At COO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Canada based COO’ operating in the Financial Services space. If you think a COO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected].
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Vahid Mirjalili
Co-founder & COO of Owl.co
Vahid Mirjalili has been serving as Chief Operating Officer since March 2018.
Follow Vahid Mirjalili:
About Owl.co: Owl is an insurance claims monitoring platform that detects non-eligible claims through evidence and facts with an audit trail.
Bradley Vannan
President and Chief Operating Officer, ICE Futures Canada of IntercontinentalExchange
Brad Vannan is President and Chief Operating Officer of ICE Futures Canada, a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE). ICE Futures Canada is a regulated, agricultural exchange based in Winnipeg. Vannan was appointed to his position in April 2008. Vannan has over two decades of experience in global agricultural markets. Prior to joining ICE, he was Vice President of Merchandising and Transportation Services at Agricore United, where he had responsibility for four major divisions, including grain merchandising, transportation and logistics, specialty crops operations, and grain accounting. Before joining Agricore in 1994, Vannan was a grain merchant at James Richardson and Sons and a domestic merchant at Pioneer Grain.
Follow Bradley Vannan:
About IntercontinentalExchange: Intercontinental Exchange is an operator of regulated exchanges and clearing houses serving the risk management needs of global markets.
Richard Smith
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer of Acasta Enterprises
Richard has served as COO and CFO of AEI since its inception in 2015. Previously, Richard was the Executive Vice-President of Finance for Cosma International, an operating group of Magna International Inc. Cosma operates 73 manufacturing facilities and 21 product development and engineering centers in 18 countries worldwide, and designs, manufactures and sells a comprehensive range of metal body systems, components, assemblies and modules including complete vehicle frames, chassis systems and body-in-white systems to automotive original equipment manufacturers. Prior to joining Cosma, Richard was the Chief Financial Officer of Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust and previously the Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of MI Developments Inc. (now Granite REIT). He holds a bachelor of commerce (honours) degree from the University of Ottawa, and a juris doctor degree and MBA from the University of Toronto.
Follow Richard Smith:
About Acasta Enterprises: Acasta Enterprises operates as a special purpose acquisition company.
Karim Ben-Jaafar
President and COO of Beanworks
Follow Karim Ben-Jaafar:
About Beanworks: Beanworks is an accounts payable automation solution that helps companies eliminate paperwork and reduce invoice processing costs.
Zachary Friedman
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of GDA Capital
Follow Zachary Friedman:
About GDA Capital, Metaverse Group: GDA Capital is a global firm that provides vertically integrated fin-tech services to institutions and disruptive technology companies.
Justin Adler
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of NorthOne
Justin leads operations and strategy with a particular focus the intersection of growth and product at NorthOne. He started NorthOne because he believes in making economic mobility more accessible to today’s entrepreneurs. Prior to NorthOne Justin was part of the foundational team at Frank & Oak where he helped them grow from zero to hundreds of thousands of customers. Justin also spent time leading product at SourceKnowledge where he created AdTech solutions used by brands like Trivago, SAP, BMO, Remax and MachineZone. His work has been featured in TechCrunch, Fast Company, VentureBeat, AdAge, and at SXSW Interactive.
Follow Justin Adler:
About NorthOne, SourceKnowledge: NorthOne is a financial technology company that provides banking services for businesses.
Cheesan Chew
COO of RBC Capital
As the COO at RBC Ventures, Cheesan is focused on making our vision a reality by driving our strategic roadmap, enabling and growing new ventures. Prior to joining RBC, she co-founded and was Chief CX Officer at Idea Couture, a global innovation leader.
Follow Cheesan Chew:
About RBC Capital, RBC Ventures: Royal Bank of Canada is a financial services company that focuses on banking, wealth management, insurance, investment, and capital markets.
Philip Yuzpe
President and Chief Operating Officer of Sentry Investments
With a focus on the execution, efficiency and simplification of Sentry’s operating model and with a goal of continuous improvement and responsible growth, Philip plays an integral role in the company’s successful evolution and development. Since joining Sentry in 2006, Philip has held various roles of progressive responsibility in the areas of strategy, product development and operations. Philip brings a background in strategy and process/operations consulting to his role as COO and has been at the centre of the development and execution of Sentry’s strategy. Prior to joining Sentry, Philip was a Senior Management Consultant. Philip received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business. Among his undergraduate and post-graduate academic awards, Philip earned a Gold Medal as a scholar’s elective and was awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal.
