JIMMY PATTISON WHY PASSION IS DIGITAL MEDICINE ADDRESSING ISN’T SCARED OF OVERRATED FOR (FINALLY) TAKES OFF SYSTEMIC RACISM IN A LITTLE VOLATILITY ENTREPRENEURS IN CANADA CORPORATE CANADA THE MAGAZINE FOR LEADERS CANADA’S GROWING COMPANIES AN EXCLUSIVE RANKING OF THE COUNTRY’S BOLDEST BUSINESSES 14No. TRULOCAL Marc Lafleur, CEO and co-founder OCTOBER 2020 10_20_CO10_20_COVER_final.inddVER_final.indd 2 2020-09-08 1:21 PM Bear Mountain Wind Farm, one of Bullfrog Power’s green energy sources for 15 years of supporting clean, green energy in Canada Since 2005, Canadian businesses have been choosing 100% renewable energy through Bullfrog Power to reduce their carbon footprint, support renewable energy projects across the country, and ensure a bright future for generations to come. These organizations, and more than 1,500 others, are proud members of the bullfrogpowered community: Visit bullfrogpower.com/greenindex for a full list! 1110183601.ad 1 2020-09-08 3:29 PM Contents OUT OF OFFICE Yes, working from home—and maybe doing laundry or watching Netflix— 22 was a rush at first. But with many companies making a long-term switch, what do firms need to do to keep employees happy? /By Stacy Lee Kong 2 EDITOR’S NOTE 4 ADVISORY BOARD 6 SEVEN THINGS Everyone’s favourite new co-worker, the secret to parenting during a pandemic, and which deadly sin will kill your career 9 NEED TO KNOW From the silver-linings file: The COVID-19 crisis has inspired innovations that could protect us from future disasters 11 BIG IDEA Entrepreneurs need to be passionate to succeed, right? M RIGHT) SUECH AND BECK/ JK REPS Wrong—it could even be a liability OTTO 14 ASK AN EXPERT Are bickering execs killing morale? Here’s what to do. Plus, embracing the nap CANADA’S TOP GROWING COMPANIES NICK LAURENT/ JK REPS; (B 16 THE EXCHANGE 30 PROFILES BY JA CEO Max Koeune opens A pandemic-essential up about McCain Foods’ rural pharmacy chain, pandemic woes, its the maker of the coolest climate change plan ever rompers for adults B MAGAZINE and its lack of diversity and snapshots of other RO R honorees in our annual FO 60 WEALTH ranking of Canada’s 400 RBC Global Asset Top Growing Companies Management’s Chris 46 CHARTS Beer is betting on The Top 400 by the Barrick Gold, and on numbers: what they do, gold itself. But is it a where they are and how metal only boomers rapidly they’re expanding could love? P RIGHT) SHOT EXCLUSIVELY TO 54 OBJECT LESSONS ND 64 TURNING POINT Just some of the cutting- (A Capital One Canada edge products made Rx’s Chris Gardner (top) by the Top Growing is very serious about president Jennifer R. GRAPH Companies, including growth page 30. TO Jackson finds reason robotic arms, scent- Medical self-test for hope as Black free deodorant and kits from BioLytical Lives Matter protests alcohol-free beer (above). Other innovative VER PHO continue worldwide CO with actual flavour products page 54 OCTOBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 1 10_20_Contents.indd 1 2020-09-08 12:36 PM Editor’s Note October 2020, Volume 37, No. 1 Editorial Editor JAMES COWAN Assistant Editor DAWN CALLEJA Senior Editor JOHN DALY Copy Editor LISA FIELDING, MICHAEL BARCLAY Research CATHERINE DOWLING, ANNA-KAISA WALKER Art Art Director DOMENIC MACRI Associate Art Director BRENNAN HIGGINBOTHAM Director of Photography CLARE VANDER MEERSCH Contributors DEBORAH AARTS, JOE CASTALDO, TREVOR COLE, TIM KILADZE, JASON KIRBY, STEFANIE MAROTTA, JOANNA PACHNER, JUDITH PEREIRA Advertising Chief Revenue Officer ANDREW SAUNDERS Managing Director, Creative Studios and Ad Innovation TRACY DAY Senior Manager, Special Products ANDREA D’ANDRADE Product Manager No time for dancing? RYAN HYSTEAD Production For reasons that are likely obvious, I’ve been listening to the Talking Heads’ Managing Director, Print Production song “Life During Wartime” frequently over the past few months. “This ain’t no SALLY PIRRI Production Co-ordinator party, this ain’t no disco,” sings David Byrne. Then, a couple of lines later: “I ain’t ISABELLE CABRAL got time for that now.” Put another way, a crisis is a bad time to throw a party. Publisher Yet, here we are, celebrating our second annual ranking of Canada’s Top PHILLIP CRAWLEY Growing Companies in the middle of a pandemic. When we began the months- Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail DAVID WALMSLEY long research to assemble the list, the novel coronavirus wasn’t even a distant Managing Director, Business worry. While our work continued, the Canadian economy came to halt—then and Financial Products slowly, tentatively restarted. Now, as we release our ranking, the business fun- GARTH THOMAS Editor, Report on Business damentals for many companies in Canada have changed. And the innovative GARY SALEWICZ firms on the