sanitizer. “We worked with EXECUTIVES adoption of digital banking. & Chief Operating Officer, the WHO’s recipe and started In the past six months, by Full Service, Sobeys mass-producing sanitizer, geneviève bich obvious necessity, came For recognizing the importance both for our internal use and Vice-President, Human everyone else. Late adopters of his whole team for society,” says Melissa Resources, Metro Inc. are reluctant and tech-phobic, Hanesworth. Without For skipping the sugarcoating so it’s Pitts’s job to make “I’ve made a balanced team slowing its usual business, online banking as easy as with highly experienced Corby produced hundreds of In March, 90,000 front-line pushing a button. “Our new people and people with high thousands of litres of sanitizer Metro workers relied on platform, QuickPay, lets users potential. You need both, for hospitals, nursing homes geneviève bich’s leadership, pay bills just by forwarding especially now. Through and more. guidance and, most of all, the email,” he says. “We this crisis, we learned that honesty. “I believe in telling use artificial intelligence front-line workers are just as Robert C. Campbell the truth, always,” she to identify the payment important as executives—or Partner and National Director says. Even though nobody and due date, and pay it more. The stronger the team of Indigenous Services, MNP had answers about the automatically.” is, the stronger our business For engaging and championing pandemic, bich’s team “tried will be. People are our biggest Indigenous people in business to communicate as often Zainul Mawji asset, and it’s where we need and effectively as possible, President of Home Solutions, to focus.” Robert Campbell, MNP’s first adjusting as we went.” This Telus Corp. Indigenous partner, is focused meant listening to questions For providing health care Solmaz Shahalizadeh on bringing strong business and suggestions, and putting solutions from an unlikely Senior Vice-President of Data practices to Canada’s employees’ health—physical source Science & Engineering, Shopify Indigenous communities. “I and mental—first. “If someone For using data to democratize try to convey the message on was too afraid to come to Most Canadians don’t know a million merchants behalf of my company to my work, we weren’t going to it, says Zainul Mawji, but community, and vice versa, force them. We were going to “Telus is actually the largest Shopify’s mandate is to that we’ve stepped up our give them the resources they digital health company democratize commerce for game and changed our ways needed to feel better.” in Canada.” The telecom entrepreneurs big and small; to better suit the needs of this provides services for doctors, Solmaz Shahalizadeh’s job important demographic in Nicki Sabapathy pharmacies and insurance is to crunch the numbers Canada,” says Campbell. Head of Human Resources providers. When COVID- and make it happen. Shopify Canada, Cisco 19 struck, Mawji guided found her when the then Nicole Frew For moving diversity her team to move quickly investment banker showed up Executive Vice President beyond a talking point into a direct-to-consumers at a weekend-long just-for- & Chief Compliance Officer, model. Alongside countless fun Shopify hackathon. “A Bank of Nova Scotia Many companies preach apps, devices and virtual month later, they hired me,” For implementing diversity and inclusion, care solutions, they even she says. Shopify’s merchants 600 safety plans but few make it a mandate. repurposed 11 mobile clinics need not beg a bank for a Cisco’s former HR head (she into curbside coronavirus loan, because Shahalizadeh’s Before Nicole Frew was recently joined Shopify), testing units for front-line algorithm will use back-end poached by Scotiabank, she Nicki Sabapathy—a Sri workers. data to predict their success was actually the company’s Lankan immigrant who came and fund them accordingly. lawyer. “It was a huge fork to Canada as a teenager—is Hratch Panossian “We give enterprise-level in the road for me but a the perfect person to lead Senior Executive Vice-President solutions, right off the bat, tremendous opportunity,” she the charge: “When we bring & Chief Financial Officer, CIBC to a million merchants who says of moving to the business people into the organization, For fostering diversity might otherwise never get the world in 2005. Frew now I make sure we think and act capital they need,” she says. oversees expansive markets— through a lens: Do they see “The world we live in now is Scotiabank has branches in others like themselves here? changing so quickly and so Melissa Hanesworth Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Are they comfortable here? has our culture. We’re still Vice-President of North Colombia, Central America Can they bring their best and focused on client outcomes American Manufacturing and the Caribbean—and whole self to work? It’s my job and delivering to our Operations, Corby Spirit and is diligently managing 600 to make sure everyone fits.” shareholders, but I’m thinking Wine/Pernod-Ricard different business continuity a lot about diversity in all For moving the booze business plans, each tailored to a Brett Pitts dimensions—gender, race, to serve the greater good unique branch. “It’s a complex Chief Digital Officer, age and sexual orientation, of issue in any geography, Bank of Montreal course, but you can expand Corby’s five North American and every geographical For making digital banking far beyond that. There’s distilleries (they distill, environment is different,” she easier than ever before diversity of thought, of mature, blend, bottle and says. “We’re busy making sure education, of abilities. I would distribute spirits) found our employees and customers Over two decades in the think it’s the perspective of all themselves in possession of are as safe as they can be digital banking sector, Brett good leaders.” a much-needed pandemic wherever they are.”

34 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

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36 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Nutrien_NEW.indd 36 2020-10-09 2:31 PM THE WORLD’S LARGEST FERTILIZER COMPANY IS THRIVING IN THESE UNPRECEDENTED TIMES. SO WHY DOESN’T NUTRIEN HAVE INVESTORS’ RESPECT?

11_20_Nutrien_NEW.indd 37 2020-10-09 2:32 PM IN

have been social distancing for over a century, the joke in the agricultural sector goes. Behind the cheap laugh lies an essential truth: A global pan - demic isn’t felt much on a crop farm. The work conditions don’t require a lot smaller producer with only one line of of human contact compared to other business. And now we have COVID-19. industries and, as another well-worn “We were thinking 2020 was going industry adage goes, “People gotta eat.” to be a normalized year. Then COVID Which is good news for Nutrien Inc., hit,” says president and CEO Charles the largest producer of potash—and “Chuck” Magro, who personally second largest of nitrogen fertilizer— snapped up nearly half a million dollars integrated model—instituted through in the world, with 20,000 employees in shares amid the March nosedive. The what some describe as a management and a market capitalization approach- pandemic certainly poses some risk to coup—has brought stability its prede- ing $30 billion. It’s also only in its third Nutrien. There’s the poten- cessor PotashCorp never year of existence. Nutrien was born tial for an outbreak at one knew and size alone could from the merger on Jan. 1, 2018, of Pot- of the company’s mines or not deliver. ashCorp of Saskatchewan and Agrium manufacturing facilities. Inc., each a multibillion-dollar concern The collapse of gasoline A t the time the merger was first with its own long history. demand last spring—since proposed in 2016, the ratio- The combined company has largely substantially recovered— nale analysts most com- lived up to its pre-merger promises—if also boded ill for ethanol, monly cited was the ability you allow for some factors out of its con- which utilizes corn as a to influence fertilizer prices trol. In its 2019 annual report, Nutrien feedstock. through increased market reported US$650 million in cost sav- But through two COVID-infected share. John Stephenson of Stephenson ings, achieved as a result of integrat- quarters, Nutrien has turned an operat- & Co. Capital Management told The ing its two predecessors (up from the ing profit. “The structure of this com- Globe and Mail that a combined com- US$500 million projected pre-merger). pany is really built for this kind of vola- pany “would have more negotiating The company tallied US$4 billion in tility,” Magro says. clout and supply discipline.” The deal EBITDA and paid one of the most gen- Some of the global volatility of 2020 “will improve market reach and allow erous dividends in the materials sector has, oddly, been good news for Nutrien. the company to optimize its product during what turned out to be a disas- A contested election in Belarus—the margins,” wrote Monica Bonar, senior trous year for North American grow- world’s second largest potash pro- director at Fitch Ratings, in a report. ers. The sector was racked by a frosty ducer—led to strikes at other mines But history shows that market domi- spring, the U.S.–China trade conflict and boosted the company’s stock price. nance seldom guarantees price stabil- and African swine fever, which effec- Regardless, Nutrien is built for resil- ity in this or other commodities. Highly tively culled the world’s pig herd by a ience. What most investors may still concentrated markets tend to be at quarter (pigs consume corn, which not appreciate is the firm isn’t simply least as volatile as those with a multi- requires fertilizer). It may not have a commodity producer. It’s a mining tude of competitors; the opening or been the Elysian future the merger’s company, yes, but also a manufac- decommissioning of a single mine can architects imagined, but the company turer, a retailer, a financial institution upset the balance between supply and chugged through disruptions that and even a software-as-a-service pro- demand. De Beers’s strategy of creat-

might have had dire consequences for a vider. And this ever more vertically ing shareholder value had less to do PHOTOGRAPH KAYLE NEIST