Follow Philip Yuzpe:
About Sentry Investments: Sentry Investments is one of Canada’s fastest-growing independent asset management companies.
Casper Wong
Chief Operating Officer & General Manager of Financeit
Casper is a co-founder and the COO of Financeit. Financeit facilitates better commerce by allowing businesses to offer fair and transparent payments plans to their customers anywhere. Since launching in early 2011, Financeit has signed up thousands of merchant Partners that process billions in sales per year through the platform. As COO, Casper has worn many different hats over the years and has been instrumental in scaling the business. Prior to this, Casper was with goeasy, where he was responsible for business development and launching their lending business – easyfinancial. Casper joined easyhome after working in investment banking on the Mergers & Acquisitions team at BMO Capital Markets. Casper also sits on the boards of ZayZoon and Dwello.
Follow Casper Wong:
About Dwello, Financeit: Financeit simplifies complex sales transactions for businesses and their customers.
Eva Wong
Co-Founder & COO of Borrowell
Eva has 15 years’ experience in the business and not-for-profit sectors, both in Canada and abroad. She has worked at Oliver Wyman, Maple Leaf Foods and the United Nations Development Programme. She is co-founder of Toronto Homecoming and serves on the board of The Scott Mission. She graduated from Queen’s School of Business and Harvard University. Eva loves lemon squares, food blogs, and baking projects with her kids.
Follow Eva Wong:
About Borrowell, Toronto Homecoming: Borrowell offers free credit scores, education, and weekly credit monitoring, as well as innovative financial digital tools.
Mark Fasken
Co-Founder and COO of Irwin
Mark Fasken is the co-founder and COO of Irwin. Mark’s go-to-market mindset enables him to quickly put ideas into action, working to define Irwin’s product roadmap, form strategic partnerships, and manage interdepartmental teams. Seven years in sales and marketing at high-growth software companies enabled Mark to help build software solutions for modern capital markets professionals. Before Irwin Mark worked at Influitive leading a highly-skilled sales team that directly supported the company’s rapid revenue growth to $10M ARR+. As Pressly’s former VP Sales, Mark helped build the sales and marketing team leading up its acquisition by Vision Critical. Mark currently serves on the Service Provider Council for NIRI.
Follow Mark Fasken:
About Irwin: An all-in-one software solution for managing your investor relations program. Visit www.getirwin.com to learn more.
Frédérick Lavoie
Co- Founder & COO of Flinks
Follow Frédérick Lavoie:
About Flinks, Tervene: Flinks is the financial data layer powering the internet. Flinks delivers tools for financial innovation to businesses—big and small.
Alexander Culiniac
COO and Co-Founder of TickTrade Systems
As co-founder of TickTrade Systems, Alex is an experienced Capital Markets technology professional with over 20 years of experience in consulting, business strategy and technology solutions deployment globally. He has worked in more than 40 countries across North America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Alex holds a Bachelor in Computer Science degree and an MBA from University of Toronto.
Follow Alexander Culiniac:
About TickTrade Systems: TickTrade Systems is a provider of next-generation, end-to-end FX trading and payments solutions.
Paul Magis
Chief Operating Officer & CTO of inStream
Paul joined inStream’s executive team as Chief Operating Officer in the spring of 2015. Paul oversees inStream’s Toronto-based technology and client support teams and is a member of the Company’s Executive Committee. Previously, he spent over 25 years in various leadership and executive positions within BCE, (Canada’s leading telecom and multi media company) including Operations, Client Care, Information Technology and Product Management. Most notably, he was the key figure responsible for planning and delivering various enterprise wide software solutions, managing large annual capital and expense programs, and devising and introducing scores of process and system automation efficiency initiatives. Paul is a member of the Board of Directors of Toronto’s “Fight to End Cancer” supporting the world-renowned Princess Margaret Cancer Research Foundation, and is active in a variety of other Toronto-based charitable organizations.
