Speaking of Business with Goldy Hyder

They’re taking on underground construction obstacles, tackling mining and energy quandaries, and don’t hesitate to brainstorm daily about how to address climate change. Hatch is an engineering and professional services firm that employs 12,000 people in 150 countries around the world, all from its perch in Mississauga, ON. But you may have never heard of them, and that’s by design. “It's true that...

When Jennifer Wong was an economics student at the University of British Columbia, she walked into an Aritzia store with her resumé. The company at the time was only three years old and operated two locations. She landed a part-time job, which led to other Aritzia jobs as the company grew.  Three decades later, she became Chief Executive Officer of the clothing retail giant that now boasts 117 sto...

When the last spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway track on November 7th, 1885 in British Columbia, CP became the first transcontinental railway to connect Canada from east to west.  Last April, the iconic Canadian company marked another first, when – in Kansas City, Missouri – a ceremonial final spike connected Canadian Pacific with Kansas City Southern. The new railway, now named C...

It was a summer job that sparked Mike Rencheck’s lifelong career in the energy industry. He started out as an intern at the Beaver Valley Power Station in Pennsylvania in the 1980’s, and never looked back. “It really opened my eyes to what was possible in nuclear energy,” he says. Skip ahead a few decades and Rencheck is now the President and CEO of Bruce Power. The nuclear plant on the shores of...

Iggy Domagalski is a big believer in having fun at work. “Work can be enjoyable,” he says. “When people know that they can have a bit of fun and that they can take five minutes to spend some fun time with their peers, I think that sends them back to their desk smiling.” Domagalski is the President and CEO of Wajax, a Canadian industrial products and service company. With 3000 employees working in...

François Poirier and his co-workers see themselves as  problem-solvers . The problems are many, and familiar to anyone who follows North America’s energy industry.  The need to reduce emissions from traditional energy sources like oil and natural gas.  The need to transition to lower-carbon sources without raising prices for consumers.  The need for energy security in a world that is increasingly...

Twenty-seven years ago, WestJet took to the air with just three aircraft and five destinations. Today, the Calgary-based airline serves more than 100 cities across four continents. Overseeing the operation is CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech. He's a newcomer to Canada but not to the industry, having spent two decades working for and running airlines in Europe.  When he arrived in Canada last year, he wa...

If you filled up your car’s gas tank recently, or popped into a convenience store, there’s a good chance you visited a Parkland location. The Canadian company supplies fuel and operates convenience stores across Canada under many banners, including On the Run, Chevron and Ultramar. Founded in Red Deer, Alberta, in the 1970s, Parkland now operates 4,000 locations in 25 countries.  The company has e...

Growing up in rural Saskatchewan, Tracy Robinson liked to watch the trains roll by. Little did she know then that trains would have a lasting impact on her life. She spent 27 years working at Canadian Pacific Railway before switching to the energy sector for almost a decade. Last year she returned to her roots when she was appointed President and CEO of CN, a job she calls “the best in the world.”...

Rania Llewellyn spent 26 years working at Scotiabank before making a move she describes as a “big leap and a big change” – becoming President and CEO of Laurentian Bank . And yet she says the hardest part of that transition was joining a new institution in the middle of a pandemic. The inability to walk through the office and meet people created unique challenges, she says. “Organizations are made...

When Deanna Zumwalt became President and CEO of  Coril Holdings in 2021, she took on responsibility for an organization with a rich Canadian legacy. The Calgary-based company, with roots in the railway industry, has evolved considerably since its beginnings nearly 125 years ago. Now Zumwalt is looking ahead to the next century. “Being a family enterprise for 125 years, we think across generations...

Canada needs a new foreign strategy that positions it to compete successfully in a changing world, according to former Canadian ambassador Louise Blais. “There are major shifts occurring in the geopolitical landscape,” she says. “Canada will either come out as losing or winning from an economic and security perspective, but we need to have a plan.” Blais served as a senior diplomat in Canadian emb...