38 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Nutrien_NEW.indd 38 2020-10-09 2:32 PM million tonnes of the stuff per year, nearly 20 million tonnes more than the Nutrien CEO Chuck world’s farms currently consume. Magro, photographed Compared to PotashCorp, Agrium at the University of was diversified. The Calgary-based Saskatchewan’s canola firm, whose history as a division of breeding facility Cominco (now Teck Resources) goes back to 1931, had a potash mine in Sas- katchewan, as well as nitrogen and phosphate plants—giving it exposure to all three of the main crop nutrients— plus a growing network of farm supply dealerships in the U.S. and Canada. This fit with the strategy of Magro, who joined the company as a vice-president in 2009, and his team. The company would not just get bigger but also be part of every step of the fertilizer busi- ness, from mine (or pipeline) to the end user’s farm. Agrium acquired more stores in 2012 when regulators forced Swiss-based commodity trader Glen- core International PLC to divest most of its western Canadian retail outlets as part of its acquisition of Viterra, the successor to the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool. (Glencore Agriculture, thereafter focused on its core business of grain marketing, recently reverted to using the Viterra name.) with cornering the world’s rough dia- from a Saskatchewan government wary It was PotashCorp, not Agrium, mond supply—a monopoly that crum- of a massive foreign owner, the federal that “really needed this merger,” says bled, in any case—than its marketing government ultimately nixed the BHP Brooke Dobni, a professor of strategy genius, convincing couples throughout takeover, too. at the University of Saskatchewan’s the developed world that spending At its peak, potash was selling for Edwards School of Business. Despite thousands of dollars on a rock was a US$800 a tonne, and the former pro- its enviable market share, PotashCorp requirement of respectable matrimony. vincial Crown corporation had close to was completely at the whim of global And sheer market power was not the 40% of global market share. Over the demand. Its only lever to control the rationale Magro, then CEO of Agrium, next few years, potash prices collapsed price was to reduce shifts or shut down was peddling, either. He spoke of the to about US$150 a tonne, as rival pro- its least profitable mines, often to see a “industrial logic” of combining a large ducers increased capacity and demand new mine open up in Russia or Belarus, upstream producer with a downstream moderated. Meanwhile, restraints on where all-in labour costs were a frac- retailer. “The beauty about this trans- European supply lifted with the break- tion of those in Canada. The low end of action,” he told The New York Times in up of a Russian-Belarusian export a commodity cycle can last a decade or 2016, “is the US$500 million in operat- cartel. Retail shareholders more, and sitting on shut- ing synergies that are in our control.” today can only weep at the tered mines is no way to At least since the Saskatchewan memory of BHP’s US$130- run a business. government privatized it in 1989, Pot- a-share offer price. ashCorp had been reliant on fickle PotashCorp itself would E xactly who approached commodity prices. It saw good times— launch a bid for German- whom is still a closely recall that on the eve of the Great based K+S AG in 2016 (the guarded secret, but it’s fair Recession, PotashCorp vied (with two sides could not agree to say a multiyear plunge BlackBerry and Encana!) for the title on a price) after years of in fertilizer prices had both of market-cap leader on the Toronto picking up stakes in smaller firms looking for strategic Stock Exchange. Two years later, it was fertilizer producers abroad. “Potash- alternatives in the summer of 2016. the subject of a US$38.6-billion take- Corp tried a lot of things,” says Joel In late August, the companies halted over bid by Australia’s BHP Billiton Jackson, managing director of fertilizer trading in their shares and confirmed (now just BHP Group), the world’s larg- and chemicals research at BMO Capi- rumours they were exploring a merger, est mining company. China’s Sinochem tal Markets. What it couldn’t overcome but stressed that “there can be no assur- initiated a rival bid, though it was with- was the fact that the half-dozen or so ance that any transaction will result drawn in the face of Canadian political major potash producers in the world from these discussions.” Just two weeks and public opposition. Under pressure have the capacity to produce some 80 later, the union was announced—but it

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 39

11_20_Nutrien_NEW.indd 39 2020-10-09 2:32 PM for four years before has also built a sideline in customer going off to the Uni- finance. Currently lending to 20% of its versity of Waterloo to customers, Magro would like to grow study chemical engi- that to half. neering. “I loved the It’s worth noting, too, that the largest [farm] way of life. It single capital allocation in 2019—32% was like a second fam- of free cash flow—went towards share ily that took me in,” he buybacks. recalls. After getting Both Jackson and Dobni are skeptical an MBA at the Univer- of Nutrien’s claim that it saved US$650 sity of Windsor and a million in 2019 as a result of the merger. lengthy stint at Nova That sum does not factor in, for exam- Chemicals in Alberta, ple, the US$20-million payout to for- he describes his move mer PotashCorp’s Tilk in 2018, Dobni to Agrium in 2009 as a says. And there would have been other took 16 months to seal. kind of homecoming. executive severances, investment The final, all-share transaction gave With Nutrien, Magro is satisfied that banking fees and integration hiccups PotashCorp shareholders a slight edge “we’ve created a unique company that to deal with, adds Dobni, who has con- over Agrium’s, based on market capi- can perform well on a global stage, that sulted for PotashCorp and Canpotex in talization. But in light of what’s trans- can contribute meaningfully to driving the past. “It always costs way more and pired since, some market observers see the technology we need to have in agri- takes more time than expected to make the balance of power differently. culture to make our industry and our these changes.” “This was not a merger,” opines planet more sustainable.” Others question Nutrien’s very BMO’s Jackson. “This was Agrium tak- Yet he’s still restless. “The merger promising e-commerce metrics— ing over PotashCorp. This was Potash- was the beginning of a journey, not the Nutrien Ag Solutions, as the division is Corp’s board, after going through two end,” he says, noting there are much called, tallied US$250 million in sales CEOs in the space of two years, after larger materials companies and room in 2019 and hopes to hit US$1 billion in the failed K+S takeover, to grow. 2020. But observers note that those fig- throwing in the towel.” In its annual report, ures include sales entered by in-store (Outsider Jochen Tilk Nutrien spells out its sales staff in response to phone and in- had succeeded long - strategy: “During low person orders. Just the move to a cloud- “THIS COMPANY time CEO Bill Doyle points of the cycle, based sales platform, whoever does the in 2014.) Jackson notes IS REALLY BUILT we expect to focus ordering, will deliver efficiencies. And, that Agrium executives on growing our crop as Magro notes, COVID-19 has pushed ended up taking most of FOR THIS KIND nutrient production, farmers to shift to digital orders at dou- the key positions in the OF VOLATILITY” distributions to share- ble the rate predicted at the year’s out- combined company, and holders and transfor- set. The hope is that farmers will come though the head office is mational opportuni- to use Nutrien’s cloud-based platform nominally in Saskatoon ties. At the high points as their own input-tracking spread- (in compliance with of the cycle, we expect sheets. The app will offer recommen- probably unenforceable legislation dat- to focus on organic growth opportu- dations on which seeds to plant and ing back to PotashCorp’s privatization), nities and reducing leverage. The sta- fertilizers to apply. Or, as Magro put it Magro runs the company from Calgary. bility of retail allows us to at the February conference: Moreover, Magro and Agrium keep growing this business “We see ourselves as an brought a mentality to the business that and our dividend through- independent crop adviser.” was different from that of a straight out the cycle.” In short, materials producer like PotashCorp. the steady retail sales will I nvestment analysts are For them, the commodity itself was not backstop the volatile mate- generally sanguine about so valuable as the relationship with rials business. Nutrien these days, with the end customer—the farmer. “This The investment that has many thinking its true value is a commodity business, but relation- actually taken place since will become better recog- ships in the ag business matter,” Magro the merger—which most nized over time. “Given told a conference in Florida last Febru- observers would describe as a low the volatility of fertilizer prices over ary, highlighting the fact that, through point in the cycle—has been almost the past couple of years, we believe its retail division, Nutrien has a direct entirely in retail. Nutrien’s purchase of Nutrien has benefited from the merger connection to half a million farmers in Ruralco Holdings Ltd. last year consol- of the two companies and diversifica- seven countries. idated Australia’s farm supply market tion across business lines,” says Fai Lee, Magro himself claims a lifelong con- from three major players to two. Mean- an equity analyst for Odlum Brown nection to the farm lifestyle. Growing while, the company picked up smaller Ltd. in Vancouver, in an email. “While up on the Niagara Peninsula as the retailers in Brazil and the U.S., where, the COVID-19 virus could have a tem- child of Maltese immigrants, he worked despite its leading position, it still porary negative impact on the com-

summers and weekends on a dairy farm has just 22% of the business. Nutrien pany’s operations, we believe demand PHOTOGRAPH JAMES MCDONALD