Follow Paul Magis:
About inStream, inStream: InStream is an innovative, cloud-based financial planning and wealth management platform.
Danny Chazonoff
Chief Operating Officer of Paysafe
COO at Paysafe.
Follow Danny Chazonoff:
About Paysafe: Paysafe is a global payments provider offering a range of payments solutions for businesses and consumers.
Jeff Lucassen
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Northleaf Capital Partners
Jeff leads Northleaf’s Corporate team and is responsible for the financial and operational activities of the firm. Jeff manages and provides strategic oversight for key business functions, including Investor Operations, Finance & Corporate Operations, Human Resources, Tax, Technology and Corporate Development. Jeff is a member of Northleaf’s Management Committee and is actively involved in Northleaf’s global investment, asset and risk management, and investor relations activities. Prior to joining Northleaf in 2017, Jeff was a Partner of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager, and Chief Operating Officer of Carlyle Liquid Markets, formerly Diversified Global Asset Management (DGAM), a diversified hedge fund manager. Jeff was a co-founder of DGAM in 2004 and served as DGAM’s Chief Operating Officer until its acquisition by Carlyle in 2014. Previously, Jeff served as the Controller, Investment and Corporate Finance, at Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan where he built the portfolio, risk management and compliance systems as the pension plan grew to more than $100 billion in assets and expanded its investment activities in alternative assets globally. Jeff began his career as an auditor with KPMG where he focused on the financial services and asset management sectors. Jeff received a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Windsor and a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from the University of Western Ontario. He holds the Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst designations.
Follow Jeff Lucassen:
About Northleaf Capital Partners: Northleaf Capital Partners is private equity firm that manages pension plans, endowments, foundations, financial institutions accounts.
Robert M. Aziz
Chief Operating Officer of Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System
Bob Aziz is OMERS Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Bob oversees the connectivity, relationships and resourcing required for the success of our global operations. Bob has additional responsibilities that involve leading and supporting the partnerships integral to our investing success. Prior to this, for 10 years Bob was with Oxford Properties Group, the real estate arm of OMERS where he held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel, and was a member of the Oxford Senior Executive team. Before joining Oxford, Bob was President of Great Gulf Homes and held senior roles at TD Bank Financial Group. Earlier in his career, Bob was a Partner at Torys LLP and Davies Ward Phillips Vineberg LLP. Bob sits on the Boards of The Beer Store and Woodbine Entertainment Group. He is also a committed fundraiser on behalf of several charities, having served on the boards of the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation and the Lighthouse for Grieving Children. Bob received his Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Western Ontario. He and his family reside in Toronto, Ontario.
Follow Robert M. Aziz:
About Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System: We manage a diversified global portfolio of stocks and bonds as well as real estate, infrastructure and private equity investments.
Greg Allen
Evp & Chief Operating Officer of AscendantFX Capital
Greg brings more than 25 years’ experience in treasury, operations and risk management in the foreign exchange market. Until his departure from Western Union Business Solutions (formerly Custom House) Greg was VP, Treasury, Risk Management and Credit. At Western Union, Greg had a variety of positions including managing the payments, investigations and global operations. His team implemented swift and numerous other payment systems to allow timelier, cost effective and error free payments. Following that he led the global treasury, risk and credit team. His risk mitigation and credit expertise allowed the company to grow substantially while maintaining risk at conservative levels. He was instrumental in the implementation of an industry leading treasury system. Greg`s team also implemented numerous risk mitigating system controls. Greg as a member of the executive management team was part of the small group that approved prioritized and managed all new products, enhancement and front and back office system changes.
Follow Greg Allen:
About AscendantFX Capital: AscendantFX is a Payment Solution Provider.
Anant Tailor
COO and Co-Founder of Dream Payments
Anant Tailor serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder at Dream Payments Corp.
Follow Anant Tailor:
About Dream Payments: Dream Payments is a fintech platform that enables merchants to sell everywhere using mobile devices.