When Dani Reiss took over his grandfather’s apparel business more than two decades ago, he gambled on Canada. He resolved to continue making high-end outerwear in Canada, at a time when others in the industry were moving production abroad. The bet paid off. Today  Canada Goose is recognized around the world for its luxury clothing. Reiss credits part of that success to the decision to stick with a...

COVID-19 created an “inflection moment” that offers Canadians a chance to build a better future, according to Penny Wise, President of  3M Canada . “We have a huge opportunity to make a difference and really change the growth trajectory of Canada if we really seize that moment,” she says. In a conversation with Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business podcast, Wise points to three ingredients that...

Is Canada poised to be a winner or a loser as the world transitions toward cleaner sources of energy? Charles Brindamour, the CEO of  Intact Financial Corporation – the country’s largest provider of property and casualty insurance – is convinced that Canada has everything it needs to be a global leader in the drive to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.  He points to the country’s highly skilled an...

Mary Ann Yule worries about the long-term economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women. “Many working women struggled to balance the responsibilities that came with assuming dual roles,” says the President and CEO of HP Canada. “They are 12 times more likely to step away from their jobs to take care of their family.” The risk, she points out, is that many women’s career trajectories will be h...

John Graham has a clear mandate. As CEO of Canada Pension Plan Investments, he oversees the retirement savings of 20 million Canadians, with the goal of achieving the highest possible returns without undue risk.  And yet in a volatile and unpredictable world, his challenge is anything but simple. Take, for example, the fund’s investments in the energy sector. Recently CPP Investments  committed to...

How does an employer maintain a sense of community and office culture when many people are working from home? For Sonja Volpe, part of the answer lies in bringing staff together through volunteerism. “Volunteering is taking on an even more important role in the future hybrid work environment,” says the CEO of  BNP Paribas in Canada . “It provides us the opportunity to engage with each other, to bu...

When the Business Council of Canada officially endorsed the concept of a national price on carbon in 2007, it was a “tough sell”, says John Dillon, the Council’s Senior Vice President, Policy and Corporate Counsel. At the time, the federal government and many private sector leaders were concerned that carbon pricing would erode Canada’s ability to compete internationally. “In 2007 there weren’t ma...

When Bharat Masrani looks to Canada’s future, he sees opportunity. “We have all the tools in our toolkit to really leverage what is to come,” says the President and CEO of  TD Bank. In a January 25th conversation with Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business  podcast, Masrani points to strengths – such as Canada’s education system and highly skilled workforce – as key ingredients to help the countr...

Canada has the resources and the know-how to build one of the world’s cleanest and greenest economies. That’s one of the messages four business leaders delivered at a Canadian Club Toronto event on January 17th. The discussion, “ Seizing Canada’s Clean Growth Opportunity ,” focused on the steps we need to take now to secure a low-carbon energy future. Presented in partnership with the Business Cou...

When half a million Canadians are counting on you to look after their pensions, you need to stay squarely focused on the long term. “We often joke, ‘A quarter is not three months – a quarter is 25 years,’” says Blake Hutcheson, President and CEO of OMERS , which  manages the retirement savings of current and former municipal employees across Ontario.  OMERS is one of the largest defined benefit pe...

When Susannah Pierce looks to the future, she’s filled with optimism. Why? As she puts it, “the energy sector is changing, from one of being carbon-intensive to one of being more [focussed on] clean energy.”  The President and Country Chair of Shell Canada points to innovation and investments in new technology by Shell and others – including renewable fuels, biofuels and carbon sequestration – as...

When Dave Filipchuk began working in the construction industry in the 1980s, digital technology was just a blip on the radar screen.  Times have changed. “We’ve got an internet-of-things evolution happening in our industry,” says the President and CEO of  PCL Construction , Canada’s largest general construction company. “It goes way beyond measuring things like temperature and humidity. [It includ...

If there’s one word business leaders have heard throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s “pivot.”  John Chen knows it better than many. Long before the pandemic, BlackBerry’s Executive Chairman and CEO led the storied Canadian company through what he calls “a 180-degree flip” – from a hardware-centric business to a software-focused one. In a conversation with Goldy Hyder on the Speaking of Business...