40 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_Nutrien_NEW.indd 40 2020-10-09 2:33 PM ($)70 for Nutrien’s products is more resil - ient than what is currently reflected in its share price.” 60 Magro remains committed to verti- cal integration. “The integrated model 50 we’ve built—that is where the true value comes out. I believe that over the entire cycle, we will outperform, 40 trough to peak and peak to trough.” JAN. 2018 OCT. 2020 While not convinced by that argu - ment, Jackson at BMO thinks there’s NUTRIEN LTD. (TSX) a role for a stable, dividend-paying est product or oil producers, or miners burden down to the level of a devel- company like Nutrien in the materials of coal, the reintegration of the former oping-country, which Magro has also space: “It’s going to have a lower beta Soviet bloc economies into the global attempted through his co-chairship of [a measure of stock price volatility] market over the past three decades was the Business Council of Canada’s task than other fertilizer pure plays. A CF an unmitigated disaster. Never mind force on national competitiveness. A Industries and a Mosaic will perform that Saskatchewan boasted nearly half third option is to concede that, most better on risk-on days; on risk-off days, the world’s mineable potash. If a com- of the time in the commodity cycle, Nutrien will outperform.” petitor in Russia or Belarus—paying a the resource is not, in fact, worth any- You can see in Nutrien the story of fraction of the wages and having few thing; it’s an abstraction and a distrac- Canada’s resource-based economy. In worksite and environmental regula- tion. What creates lasting value, in an a sparsely populated, commodity-rich tions—could become a lower-cost sup- age when a yoga-pant retailer’s market country, there is a territorial tendency plier, Canada’s supposed advantage capitalization surpasses that of Cana- to equate the asset itself with wealth. becomes moot. dian Natural Resources Ltd., is the rela- Faced with volatile prices, the go-to One response is to shutter mines, tionship with the customer. In a sign of strategy is to grow larger to extend as Nutrien and its predecessors have evolution in Canada’s natural resource control over pricing. It never works. done. Another is to lobby for regula- sector, Nutrien has been playing that For these enterprises, whether for- tory reform—code for bringing that card, too.

This year has shown more than ever the importance of strong leadership.

At the CMA, we’re incredibly proud to have our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, JIMMY MUI, recognized as one of Canada’s Best Executives by Report on Business magazine.

We join you in celebrating all this year’s award recipients for their expertise, agility and strength in 2020.

Thank you and congratulations!

ROBM_TEMPLATE.indd 1 2020-10-09 5:02 PM 42 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 42 2020-10-09 2:14 PM A TEACHABLE MOMENT BUSINESS SCHOOLS HAVE RETHOUGHT 2020 EVERYTHING—FROM NETWORKING TO INTERNSHIPS—TO HELP STUDENTS NAVIGATE A POST- PANDEMIC WORLD GUIDE EDUCATION EXECUTIVE When Cody Littlefield decided on a career pivot last January, he chose a master of busi- ness administration degree as a reliable way to leapfrog from one industry to another. The 32-year-old former United States Army logistics officer, married to a Canadian and working part-time in Toronto, is considering pursuing a career in marketing or joining a startup. In September, he began a two-year MBA at the University of Toron- to’s Rotman School of Management with the aim of broadening his skills and expanding his network. He also hoped an internship, which is part of the program, could lead to full-time employment. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic struck Canada in March—forc- ing business schools into remote delivery almost overnight—he remained optimistic about studying on campus this fall. “I had looked at some U.S. schools online, and I really did not want to do it online,” he says. “Look where I am now.” The same could be said of graduate business schools that built their reputations on offering relationship-focused, network-rich, in-class experiences for those pursuing an MBA, a specialty master’s or an executive MBA. Now, much like their students, these schools must learn new survival skills, including how to be nimble, manage disrup- tion and rewrite their value proposition in the time of COVID-19. It’s not easy. “This has been an incredible disrupter,” says Caryn Beck-Dudley, president of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Busi- ness, a global accrediting body. “The challenge for business schools is to take a 600-year-old model, which is what higher education is, and convert it to a next-century model on the fly.” Over the past six months—often with little online teaching expe- rience—campus-based business schools raced to repurpose content, ILLUSTRATION BY BRANDON CELI experiential learning opportunities, career support and networking for a virtual environment. “We were on a huge learning curve,” says Julie Perrin-Halot, associate dean and director of quality, strategy and international development at France’s Grenoble Ecole de Management. “Like most higher education institutions, we have been flirting with online for a long time, doing pieces here and there. All of a sudden, we had to roll it out massively.” This fall, her school ran a week-long virtual orientation for the 700

11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 43 2020-10-09 2:14 PM students in its flagship master’s in management program. Students, each assigned an avatar, were thrust into an immersive experience to foster “THE VALUE OF engagement, and work on individual and group assignments (including one tied to United Nations sustainability goals) designed to teach business AN MBA AT A TOP concepts and digital skills. The exercise “appears to have achieved the SCHOOL IS THAT objective of making these new students feel they are part of a school and a community, even without IT ACCELERATES having been physically present yet,” Perrin-Halot stated in a follow-up email. THE TIMELINE Other schools had scant time to adjust. Most programs have a fall intake, but Western University’s Ivey Business School welcomed its FOR BUILDING A EXECUTIVE EDUCATION GUIDE 2020 EDUCATION EXECUTIVE incoming MBA cohort as usual on March 6. That face-to-face instruction lasted four days before the NETWORK BY AT campus, like the rest of higher education, closed because of COVID-19. LEAST A COUPLE OF The school had three business days to convert to virtual delivery. Guided by a few faculty mem- YEARS,” SAYS BHAR. bers’ experiences with asynchronous learning, Ivey drew inspiration from its recently introduced “THAT’S HUGE.” hybrid MBA for working professionals with an undergraduate degree. In Montreal, Concordia University’s John The program was built to be 40% online and 60% in class. Molson School of Business attracted a record “Thank God we had these,” says Sharon Hodgson, dean of Ivey. “We 330 MBA applicants for 2020, but a 25% drop in repurposed the [hybrid degree] assets across a number of programs.” international enrolment and a high number of Ivey turned to alumni for financial support (including classroom overseas deferrals yielded a class of 64 students, renovations to comply with COVID-19 safety measures) and student slightly below last year. Domestic demand also mentoring, along with a $500,000 donor-backed fund to offer travel fed growth in Molson’s specialty master’s pro- support for international students, computer and internet upgrades for grams in supply chain, finance and marketing. students, and counselling for those feeling isolated. The school intro- To wavering applicants, Rotman vice-dean Joe duced a virtual speaker series that featured top executives, many of Milner advises: “Business is moving forward and them Ivey alumni, discussing their real-time handling of the pandemic. not taking the year off, so you might as well start Like business schools worldwide, Ivey refused to discount its tuition your MBA now.” His sentiment is widely shared for learning online. by other schools. “We are demonstrating the value proposition,” says Hodgson. “We With some exceptions, executive education said, ‘We are not going to reduce your tuition; we are going to increase is a soft spot. “When COVID shut things down, the value with some of these other programs.’” the feeling was this was going to be a nightmare Only four of the 169-person MBA class deferred or withdrew. Kath- on the recruiting side,” says Michael Desiderio, ryn Donville, an MBA student who graduates next year, chose to stick executive director of the Executive MBA Coun- with her studies. “At the time, the big concern was that the quality of cil. “The big sell [of executive education] has education was going to suffer if we were not there in person,” she says. been the face-to-face component,” he says. Choosing Ivey for its case-method teaching, one-year program and Earlier this year, Samantha Bureau, assistant deep alumni network, Donville gives high marks for the academic executive director of the Ottawa-based Concus- instruction that now includes explicit training in online etiquette. Still, sion Legacy Foundation, signed up for the Execu- she strongly prefers in-person learning and is thrilled to have been tive MBA Americas program offered by Queen’s back in the classroom since August. University’s Smith School of Business and New A virtual three-day networking event—a program highlight usually York–based Cornell University. In June, she held in person in Toronto in June—was “one of the bigger disappoint- began the program. “If I defer, I am just deferring ments.” Donville blames the pandemic, not the school, for a lower- an extra year from having that degree and that than-normal turnout of companies and communication snags, as some credibility,” says Bureau. With less work-related recruiters failed to turn on their cameras for two-way conversations travel, she says she has more time for her studies. with students. “I didn’t really get a chance to make any meaningful Some of her program was already delivered connections because I did it through the computer,” she says. online, but COVID-19 restrictions ruled out the traditional residential component for the 172-per- Despite significant continuing uncertainties tied to travel restric- son class. Instead, as an opening-night icebreaker, tions placed on international students—a rich revenue source—school Bureau and her classmates were assigned to vir- officials are relieved by the relative strength of the sector. tual teams to solve a murder mystery. “Sometimes Before the pandemic, Canadian business schools were poised for we had 20 people on the screen asking questions,” a banner year. The post-COVID-19 picture is uneven: stable to slight she says. “It was a cool, fluid activity.” drops in MBA enrolment; spikes in interest in pre-experience specialty At some schools, COVID-19-induced adversity master’s degrees, such as data analytics; and relatively soft demand for sparked opportunities to rethink content that executive MBA programs. would equip students for a digital economy. “I