Grant Ostir
President & Chief Operating Officer of Western Financial Group
As President and Chief Operating Officer for Western Financial Group Insurance Solutions, Grant Ostir is responsible for providing the strategic direction of the company’s business operations. In addition to these responsibilities, Grant is the lead contact for many of the company’s association partners. Grant has over 20 years of experience with Western Financial Group Insurance Solutions. Prior to his role as President and Chief Operating Officer, he worked in many capacities throughout the company. In his most recent role, Grant was the Executive Vice President of sales and service where he oversaw the sales development and marketing as related to commercial and employee benefits insurance across Canada. Grant graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Economics and has been with Western Financial Group Insurance Solutions since 1996.
Follow Grant Ostir:
About Western Financial Group: Western Financial Group (Western) is a diversified insurance company serving more than 800,000 customers across Western Canada.
Brad Clark
COO of FIRMA Foreign Exchange
Brad Clark comes to FIRMA Foreign Exchange with over fifteen years of Operations Management experience. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. Brad’s communication and leadership skills, along with his ability to work well under pressure, have contributed in large part to his success. Prior to his position with Firma, Brad was the general manager of Western Canada’s largest commercial print manufacturer, a division of one of the largest international print media corporations. While there, Brad was identified as one of the top 75 high-potential employees from across North America and received training and career development in a Leadership, Excellence and Development Program. As Chief Operating Officer, Brad coordinates and grows a diverse team of professionals in information technology services, communications and trading personnel. Brad brings the dedication and perseverance required to strategically grow the business and support the critical operations component for the continued success of FIRMA Foreign Exchange.
Follow Brad Clark:
About FIRMA Foreign Exchange: FIRMA helps businesses grow globally by managing the movement of your company’s money across borders.
Carlos Medeiros
Co-Founder, COO and Head of Data of Homewise
Carlos is a believer that every person is capable of making a relevant contribution and that diversity fosters innovation. Demonstrates profound commitment to help children live better lives. He lives in Toronto with his wife, two children, and Mira (the dog)
Follow Carlos Medeiros:
About Homewise: Homewise uses machine learning to match and secure clients with their best tailored mortgage options from over 30 banks and lenders.
Paul Mennega
Chief Operating Officer of Goldmoney
Follow Paul Mennega:
About Goldmoney: Goldmoney is a financial services group that combines the unique attributes of gold with technology-driven innovation.
Charles St.Louis
COO of Element Finance
Follow Charles St.Louis:
About Element Finance, MakerDAO: Element is an open-source protocol that offers BTC, ETH, and USDC at a discount for fixed and variable yield markets.
Graham Finney
Chief Operating Officer & Founding Partner of Performance Analytics Corporation
Graham Finney, Chief Operating Officer and Founding Partner of Performance Analytics, has over 25 years of experience in the implementation and service of Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) applications. As a CMA, Graham possesses the professional management experience and knowledge of best practices for effective utilization of EPM solutions across all industries.
Follow Graham Finney:
About Performance Analytics Corporation: Performance Analytics Corporation is a technology and services company .
Natalie Cartwright
Co-Founder, Board Member & Chief Operating Officer of Finn AI
Natalie Cartwright is a co-founder, board member, and chief operating officer at Finn AI.
Follow Natalie Cartwright:
About Finn AI: Finn AI provides AI-powered conversational banking technology for personal banking and finance.
Daniel Stoller
Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Wellington-Altus Financial
Danny Stoller is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer at Wellington-Altus Private Wealth.
Follow Daniel Stoller:
About Wellington-Altus Financial: Wellington-Altus Financial is a financial services wealth management company located in Winnipeg.
Mike Carey
Chief Operating Officer of Prism Valuation
Mike has a PhD in Physics (Duke University 2000) and 5 years of experience as a Front Office Derivatives Quant (Toronto Dominion Securities London and Toronto).
Follow Mike Carey:
About Prism Valuation: Prism Valuation is a provider of independent valuations and risk analysis services for OTC derivatives.
Thomas Battle
Chief Operating Officer of Flahmingo
My passion in life and work is helping organizations, people, groups and causes get to the next step. I help accomplish this by creating organization when there is none, delivering successful projects and by truly understanding how communication leads to more effective organizations. I especially love doing this with startups. I love the challenging work, sense of urgency and the amazing people. Specialities: Project Management, Project Management Body of Knowledge, Technology, Communication, Organization, Startups, Innovation, Growing Startup Ecosystems, Grant Writing
Follow Thomas Battle:
About Flahmingo, The Accelerator: Flahmingo is an investment app for retail investors to begin investing commission-free using fractional shares starting at $1.
