Canada
People & Company News for January 12, 2024
- Real estate and construction industry veteran Toni Varone has been appointed to Canada’s Senate. Varone heads North York, Ont.-based Varone Group, a family-owned group of companies operating in the hospitality, homebuilding, development and property management sectors. He is a former director of the federally owned Canada Lands Corporation, which specializes in real estate development.
- Wellington-Altus Financial has appointed Steph Condra to the new role of executive vice-president and chief experience officer. Condra has more than 20 years of Canadian and international expertise in wealth management, asset management, and institutional investment. She most recently headed Bank of Montreal’s national strategy office, leading its private banking and full-service brokerage arm Nesbitt Burns. Wellington-Altus Financial is the parent company to several firms that bear the Wellington-Altus label. The company has more than $25 billion in assets under administration.
- Scott Lewis has been promoted to president of Burger King brand at Redberry Restaurants. The quick-service restaurant industry veteran joined Toronto-based Redberry as vice-president of Burger King operations in 2022. Burger King is the company’s largest brand portfolio. Redberry ranks among Canada’s largest QSR franchisees and owns and operates about 170 restaurants across the country under the Burger King and Taco Bell brands. In another move, Redberry promoted Kiran Benet to chief people officer. She has spent the past decade shaping Redberry’s organizational structure while constructing a robust infrastructure to support rapid growth, the company said in a news release.
- Industries Harnois has appointed André Gareau as its new COO. Gareau, has served as a turnaround specialist for a number of companies. He spent the spent three years as executive chairman of Montreal-based robotics firm Kinova. Saint-Thomas, Que.-based Industries Harnois specializes in greenhouse construction, serving clients across North America and in parts of Africa, Europe and Asia.
- Jay Rana has joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s new new Canada advisor business in Toronto. He will be responsible for bringing J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s global alternative investment capabilities to financial advisors across the country, maintaining relationships and assisting clients in understanding the firm’s investment solutions, said the company in a news release. Rana has more than 25 years of experience with Canadian and global asset management organizations, most recently as a senior vice-president with PIMCO Canada. J.P. Morgan Asset Management has $2.9 trillion in assets under management.
- Arcadis has appointed Audrey Jacobs as city executive for Toronto. Her appointment marks the inaugural entry of a Canadian city into the Dutch company’s global cities program. Arcadis specializes in providing design and consultancy services tied to natural and built assets, and operates in approximately 30 countries. Jacob has three decades of urban planning, business development and management experience. She oversaw the integration of Vancouver-based IBI Group into Arcadis. She formerly served as COO and chief diversity officer for IBI, where her duties included overseeing its office lease portfolio. She is active with several organizations, including the Urban Land Institute and the Building Industry and Land Development Association.
- Saskatchewan Realtors Association CEO Chris Guérette has joined the board of Saskatoon-based Sanctum Group. Sanctum provides 24-hour transitional care for HIV-positive people dealing with social and high-risk behaviours and conditions, including homelessness. The non-profit group also provides palliative care to HIV-positive patients.
- ◦People