44 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 44 2020-10-09 2:15 PM TUITION | STUDENTS ACCEPTED | MALE-FEMALE RATIO AVERAGE EXPERIENCE | DURATION think none of us has paid so much attention to RESEARCH BY STEVE BREARTON the learning experience as we are now, and that is great,” says Anne-Marie Croteau, dean of the John Molson School of Business. Last May, because of COVID-19, her school BRITISH COLUMBIA or directors; Entrepreneurial Simon Fraser University Thinking is a core course. cancelled an overseas trip integral to an execu- Beedie School of Business FINANCE SPECIALIZATION tive MBA program. Instead, professors designed VANCOUVER Haskayne now offers a finance a virtual seminar on managing in a pandemic, $58,400 | 45 | 46/54 specialization, allowing 18 years | 20 months students to explore areas like featuring health care professionals, business GO HERE IF you want to be a mergers and acquisitions, leaders and others on the front line. “We need to more holistic decision maker. as well as derivatives and be nimble,” says Croteau. Students with experience in financial risk management. marketing, operations, finance At Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of and other disciplines are ONTARIO Management, even without in-person sessions, placed in small groups with Carleton University students sign up for virtual “boot camps” on top- the goal of simulating a senior Sprott School of Business leadership team. Sprott Professional MBA ics such as new software applications and case MAKING CONNECTIONS OTTAWA competition preparation. Successful partici- Beedie is home to the largest $19,000 | 24 | 75/25 business mentorship program 7 years | 16 months pants earn micro-credentials for their LinkedIn in Western Canada, with GO HERE IF you prioritize profiles. As well, the school recently introduced more than 600 mentors and interdisciplinary perspectives so-called “pop-up” lectures—bite-sized virtual mentees paired annually. and an integrated approach to solving problems. learning led by an expert over the course of a few Simon Fraser University VALUE FOR MONEY Launched days or a weekend—worth one to three credits. Beedie School of Business in 2019, Sprott’s Professional “The pop-up is not because of COVID, but Indigenous Business MBA is the least expensive Leadership EMBA EMBA outside of Quebec. COVID is validating the idea,” says Daphne VANCOUVER Taras, dean of Rogers. $58,400 | 30+ | 85/15 McMaster University Even as they edge closer to returning to face-to- 19+ years | 20 months DeGroote School of Business GO HERE TO enhance your EMBA in Digital Transformation face instruction, schools are unlikely to abandon skills and expand your BURLINGTON AND SILICON one advantage of virtual learning—the ability to knowledge of Indigenous VALLEY reach experts who cannot attend class in person. business management, $89,000 | 25 | 64/36 economic development and 17 years | 14 “We are seeing all kinds of unique ways of self-determination. This is GO HERE IF you want to engaging global participants in our virtual class- the only accredited MBA understand the processes and rooms because of the nature of the technology,” program in North America decision making that define that incorporates Indigenous digital transformation and says Catherine Heggerud, MBA program direc- traditional knowledge, cultural change. tor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne protocols and history. PARTNERSHIP ALERT EXPERIENCE COUNTS Students DeGroote’s partner network— School of Business. For a recent virtual class, in the Indigenous business led by IBM, Rogers and she invited a guest speaker from Houston. “I leadership EMBA have an theScore—provides access to wouldn’t be able to invite him to come up for average of 19 years of work case studies, guest speakers experience—the most of any and site visits. a half-hour talk, but he could easily do it from Canadian program. home,” she says. “It was really well received.” Queen’s University For schools—and students—the pandemic dis- ALBERTA Smith School of Business University of Alberta National EMBA rupted another bread-and-butter ingredient of Alberta School of Business KINGSTON, MONTREAL, graduate business education: paid internships. UAlberta Executive MBA OTTAWA, CALGARY, Last April, alarmed by the potential loss of sum- EDMONTON EDMONTON, VANCOUVER $73,700 | 28 | 70/30 AND TORONTO mer internships in the midst of a pandemic, the 17 | 20 months $106,000 | 95 | 60/40 University of British Columbia’s Sauder School GO HERE TO build deep 14 years | 16 months of Business approached Mitacs, a national connections. Small class sizes GO HERE IF you’re interested connect students with peers in an accessible, team-based research organization that works with academia and professors. learning approach with a pan- and industry on industrial and social innova- DIVERSE NETWORK Students Canadian perspective. tion. The Business Strategy Internship Program, come from across the public A NATIONAL PROGRAM and private sector—from Delivered in Boardroom piloted at Sauder in June and later rolled out Canada’s military to financial Learning Centres in seven nationally, generated 413 internships (193 of them services to city government— country-wide locations and for master’s-level students) that allow students bringing unique perspectives. in your home or office, the PEOPLE SKILLS An executive program claims to offer a to assist startups and small businesses affected coaching team helps students national perspective not by COVID-19, according to a Mitacs spokesper- improve skills related to available elsewhere. communication, relationships COVID RESPONSE Smith has son. Over four months, students each earned a in the workplace and time added webinars and three $10,000 stipend, funded by universities, partici- management. workshops in response to the pating employers and Mitacs. pandemic, including Strategy University of Calgary in a Time of COVID and “Honestly, if we, as a business school, don’t Haskayne School of Business Leadership During Crisis. mobilize, then who will?” asks Martina Valkov- CALGARY icova, assistant dean at Sauder’s Hari Varshney $75,000 | 35 | 70/30 Queen’s University and 15 years | 22 months Cornell University Business Career Centre, of the overture to Mit- GO HERE IF you want to Smith School of Business acs. “It also speaks to the brand of the school that strengthen your presence and and Samuel Curtis Johnson if our school is going to be doing everything we capacity as a leader. Graduate School of ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT More Management can to help the students and the employers, there than 20% of the 2018-19 Cornell-Queen’s EMBA will be a return on investment in the future.” cohort were company owners Americas