ranking have not been spared from hardship. But as you’ll read in this issue, many found opportunities alongside the chal- Report on Business magazine is published 10 times a year by The Globe lenges. Prodigy Education, an online learning platform, offered a way for kids and Mail Inc., 351 King Street E., Toronto to keep learning while schools were shut down. Lumen5 equipped the World M5A 0N1. Telephone 416-585-5000. Health Organization with video tools to share facts and combat misinformation. Letters to the Editor: [email protected]. FundThrough helped small businesses waiting on stalled invoices overcome The next issue will be on October 30. crunches in cash flow. The entrepreneurs behind these companies rose to the Copyright 2020, The Globe and Mail. moment and were rewarded by sales. Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index. Advertising Offices True, not every company on our list has a product or service perfectly suited Head Office, The Globe and Mail, to flourish amid the current circumstance. There are tourism operators, manu- 351 King Street E., Toronto M5A 0N1 facturers and hospitality companies that face real obstacles. But one of the Telephone 416-585-5111 or toll-free 1-866-999-9237 things that struck me in reading many of the companies’ application surveys Branch Offices was their resolve not to allow the pandemic to blunt their ambition. “Many com- Montreal 514-982-3050 panies want to shrink back during a recession, but I believe in pushing forward,” Vancouver 604-685-0308 Calgary 403-245-4987 wrote Darrell Keezer of Candybox Marketing. “Try something new, call your Email: [email protected] customers, offer new services, do what it takes to grow.” United States and countries outside of I also noticed how often the CEOs of these firms prioritized the security and North America: AJR Media Group, happiness of their employees. “A nything we do in the short term will be point- 212-426-5932, ajrmediagroup@ globeandmail.com less if we are not ultimately a strong team at the other end of the pandemic,” Publications mail registration No. 7418. wrote Adam Caromicoli of Indellient Inc., a software development firm. The publisher accepts no responsibility That’s why we’re celebrating the past success of these 400 remarkable firms, for unsolicited manuscripts, even when the outlook is uncertain for many companies across the country transparencies or other material. H KESHIRI Printed in Canada by Transcontinental OS today. There are lessons to be gleaned from the strategies and tactics that helped Printing Inc. Prepress by DMDigital+1. UR Canada’s Top Growing Companies earn a spot on our list. There’s inspiration to Report on Business magazine is electronically KO available through subscription to Factiva.com be found in their current resilience and determination. If we’re going to survive from Factiva, at factiva.com/factiva Send feedback to GRAPH life during wartime, we’ll need more of the innovative thinking and entrepre- or 416-306-2003. robmagletters@ TO globeandmail.com neurial ambition exemplified by these firms. /James Cowan tgam.ca/r PHO 2 OCTOBER 2020 / REPORT ON BUSINESS 10_20_EdsNote_Masthead.indd 2 2020-09-08 12:38 PM CANADA’S TOP GROWING COMPANIES SPONSOR CONTENT Advertising produced by The Globe Content Studio. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved in its creation. A mix of work and play — and good hires — helps drive The Regan Team’s success The ReganTeam ranked sixth in Canada for Royal LePage out of 18,500 agents in 2019 atthew Regan was working M up to 15 hours a day as a real estate agent a decade ago when his office manager sat him down for a talk. “Her name wasTammy Snow and she said I was being a jerk, turning into somebody who just works all the time and that no one likes,”recounts Mr. Regan, the broker and chief executive officer ofThe ReganTeam (officially Royal LePage Regan Real Estate) in Toronto. “The irony of all this is I was Tammy‘s boss. But I had a tremendous amount of respect for her and valued her opinion.” “BetweenTammy and Allison, they Matthew Regan, $200-million and revenue of about broker and chief He also knew she was right. gave me the confidence to delegate executive officer at $5-million. He gives kudos to the sales Mr. Regan started his fi rst business and begin to trust the people around The Regan Team, partners and a special shout out to at age 12, mowing lawns. At age 18, me. It set the wheels in motion for the says learning to Rosa Viviano, the agency’s broker of in the summer leading into his fi rst compounding growth in the years to delegate and trust record. year of university, he earned $55,000 come,”says Mr. Regan, now 36. employees “Rosa has a way of getting things can help drive cutting roughly 75 lawns a week.