Izabella Gabowicz
Chief Operating Officer of Sensibill
Izabella has 15 years of experience in the delivery of transformative IT solutions across all stages of the system development lifecycle and all levels of application maturity. She started her career with IBM Canada as a developer and business analyst of enterprise solutions in Financial Services, Travel & Tourism and Telecommunications. Marrying her business and technical experiences, she emerged as a seasoned Project Manager and Business Solution Architect in the Communications Sector of IBM, where she was awarded a patent.
Follow Izabella Gabowicz:
About Sensibill: Sensibill makes SKU-level data actionable, equipping financial institutions with insights to help their customers.
Kiki Plytas
COO of Merrco Payments
A seasoned and experienced payment industry professional. A business savvy management professional with a career reflecting strong leadership qualifications coupled with ‘hands-on’ management experience. Superior track record for delivering large-scale, mission critical projects and initiatives on time and in budget.
Follow Kiki Plytas:
About Merrco Payments: Merrco is helps businesses thrive by bringing seamless, secure payment solutions company.
Martin Trudeau
Vice President, Regional Manager & COO of Pierre Roy & Associés
Follow Martin Trudeau:
About Pierre Roy & Associés: Licensed Insolvency Trustees in Quebec
Sonia Maloney
Chief Operating Officer of Norrep Capital Management
Sonia Maloney is the Chief Operating Officer at NCM – Norrep Capital Management Ltd, an independent investment management firm, based in Calgary, Canada. In her role as COO, Sonia leads the operating side of the business incorporating operational risk management, finance, investment operations, technology, dealer & client services, and vendor relationship management. Sonia also serves on the firm’s executive team, responsible for developing and executing the firm’s strategic plan as well as the day to day management of the business. Sonia has over 20 years of diverse, global experience in financial services and holds a Master of Applied Finance as well as a Bachelor of Business with an accounting major.
Follow Sonia Maloney:
About Norrep Capital Management: Norrep Capital Management provides Canadians with an independent choice for their investments.
Enio Lazzer
COO & CFO of Espresso Capital
Enio brings over 20 years experience in finance, capital markets, operations and technology. Prior roles include divisional CFO/COO and Managing Director of CIBC World Markets, where he also served as Head of Prime Brokerage and Trading Services, and Vice President & CFO of The Northern Trust Company, Canada, where he was part of an executive team that established the first foreign owned trust company in Canada, successfully growing it to over $40 billion of assets under management.
Follow Enio Lazzer:
About Espresso Capital: Espresso Capital offers lines of credit and term loans to enable entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
James Halliday
Executive Vice President & COO of Element Fleet Management
As President and CEO, Element Fleet Management International, Jim is focused on strategic growth initiatives. In this capacity, he oversees Element’s global fleet offerings as well as any mergers and acquisitions related to fleet. Prior to this role, Mr. Halliday served as President and CEO of Element’s fleet management business. He has held a series of leadership roles during his 10 years with the company, including Senior Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer for North American operations and, prior to that, President of PHH Canada. Earlier in his career, he held operations and management positions with Fundata Canada, Hollinger Mutual Fund Group and Vincent Associates. Halliday earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Western Ontario as well as an MBA from the University’s Richard Ivey School of Business. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Leadership Development Program and Darden Business School’s Management Development Program.
Follow James Halliday:
About Element Fleet Management: Element Fleet Management (TSX: EFN) is the leading global fleet management company.
Philippe Rouanet
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of d1g1t
Philippe Rouanet joined d1g1t Inc. as Co-Founder and COO in 2016.
Follow Philippe Rouanet:
About d1g1t: d1g1t is a digital wealth management platform powered by analytics that offers advanced, transparent portfolio management services.
Bobby Naicker
COO of Solvncii Financial
Follow Bobby Naicker:
About Solvncii Financial: Solvncii Financial is using tech to modernize the Canadian insolvency business, making it simpler to seek debt relief.