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 45

11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 45 2020-10-09 2:15 PM Through the program, full-time Sauder MBA TUITION | STUDENTS ACCEPTED | MALE-FEMALE RATIO | AVERAGE EXPERIENCE | DURATION student Ishpreet Bhar landed an internship with Castofly Technologies Inc., a Vancouver startup with a cloud-based educational tech- nology platform for teachers to share and cre- KINGSTON Healthcare and the Life professors. $146,695 | 171 | 68/32 Sciences ate video content. Before his summer intern- 11 | 17 months TORONTO, SAN FRANCISCO, McGill University/HEC ship ended, India-born Bhar had secured a job GO HERE IF you want two SINGAPORE AND LONDON Montréal with the company. “The value of an MBA at degrees, including one from an $114,284 | 26 | 50/50 Desautels Faculty of Ivy League institution. 16 years | 18 months Management and HEC a top school is that it accelerates the timeline INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE GO HERE IF you’re a health Montréal for building a network by at least a couple of While delivered fully through care and life sciences sector McGill–HEC Montréal EMBA years,” says Bhar. “That’s huge.” remote learning for the class provider, administrator, MONTREAL of 2021, the program draws scientist or regulatory $91,000 | 42 | 67/33 Elsewhere, business schools are collabo- participants from across professional looking for a 18 years | 15 months rating with pandemic-hammered employers Canada, the United States and tailored program offering an GO HERE IF you want a Latin America. immersive experience in four bilingual program where to create job opportunities for students. The key global clusters. presentations and discussions Faculty of Business at the University of New University of Ottawa GENDER PARITY With an take place in French and EXECUTIVE EDUCATION GUIDE 2020 EDUCATION EXECUTIVE Brunswick’s Saint John campus requires stu- Telfer School of Management even split between men and English. Telfer Executive MBA women, this program has the DIVERSE CLASSES On average, dents in its one-year MBA program to conduct OTTAWA highest percentage of female cohorts feature students from nine-week business consulting projects for $75,000 | 20 | 58/42 students among all EMBAs. 20 to 25 different industries local companies, including the city’s growing 15 years | 21 months and sectors. GO HERE IF you value hands- Western University information technology sector. The exercise on learning. Students solve Ivey Business School Université de Quebec a was tweaked so that students applied online real challenges for clients in TORONTO Montréal skills learned in the program to the pandemic different industries. $115,000 | 104 | 75/25 McGill–HEC Montréal EMBA GET ENTREPRENEURIAL The 14.5 months | 15 months MBA en conseil en problems their company clients faced, says School Your Startup program GO HERE IF you are attracted to management Shelley Rinehart, faculty MBA chair. All 93 links students with emerging hands-on learning. Ivey’s case- MONTREAL AND LAVAL members of the MBA class landed placements, companies for six-week based learning approach—the $8,400 | 65 | 60/40 collaborations. They create same as Harvard Business 9 years | 24 months of which 60 were paid. “It bodes well for their business plans and investor School—tests new ideas and GO HERE IF you want to attend employability post-graduation,” says Rinehart. packages, and then pitch to strategies within learning a major French-language Even with an eventual return to campus, panels of investors. teams. management school where PACK YOUR BAGS Spend one students work on real schools cannot escape the pandemic-accel- University of Toronto week in an international business cases and have an erated scrutiny of the role of business—and Rotman School of Management location working on a business opportunity to partner with business education—in society. “The core Rotman One-Year EMBA project with your team along international schools. TORONTO with professionals from other TRILINGUAL The case-based challenge for business schools is figuring $115,442 | 57 | 79/21 top global programs. program, which also offers out what it is we need to teach in this envi- 15 years | 13 months the opportunity to investigate ronment...one characterized by a pandemic, GO HERE IF you have an York University work-based projects, is entrepreneurial bent. Students Schulich School of Business taught in French, English and a climate emergency, toxic inequality and a gain skills and experience with Kellogg-Schulich Executive Spanish. desire for business to address these issues, but Toronto’s science-based early- MBA Program stage venture community TORONTO Université de Sherbrooke a slowness of business to do that,” says Peter and through courses like the $112,000 | 45 | 70/30 LONGUEUIL Tufano, dean of the University of Oxford’s Creative Destruction Lab. 15 years | 18 months $49,920 | 17 | 65/35 Saïd Business School. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GO HERE IF you are looking to 10 to 15 years | 18 A personalized leadership expand your global network. months Earlier this year, after going online because program combines group work The program offers the GO HERE IF you’re looking of COVID-19, the school announced a Dean’s with assessment, one-on-one opportunity to meet and study for a customized curriculum Response Fund for paid student internships; a coaching and workshop-style with nearly 500 business focused on developing sessions, including topics leaders from around the world. specific skills instead of program for Saïd students to advise small busi- like the psychology of self- PASSPORT REQUIRED Global standardized courses. nesses harmed by the COVID-19 crisis; and a management. electives at partner schools CAREER PLANNING health stream in its Creative Destruction Lab include opportunities to travel Students receive individual University of Toronto to Hong Kong University of career assessments and for the development of COVID-related mana- Rotman School of Management Science and Technology to development plans. gerial decision-making tools. In an agreement Rotman-SDA Bocconi Global study deal making in China with Oxford city council, the school also turned Executive MBA and Asia, or Tel Aviv University Université Laval TORONTO AND MILAN to explore venture capital. FSA ULaval over 12 rooms in its temporarily vacated execu- US$100,000 | 41 Gestion pour cadres en tive education residence to the homeless. 61/39 15 years QUEBEC exercise (MBA) “We have been using some pretty high- 18 months Concordia University QUEBEC CITY GO HERE IF you are interested John Molson School of $20,200 | 31 | 65/35 minded language since I became dean,” says in business and leadership Business 18 years | 18 months Tufano, who will wrap up a decade-long term with a global perspective. John Molson Executive MBA GO HERE IF you value in 2021. “Tackling world-scale problems and Students learn in “home” Program flexibility; Laval’s hybrid hubs in Toronto and Milan, MONTREAL format features two days of supporting business with purpose. If we were and travel to five other global $75,00 | 21 | 57/4 3 class time and two online going to live those words, this seemed to be destinations, such as São 14 years 15 months courses per month. Paulo, Shanghai and San GO HERE IF you value work-life CASE-BASED Laval the time to rise to the occasion.” Francisco. balance. Molson offers a supplements business case As for Littlefield, he remains firmly commit- TWICE AS NICE Graduates family-friendly, one-day-a- studies with simulations that ted to completing his Rotman MBA despite hav- receive degrees—and alumni week schedule and a healthy relate to each individual’s privileges—from both Rotman executive module that work. ing a preference for returning to an actual cam- and SDA Bocconi. encourages high performance pus. “I am so 100% doing this,” he says. “COVID through good habits. ATLANTIC CANADA and going online didn’t subtract from that. University of Toronto CONNECTING Boasting one Saint Mary’s University Rotman School of of the smallest class sizes, Sobey School of Business This is going to push me in the right direction.” Management students enjoy more one- HALIFAX /JENNIFER LEWINGTON Global Executive MBA for on-one engagement with $31,000 | 19 | 63/37

46 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 46 2020-10-09 2:16 PM COMMITTED TO ALWAYS BEING CANADA’S FAVOURITE COFFEE

©Tim Hortons, 2020

1110406501.ad 1 2020-10-07 5:11 PM TUITION | STUDENTS ACCEPTED | MALE-FEMALE RATIO | AVERAGE EXPERIENCE | DURATION

5 years | 16 months BRITISH COLUMBIA University of Northern and innovative opportunities. GO HERE IF you’re interested Royal Roads University British Columbia Eight specializations in applied learning. Launched MBA in Executive PRINCE GEORGE AND include entrepreneurship in January 2020, Sobey’s Management VANCOUVER and innovation, sustainable newly designed program VICTORIA AND ONLINE $35,000+ | 51 | 58/42 development and data prioritizes decision making $44,401 | 114 10+ years | 21 months analytics. using evidence from multiple 63/37 | 10 years GO HERE IF you are looking for sources to define and explore 18 to 31 months an MBA designed for working SASKATCHEWAN issues. GO HERE IF you’re a full- professionals—classes are on University of HYBRID FORMAT Every three time manager looking to Fridays and weekends. Saskatchewan weeks students attend two earn an MBA. For those Edwards School of Business days of classes; in between, lacking an undergraduate University of Victoria SASKATOON they complete learning degree, Royal Roads will Peter B. Gustavson School $30,306 | 31 | 61/39 modules, online instruction evaluate candidates based of BusinessMBA in Sustainable 8 years | 12 to 36 months and webinars. on education, informal Innovation GO HERE IF your focus is on learning and real-world life VICTORIA team building and business University of Prince experiences. $35,363 | 15; weekend: strategy. Students participate Edward Island 23 | 80/20; weekend: 52/48 in a one-week management-

