Our leadership

Cathy Cranston is an independent public company board Director for Toromont Industries Ltd. Chairs Toromont’s Audit Committee, and sits on the Nominating & Governance Committee. Cathy is a former Treasurer of BMO Financial Group (BMO), where she was a senior executive with 32 years of experience.

Patti Croft has extensive expertise in global macroeconomics and the financial sector. She began her career at Burns Fry before moving on to CIBC Wood Gundy. Patti has been the Chief Economist with RBC Global Asset Management; Phillips, Hager and North; Sceptre Investment Counsel and TD Canada Trust.

Monika is an experienced C-suite executive with an extensive career in the financial services industry and in 2019 was a recipient of the Top 100 Canada's Most Powerful Women award by Women's Executive Network (WXN), for her efforts to advance women in leadership by breaking down barriers for future generations. She recently retired from the role of Chief Strategy Officer for Intact Financial Corporate where she spent the past decade contributing to the company's growth and outperformance as Canada's leading P&C insurance company, and a leader in North American Specialty insurance. Monika began her career in the insurance industry in product development, sales and marketing. She then held senior marketing and operations roles at software and e-commerce companies where she was responsible for customer acquisition and revenue generation in Canada, the US and Australia. Prior to Intact, Monika lived in Hong Kong working for a global life insurer where she was responsible for developing and executing strategies to enhance the company’s brand throughout Asia. Monika serves on the Board of Assuris, the Board of UNICEF Canada, the Advisory board of the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and the Advisory Board of the Intact Centre for Climate Adaptation. Monika earned a bachelor’s degree from York University and an MBA from the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University.

Prior to her retirement, Ms. Forbes was the Global Chief Analytics Officer and interim Chief Marketing Officer for Manulife and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. She has spent over 35 years with Manulife including six years as Chief Actuary subsequent to holding senior finance roles in the company’s Asia, Reinsurance, Investment and U.S. divisions. As Chief Analytics Officer, she built Manulife’s global predictive modelling and machine learning function that successfully created value for the company’s operations. As interim Chief Marketing Officer, she laid the foundation for meaningful advances in sustainability reporting and carbon reduction targets. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and is the current Chairperson of the Board of Governors at University of Waterloo.

Lise Fournel was Senior Vice-President and Chief Information Officer at Air Canada until early 2017. She is a technology expert with a global perspective in marketing and revenue management and e-commerce. Over her more than 35-year career with Air Canada, Lise has held increasingly senior positions in Technology, Strategic Planning and Passenger Commercial. She was also President of Destina.ca.

Tim Hodgson is a corporate director with more than 15 years of experience spanning several sectors.

Gene Lewis started his career as an elementary school teacher in Ontario and was later appointed principal. He served as General Secretary of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario from its inception in 1998 until his retirement in 2013. During his career, he was an active participant on the Ontario Teachers' Federation Executive and on its Board of Governors. Gene gained extensive experience and expertise in the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan by serving on committees such as the Ontario Teachers' Sustainability Workgroup and the Partners' Consultative Committee. Gene also previously served as President of the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation. He is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds a Master of Education from Western University. In 2002, Gene was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal in recognition for his service to education.

George Lewis enjoyed a thirty-year career as a professional and executive leader with RBC, one of Canada's largest financial institutions, before retiring in 2016 to focus on serving as a corporate director.

Steve McGirr was Senior Executive Vice-President and Chief Risk Officer of CIBC until 2007. Prior to that, he was President of CIBC World Markets, and held a number of key leadership positions over a 24-year career at CIBC World Markets and Wood Gundy.

Kathleen O'Neill is an experienced corporate director, and is currently on the boards of Finning International Inc. and ARC Resources Ltd. She was Executive Vice President, Personal & Commercial Development and Head of Small Business Banking at BMO Bank of Montreal until January 2005, and a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers prior to that.

Debbie Stein is an accomplished finance executive with extensive experience in infrastructure, energy, and utility sectors. Debbie was Senior Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer of AltaGas Ltd.