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION GUIDE 2020 EDUCATION EXECUTIVE UPEI Executive MBA Simon Fraser University 9.6 years; weekend: 10.6 skills retreat in northern CHARLOTTETOWN Beedie School of Business years | 16 months; weekend: Saskatchewan. $36,765 | 8 | 75/25 VANCOUVER 24 months 9 years | 20 months $42,135 | FT: 50; GO HERE IF you want to focus MANITOBA GO HERE IF you want to Management of Technology: on responsible leadership. University of Manitoba learn about evidence-based 45 | FT: 48/52; A redesigned curriculum Asper School of Business management. UPEI is a MOT: 75/25 | FT: 5 years; lets students explore new WINNIPEG pioneer in teaching students MOT: 11 years career paths, such as socially $35,239.68 | 54 how to leverage research FT: 16 months; MOT: 24 minded corporate leadership, 67/33 | 12 months to two findings to make more months community building, and years informed business decisions. GO HERE IF you want to build entrepreneurship. GO HERE IF you want to tailor SPECIALIZATIONS Students a strong and diverse network. your MBA to your specific must take courses in one of Small classes move through Victoria Island interests. Specializations two specialized streams the entire program together University* include international and of study: Biotechnology in a cohort model, taking the NANAIMO emerging markets, and Management or same courses, working in $27,463 | NA | NA entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship and teams and developing close NA | 16 Months; innovation. Innovative Management. connections. weekend: 20 months GO HERE IF you’re interested in ONTARIO ONLINE Thompson Rivers how technology is influencing Brock University Athabasca University University business. The program Goodman School of Business ONLINE KAMLOOPS AND ONLINE features four dedicated, tech- ST. CATHARINES $29,186 to $52,282 22,748+ | 138 | 58/38 focused classes. $27,875 | 183 | 47/5 3 173 | 60/40 | 9 years (4% not disclosed) | NA 4 years | 8 to 20 months 18 to 30 months 12+ months ALBERTA GO HERE IF you want a GO HERE IF you want the GO HERE IF you’re looking for University of Alberta collaborative environment ultimate flexibility. There are a flexible and customizable Alberta School of Business with students of different no set start or end dates, and program. New one-credit EDMONTON ages, academic backgrounds Athabasca’s 24-hour online micro courses include digital $31,000 | 67 | 48/52 and professions. Students can program allows students to and social media marketing, 5.4 years | 20 to 44 work a toward their MBA with establish their own study and investments. months a master’s in management, hours. One mandatory GO HERE IF you’re looking for science, or public health. in-residence course can be Trinity Western an MBA rooted in real-world completed at major centres University experience. Students work for Carleton University across Canada. LANGLEY AND RICHMOND; an outside organization to find Sprott School of Business EXPERIENCE WANTED AND TIANJIN, SHANGHAI solutions to a strategic issue. OTTAWA Program accepts professional AND BEIJING, CHINA $19,000; international: experience in lieu of an $34,200+ | 88; Great University of Alberta $50,000+ 30 | 47/5 3 undergraduate degree or Wall program: 88 | 50/50 Alberta School of Business 4 years | 16 months professional certification. N/A | 18 to 22 months UAlberta MBA GO HERE IF you’re interested And no GMAT scores are GO HERE IF you’re seeking FORT MCMURRAY in a collaborative learning required. Canada’s only Christian MBA $45,000 | 25 | 68/32 environment centred on case program or are interested 4.5 years | 36 months studies, interactive simulation University of Fredericton in specializations such as GO HERE IF you’re looking and client-focused projects. Sandermoen School of non-profit and charitable for an experience focused Candidates with less than Business organization management or on the energy industry. This two years of professional ONLINE international business. three-year program follows employment participate in an $30,385 (flexible pay-per- the existing MBA program internship program. course option) | 71 University of British with a specialization in 60/40 | 16.5 years Columbia natural resources, energy and Lakehead University 18 to 30 months UBC Sauder School environment. MBA and MBA with Advanced GO HERE IF you want flexibility of Business Studies in Management and choice. Students can VANCOUVER University of Calgary THUNDER BAY choose from six annual $50,408 | 98 | 63/37 Haskayne School of Business $18,557, to $21,004 | 62 start dates. All mandatory 5 years | 16 months CALGARY 55/45 | 4.25 years | classes can be attended in the GO HERE IF you want an $35,709; accelerated: 12 to 16 months evening from anywhere with international perspective. $19,640 | 105; accelerated: GO HERE IF you’re looking internet access. As the only Canadian member 60. | 58/42; accelerated: for a degree designed to SPECIALIZATIONS Sandermoen of Yale’s Global Network for 55/45 | 7.5 years; prepare you for a wide range features nine specialty Advanced Management, accelerated: 5.8 years of careers. The program helps streams, including Business students access course 20+ months; accelerated: students develop analytical Analytics Leadership and offerings from 30 leading 12 months and communication skills,

Social Enterprise Leadership. schools around the world. GO HERE IF you want diverse while weighing ethical factors. REQUESTS INFORMATION TO RESPOND DID NOT * SCHOOL

48 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 48 2020-10-09 2:16 PM Exchange Income Corporation’s disciplined approach to management across our business lines has allowed us to deliver consistently for the customers we know are counting on us in these challenging times.

Our proven investment strategy and our emphasis on execution throughout our organization have continued to reward our investors while providing the foundation for EIC’s future growth.

Carmele’s leadership has been fundamental to our success.

Congratulations Carmele on this well-deserved recognition.

CARMELE PETER, Q.C. PRESIDENT EXCHANGE INCOME CORPORATION

1110410901.ad 1 2020-10-07 4:34 PM 11_20_EMBAGUIDE-NEW.indd 50 EXECUTIVE EDUCATION GUIDE 2020 50 GO HEREIF OTTAWA Telfer School of Management GO HEREIF GUELPH Business &Economics Gordon S. LangSchool of GO HEREIF TORONTO Ted Rogers MBA Management Ted Rogers School of GO HEREIF ONLINE GO HEREIF KINGSTON Smith School of Business GO HEREIF BURLINGTON DeGroote School of Business GO HEREIF SUDBURY ANDONLINE Laurentian University* course | years | $19,500; co-op: $44,000 to study consulting, business The program offers options University of Ottawa tourism management. as well ashospitality and include sustainable commerce, schedule. Specializations professional seeking aflexible University of Guelph and jobsearch assistance. evaluation, coaching sessions helps direct your career with customized experience that Ryerson University students study time. part maximum flexibility; 95% of professional whowants Canada Royal Military Collegeof multi-faculty elective. in Turbulent Times, isanew Fire: SurvivingandThriving approach. Management Under international, team-focused Queen’s University with over 200companies. partnerships; DeGroote works networking andemployer McMaster University of thetwo. campus orwithacombination complete theirMBA online, on for flexibility. Students can months 5.4 years | $28,092 | 3to 5years | $45,603 | 6.4 years | $22,329 | NA| $16,260; PT: per $1,316 4.4 years | $83,000 | 3.3 years; accelerated 8.6 339 | $38,500; accelerated: 13years | $13,000 | TUITION| VEMBER 2020 NO 8to 36 months 12to 24 months 55/45 125 you’re looking you aspire to lead. you’re aworking you want a you’re aworking you value an you value STUDENTS ACCEPTED | 11months 58| 20| 8| 45 | 91| 12 to 24 12months 12months

76/24 24 months 50/50 60/40 56/44 45/55 60/40 / REPORT ONBUSINESS

MALE-FEMALE RATIO | months University of Toronto French. is available inEnglishand 24-month professional MBA ment, amongother areas. A analytics andpublicmanage- GO HEREIF Waterloo and Toronto Lazaridis School of Business GO HEREIF LONDON Ivey School of Business GO HEREIF WINDSOR Odette School of Business GO HEREIF TORONTO Management Rotman School of GO HEREIF MONTREAL Business John Molson School of Concordia University QUEBEC GO HEREIF TORONTO Schulich School of Business York University entrepreneurship. business management and include international in specialization: 10options Wilfrid LaurierUniversity management team. from atop-ranked career method. Students benefit offering acase-study-based tracked 13-month program University of Windsor venture communities. world’s strongest early-stage have access to oneof the entrepreneurial bent. Students flexibility, small classes and Management andLeadership. Centre of Excellence inHealth the establishment of the June, Schulich announced for aspecialized MBA. In 20 months Western University Fiat Chrysler. work withcompanies suchas (APEX) allows students to for Experiential Consulting The Advanced Program and personalized learning. world corporate projects op 47/53 | 6years $6,400+ | 6years | $71,890 | 39; co-op: 38 | $29,807; co-op: $32,098 | 3years | $83,250 | 1to 2years | $28,490 | 20months; PT: 32 months 4years; PT: 6years 56/44; PT: 62/38 $92,540 | 12months; co-op: you’re interested you want afast- you have an you want you’re looking you want real- 20months 6years; co-op 8 13months 8to 16 months N/A | 156| 275; PT: 120 40| 65| 16 months 49/51; co-

AVERAGE EXPERIENCE|

60/40 69/31 58/42 66/33

GO HEREIF MONTREAL Management Desautels Faculty of GO HEREIF MONTREAL HEC Montréal months of graduation. employed withinthree over 97% of students are or evening classes, and choose morning,afternoon and part-time students can outside theclassroom. Full- the opportunity to learn ESG UQAM GO HEREIF MONTREAL management MBA enconseil en ESG UQAM GO HEREIF MONTREAL ESG UQAM GO HEREIF (PART TIME) SHERBROOKE ANDLONGUEUIL SHERBROOKE (FULLTIME) École degestion Montréal Université duQuébecà timeline. credential onanaccelerated Management Consultant can receive aCertified part-time orfull-timeprogram Eligible graduates of this management consulting. professional focused on Montréal Université duQuébec à experience. have less thanfour years of other thanbusiness and degree inanarea of study completed abachelor’s Montréal Université duQuébecà business skills. month paid internship to build Co-op options includeafour- practical, hands-on education. Université deSherbrooke options withspecializations. 12-, 16- and20-month MBA designed curriculum offers and specialization. Anewly flexibility inprogram length McGill University consulting projects. participate inbusiness bilingual setting. Students year program offered ina months 5.6 years | $82,500| 6.1 years | $8,700+ | 4years | $8,400+ | 24 to 26 months 60/40 $8,400+ | 6years | $5,400 | DURATION you’re a you’ve recently you want a

you prioritize you want aone- 3+years 16 months 24 to 48months 20| 83 | 12months 39 | 25 | 25+ 12to 20

65/35

58/42 69/31 45/55

Cape Breton University ATLANTIC CANADA GO HEREIF QUEBEC CITYANDONLINE FSA ULaval GO HEREIF MONTREAL MBA ensciences comptables GO HEREIF AND VANCOUVER HALIFAX, TORONTO, CALGARY Financial Services MBA Leadership andMBA Rowe School of Business GO HEREIF HALIFAX Corporate Residency MBA Rowe School of Business GO HEREIF (WEEKEND FORMAT) SASKATOON, ANDEDMONTON TORONTO, BRANDON, MAN., SYDNEY NS(CBU CAMPUS); Development MBA inCommunity Economic Shannon School of Business | Memorial University of five-days. intensive sessions of three-to- participants meet for end of each term, course face-to-face learning. At the a blendof distance and to upgrade your skillswith career professional looking Dalhousie University eight-month paid residency. work experience through an background. Students gain come from anon-business Dalhousie University management. governance andchange economic development, with anemphasison found inatraditional MBA, program covering allsubjects months are offered entirely online. specializations, sixof which hybrid courses. There are 21 a mixof in-class, onlineand and choice. FSA ULaval offers University Laval the MBA. program credits count toward professional education Practice (CPA) ortheCPA Either theDESS inAccounting knowledge inmanagement. theoretical andapplied and want to deepenyour accounting oranequivalent a bachelor’s degree in 44/56 | 3years | $5,200+ | 60/40 | $8,400+ | 15years | $33,810 | 2years | $53,801 | 12to 24 months $26,528; weekend: $36,571 423; weekend: 83 | 5years you are amid- you’re young and you want a you want flexibility you’ve earned NA| 16 months 22 months 295 | 46| 48months 763 | 25 to 30

24 to 48 52/48 49/51 50/50

GO HEREIF SAINT JOHN,NB Program One Year Intensive MBA GO HEREIF FREDERICTON GO HEREIF ONLINE Business Sandermoen School of HALIFAX Sobey School of Business GO HEREIF ST. JOHN’S, NL entrepreneurship (MBA-SEE) social enterprise and MBA andMBA in Newfoundland GO HEREIF CHARLOTTETOWN MBA inGlobal Leadership GO HEREIF $26,700 University of Fredericton Education. Responsible Management to theUN’s Principles of Canada. Sobey isasignatory students come from outside in aglobal perspective; halfof Brunswick University of New million. can manageafundworth $8 world challenges. Students Saint Mary’s University 20 types of degrees. countries andholdmore than MBA students represent 18 tional environment. Current ship skillsinadiverse, interna- ness knowledge andleader combine fundamental busi- with firms. on real international projects environment. Students work working inaglobal business program that focuses on Edward Island University of Prince sales inCanada. business development and offers theonlyMBA in UNB’s Saint Johncampus Brunswick University of New and safety leadership. estate leadership andhealth specialization includereal Sandermoen’s nineareas of for specialist options.

MBA SEE:12months 5years | $31,000 | 2+ years 72/28; MBA SEE:47/53 $10,200; MBA-SEE: 5years | $22,500 | 6.5years | $25,195 | 24 to 42 months 50/50 | $25,235 | $20,000 | n/a | 12months you’re interested you want real- you want to you want a you want to sell. you’re looking 25; MBA SEE:17 10years 12months 16 months 24 months; 30| 220 19| 93 | 10| 16 months

60/40 63/37 2020-10-13 1:15 PM 54/46 70/30

-

Congratulations to theserecent appointees

Phillip Crawley, Publisher & CEO of The Globe and Mail, extends best wishes to the following individuals who were recently featured in the Report on Business Section of The Globe and Mail newspaper. Congratulations on your new appointments.

Gregory Chrispin Marcus Sperber Leslie Woo Matthew Akman Allen Capps Chitwant Kohli Michael Levitt to Board of to Board of to CEO to Senior VP, to Senior VP, to Chair of the to President and Directors Directors CivicAction Corporate Strategy Corporate Board CEO Addenda Capital Cadillac Fairview and Power Development and Exchange Bank of Friends of Simon Enbridge Inc. Energy Services Canada Wiesenthal Center Enbridge Inc.

Peggy Montana Dr. Peter Stephenson Michelle Tan James Urquhart Paul Bird Pauline Alimchandani Wendy Franks to Board to Partner to Partner to Sr VP to Vice-President, to CFO to Executive of Directors Hugessen Consulting Hugessen Consulting and Chief Contrecoeur Northland Power VP, Strategy Gibson Energy Inc. Commercial Officer The Montreal Port & Investment Keyera Authority (MPA) Management Northland Power

Dr. Stanley Zlotkin Harry Conger Nicholas Hooper Jonathan Price David Gerofsky Mark Renzoni Ted Willcocks to Board of to Executive VP to Senior VP, to Senior VP and to Board of to Board of to President, CEO Directors and COO Corporate CFO Directors Directors and Director Nutrition Teck Resources Development Teck Resources Triovest Inc. Triovest Inc. Triovest Inc. International Limited Teck Resources Limited Limited

NOVEMBER 2020

To make arrangements for an Appointment Notice, please call 1-800-387-9012 or email [email protected] View all appointment notices online at www.globeandmail.com/appointments

ROBM_TEMPLATE copy.indd 1 2020-10-06 1:25 PM 11_20_SmartMoney.indd 52 2020-10-09 2:11 PM WEALTH SMART MONEY

MARK SCHMEHL PORTFOLIO MANAGER, FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CANADA ULC, TORONTO People still fear flying or taking cruises. Why do you own United Mark Schmehl is not your conventional fund manager. Airlines, Southwest Airlines, He owns richly priced growth stocks, unloved value stocks Royal Caribbean Cruises and and pre-IPO companies. It’s an opportunistic strategy that Norwegian Cruise Line? has bolstered returns in the three funds he runs—Fidelity The global portfolio is overly tilted Global Innovators, Fidelity Canadian Growth Company toward virus winners, so I wanted to offset them. With a vaccine or and Fidelity Special Situations—with total assets of $16 herd immunity, or if something billion. And the eclectic mix in the Global Innovators fund changes, the world will party like has been a big winner lately, outpacing even the red-hot it has never partied before. The Nasdaq Composite Index in Canadian dollars. We asked market is starting to figure out that the 48-year-old manager what he likes about spin-bike the future earnings power these maker Peloton Interactive, and why he owns airline companies are going to have is enormous. The hard question is and cruise line stocks despite the COVID-19 pandemic. whether they are going to make it—they have a lot of debt and are What drives your eclectic investment strategy? burning cash. I can own this stuff because I have so I tend to focus on parts of the market where there much on the other side. is substantial change—where incumbents are Why are miners such as Agnico Eagle Mines disrupted by new players, as in the cloud space. and Barrick Gold in your global fund? That can lead me to the expensive, sexy and even Gold is a wonderful diversification tool. It’s a weird controversial names. Valuation, I find, is a use- thing to say, but [miners] might actually turn into less tool. If you base your investment decisions growth stocks. Their commodity price is going up on valuation, you are never going to make money. thanks to government intervening with monetary I typically play in the tails of the market. I am in easing, and their costs keep going down because expensive changing stocks, and in really cheap oil is in secular decline. I think the gold price is value stocks where things can get better. As for going higher, and earnings are going to be better IPOs, that’s the definition of change—it’s compa- than expected. nies doing something new. Where else do you see opportunities? You owned COVID-19 winners such as Amazon, There is an environmental economic wave going Shopify and Zoom Video Communications before the on, and it has blown through COVID-19 like the virus hit. How will they do in a post-vaccine world? pandemic never happened. There is opportunity I came into this virus perfectly set up. Those in carbon-neutral and carbon-destruction stocks, names are part of a secular shift that only accel- and anything dealing with greenhouse gases and erated with the virus. I’ve owned Zoom since the global warming. The world is getting even hotter, IPO, and it was a huge bet. Zoom enables people and governments are spending a ton of money to to work from home, while Amazon and Shopify fix the problem. I own electric car maker Tesla, but let people shop from home. Some virus winners I can’t talk about all my holdings. If Joe Biden wins are cyclical. I bought coffee machine maker De’ the U.S. presidency, this is going to be a super- Longhi during the downturn because people were powerful trend, because he is going to spend US$2 drinking more coffee at home. It doubled, but its trillion on it. /Shirley Won stock will normalize when we get back to work. Peloton, maker of internet-connected bikes and treadmills, is a top holding in your Global Innovators FIDELITY GLOBAL INNOVATORS FUND (CLASS F) ANNUALIZED % TOTAL RETURN* fund and a COVID winner. Are gyms in trouble? YEAR TO DATE 58.1 I bought Peloton stock on the IPO because it is an 1-YEAR 64.7 interesting market niche, but I don’t think all gyms SINCE INCEPTION (NOV. 2017) 31.5 are necessarily in trouble. I used to go to a boutique fitness gym, Orange Theory, before COVID hit. I NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX ($CDN.) bought two Peloton bikes during the pandemic YEAR TO DATE 32.7 because my wife and I work out at the same time, 1-YEAR 46.4 but I find I am doing more yoga than ever with the SINCE INCEPTION (NOV. 2017) 23.7 Peloton app. I think [home fitness] is a secular

PHOTOGRAPH SARAHBETH MANEY; CHART SOURCE MORNINGSTAR SOURCE CHART MANEY; SARAHBETH PHOTOGRAPH trend, but I don’t know how powerful it is yet. * RETURNS TO AUG. 31, 2020

NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 53

11_20_SmartMoney.indd 53 2020-10-09 2:12 PM ECONOMIC CONSENSUS FORECASTS FOR 10-YEAR RATES FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

5% VIEMED HEALTHCARE INC. BRITISH COLUMBIA AND LAFAYETTE, LA. ACTUAL 10-YEAR GOVERNMENT REVENUE (2019) BOND YIELD 4 US$80.3 MILLION PROFIT (2019) US$8.5 MILLION THREE-YEAR SHARE PRICE GAIN* 3 372% P/E RATIO (TRAILING) 12.1 2008 * STOCK DEBUTED IN DEC. 2017 2009 2 2010 Decent-sized health care stocks

2011 are scarce in Canada. The sector makes up just 1% of the S&P/ 2018

2013 TSX Composite Index, compared 1 2014 with about 15% of the S&P 500 in the U.S. So, in a pandemic, you’d 2017 2012

2019 think savvy Canadian investors 2015 would jump into a fast-growing,

0 2016 reasonably priced provider of home respiratory equipment 2020* DECODER and therapy. Viemed is that company in INTEREST RATES WILL many ways, but there are several twists in its trading history. It’s (DEFINITELY, SURELY, an entirely U.S. business run out POSSIBLY, CONCEIVABLY, of Lafayette, La. However, it went MAYBE) GO UP SOON public on the Toronto Venture Exchange in 2017 after being spun off from a B.C.-registered Like his fellow central clean tech. Fiscal hawks A near-identical pattern bankers around the world, warn the Liberal profligacy appears when looking parent. Viemed graduated to the Bank of Canada governor will doom future genera- at forecasts for three- TSX in 2018 and began trading Tiff Macklem really, really tions. Experts worry about month treasury bill rates. on Nasdaq the next year. wants Canadians to take Canadian households piling (Breaking with tradition, CEO Casey Hoyt says about advantage of the ultra- on mortgage debt. Key the federal government half of Viemed’s shareholders low interest rates brought to both concerns is the has not published its own are still Canadian. “We’ve done a about by COVID-19. “If expectation of a return to forecasts beyond the lot of good work selling our story you’ve got a mortgage higher interest rates that current fiscal year, saying to those investors,” he says. or if you’re considering could plunge the nation the “unprecedented degree making a major purchase into another ’90s-style debt of uncertainty” means it’s That story began in 2006, or you’re a business and and housing crisis. impossible to predict the when Hoyt, a marketing you’re considering making But as the saying goes, future with an “appropriate specialist, and Michael Moore, a an investment, you can be making predictions is degree of confidence.”) respiratory therapist, teamed up confident rates will be low hard, especially when The consistent missing with a vision to offer so-called for a long time,” he assured they’re about the future. ingredient over the non-invasive (NIV) treatment at Canadians in July. Since the Great Recession, past decade or so— home. (NIV therapy is generally For its part, the Liberal professional economists and seemingly for the government is heeding have repeatedly called foreseeable future—is an oxygen mask hooked up by a the call. Having racked for both short-term and inflation, which has tube to portable equipment.) up a $343-billion deficit long-term rates to rise, consistently run below By 2012, the company to counter the effects of only to eventually revise central bank targets and was up and running. It the pandemic, the federal their forecasts downwards. kept a lid on rates. That specialized in so-called chronic government has vowed to In the chart above, the doesn’t mean prudence obstructive pulmonary disease put the country even deeper decade of excessive should be cast aside. It (COPD)—what used to be into the red in the name forecasts for long-term would be unwise to assume of “building back better,” rates comes from a regular that 12 years of stubbornly called emphysema or chronic including a September survey of private sector low inflation—and hence bronchitis. Viemed supplies pledge to spend $10 billion forecasters published by interest rates—will continue third-party equipment and

on infrastructure and the Department of Finance. indefinitely. /Jason Kirby therapist services to the home FINANCE INVESTING.COM+YAHOO SOURCE

54 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

11_20_WEALTH_turn.indd 54 2020-10-09 2:08 PM WEALTH

company’s offerings include by at least half in ventilators and monitors, and it the third quarter. VIEMED HEALTHCARE INC. TSX SHARE PRICE has added other types of therapy. Viemed’s share price $15 Unlike many independent also shot up, almost medical supply outlets, Viemed quadrupling from has no stores, and its sales March to June, before representatives deal directly settling back to around 10 with clinicians and hospitals. $12 on the TSX lately. This spring, the pandemic As the U.S. gets back kicked Viemed into higher to normal, Hoyt says 5 gear. Doctors and state officials Viemed will refocus realized NIV treatment might on COPD, and there be better for some COVID-19 is still plenty of room patients than invasive therapy. for the company to 0 “We started taking calls from grow. It has two big DEC. 2017 OCT. 2020 across the country,” says Hoyt, competitors, each including orders for more than with about 20% of the NIV Medicaid, the program for 4,000 ventilators from several market: Lincare and Apria low-income earners. The rest U.S. states. Healthcare, both owned by giant comes from private insurers. Viemed’s sales for the second multinationals. But Viemed Yet Hoyt says that of the quarter soared to US$42.8 is No. 3 with about 10% and 1.25 million Americans with million, more than double growing faster than its rivals. COPD who suffer from chronic those for the same quarter in Viemed’s revenue is reliable: respiratory failure, less than 2019. COVID-19 accounted for about 65% of it comes from 5% are currently getting NIV US$19.7 million, but the company Medicare, the U.S. health treatment. “We gotta help those expects that amount will drop plan for seniors, and 5% from folks,” he says. /John Daly

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ROBM_TEMPLATE.indd 1 2020-10-13 2:23 PM The web

Turning Point outgrew the bricks- and-mortar business pretty fast.

years of development. It allows our brand partners to sell directly to our clients when we don’t have a product in our warehouse, and we take a commis- sion on the sale. We also own The Last Hunt, the only website dedicated to discounted outdoor gear and apparel in Canada. This is how we sell our extra inventory, and our brands’ extra inventory, too. We don’t want any of our more than 400 partners to have any reason to sell through any of the giants of this world because they have better service than us. That’s what inspired us to offer same-day shipping in Montreal in September and next-day shipping to Toronto the following month. The COVID situation was rocky. We were mov- ing our warehouse when the pandemic started, and when the CERB program came out, we lost 40% of our warehouse employees overnight. At the same time, we would get 300 resumés when we posted a job—we needed people urgently, because we High hopes wanted to keep our service agreement with clients. I’m proud to say that we managed to hire back 70% Max Dubois, co-CEO of Altitude Sports (along with of the people who left when CERB was announced. Alexandre Guimond), made the decision early to go From a business perspective, the pandemic online-only. Now he’s taking on giants like Amazon turned out to be really, really good for us sales-wise. It was a gold mine in terms of client acquisition, too, because everyone went online across Canada Alex and I were high school friends, and we were 250 employees and found Altitude Sports for whatever they were working in the back of the little Altitude Sports (that will go up looking for, without us having to increase our cost to 400 before store on St. Denis Street in Montreal. It was 2008, Black Friday) of acquisition. And because of what was happening and I was director of marketing. After I started, the in the market, some companies were struggling or web outgrew the bricks-and-mortar business pretty 65% of its closing stores. This meant our brand partners got business comes fast. We thought there was an opportunity to be the from outside stuck with extra inventory. This really accelerated leading online technical-clothing retailer in Can- Quebec our plan to integrate major partners into the Mar- ada, and Alex and I convinced the owner to let us ketplace. buy the business in 2011. We bought the stores, too, 1 million We see ourselves not only as a hybrid of city and Number of but our vision was always to push online. We closed packages nature products, but also as a hybrid retailer and our last store in the summer of 2019. Altitude expects tech company. But tech companies aren’t built with Being online-only allows us to carry about 90,000 to ship in the the same profit timeline as retailers. It’s important year ending SKUs per season—more than would ever fit in the March 31, 2021 to keep the balance between hyper-growth, like biggest outdoor store. And we don’t need to repli- we’ve had over the past years, and profitability. For cate our inventory in every store—we can buy just a 650,000 us, it’s very important to stay profitable every year, few of a certain model because there’s a niche there. Number of which makes us more sustainable as a business, packages A big pillar of growth for us is our Marketplace, shipped the especially with this COVID crisis—and who knows

which we launched in November 2018, after two previous year what’s going to come next. /Interview by Alex Mlynek ILLUSTRATION KYLE SCOTT

56 NOVEMBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS

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