Canada's Top 40 Under 40® 2017 Honourees Announced

The recipients of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40® for 2017 represent the diversity of talent, entrepreneurship and innovation seen across Canada today. (CNW Group/The Caldwell Partners International Inc.)

TORONTO, June 28, 2017 /CNW/ - Honouring Canada's outstanding leaders under 40 years of age, the recipients of Canada's Top 40 Under 40® were announced today in National Post and on BNN – Business News Network by program partners Caldwell Partners International Inc. (TSX: CWL), MNP LLP, Gluskin Sheff, WestJet, and Toronto Region Board of Trade.  

Canada's Top 40 Under 40 independent Advisory Board, comprising more than 20 respected and experienced individuals from across Canada, met on June 15, 2017 to select the Honourees from a short list put together by Caldwell Partners. A Call for Nominations was carried out from February to April, which garnered close to 900 nominations from across Canada.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the selection of this year's Top 40. Our team reviewed hundreds of packages submitted by outstanding nominees, each one unique and every one inspiring," said Elan Pratzer, managing partner for Canada at Caldwell.  "It's been a very exciting process - Canada has an impressive amount of innovative, creative, hard-working individuals who haven't yet turned 40! As a country, we should all be extremely proud of our young leaders and feel very confident in Canada's future."

The Honourees will be profiled in a feature article in the October edition of FP Magazine, and will also be featured on BNN in a new interview series, Canada's Next Leaders, throughout the summer.

The Honourees will receive their awards at a gala dinner to be held in Toronto on November 2, 2017 at the Fairmont Royal York.

"This year's Top 40 Honourees represent the diversity of talent, entrepreneurship and innovation seen across the country," said Jason Tuffs, chief executive officer, MNP LLP. "Reflective of the many industries that drive Canada's economy, this award has been significant in demonstrating the important role the next generation of Canadian business leaders will play on the national and international stage."

The 2017 Recipients of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 are:

Taylor Ablitt
Co-Founder & CEO, Diply
Ontario

Melody Adhami
President & COO, Plastic Mobile
Ontario

Sachin Aggarwal
Chief Executive Officer, Think Research Corporation
Ontario

Foteini Agrafioti
Chief Science Officer and Head of RBC Research, RBC
Ontario

Ben Almond
SVP & Regional Managing Director, Canada, CH2M
British Columbia

Corey Berman
President & Co-Founder, Koru Distribution
Ontario

Dr. Liam Brunham
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia and Principal Investigator, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation
British Columbia

Scott Burrows
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Pembina Pipeline Corporation
Alberta

Carinne Chambers-Saini
Chief Executive Officer, Diva International Inc.
Ontario

Ian Crosby
Co-Founder & CEO, Bench
British Columbia

Paul Desmarais III
Senior Vice President, Power Corporation of Canada
Quebec

Avik Dey
Managing Director, Head of Natural Resources, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Ontario

Tariq Fancy
Founder & CEO, The Rumie Initiative
Ontario

Jonathan Ferrari
Co-Founder & CEO, Goodfood Market Corp.
Quebec

Harley Finkelstein
Chief Operating Officer, Shopify
Ontario

Cody Green
Founder & Co-CEO, Canada Drives
British Columbia

Dr. Patrick T. Gunning
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Medicinal Chemistry, University of Toronto Mississauga
Ontario

Reetu Gupta
Chief Operating Officer, The Easton's Group & The Gupta Group
Ontario

Jeremy Gutsche
Chief Executive Officer, Trend Hunter
Ontario

Michael Katchen
Co-Founder & CEO, Wealthsimple
Ontario

Brad Katsuyama
Co-Founder & CEO, IEX Group
Ontario

Bilal Khan
Founding Managing Director, OneEleven
Ontario

Alexandre Lefebvre
President, Lefebvre Group
Quebec

Tony Lourakis
Chief Executive Officer, Fleet Complete
Ontario

Matias Marquez
Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Buyatab Online Inc.
British Columbia

Rachel Mielke
Founder & CEO, Hillberg & Berk Accessories Inc.
Saskatchewan

Robert Niven
Founder & CEO, CarbonCure Technologies Inc.
Nova Scotia

Thomas Park
Assistant Vice President, Operations & Strategy, Business Development Bank of Canada, BDC Capital
Quebec

Dr. Nav Persaud
Staff Physician and Assistant Professor, St. Michael's Hospital and University of Toronto
Ontario

Shahrzad Rafati
Founder & CEO, BroadbandTV
British Columbia

Dr. Hossein Rahnama
CEO & Professor, Flybits Inc., Ryerson University & MIT Media Lab
Ontario

Irfhan Rawji
Principal, Totem Capital Corporation
Alberta

Alex Robertson
Chief Executive Officer, Camp Oochigeas
Ontario

David Segal
Co-Founder, DAVIDsTEA and Mad Radish
Ontario

Joshua Simair
Co-Founder and CEO, SkipTheDishes
Manitoba

Matt Switzer
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development, Hootsuite
British Columbia

Katie Telford
Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Minister of Canada
Ontario

Dr. Aristotle Voineskos
Director, Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health & Associate Professor, Psychiatry, University of Toronto
Ontario

Hayley Wickenheiser
CEO, Wick Hockey, Philanthropist & 6 x Olympian
Alberta

Kristen Wood
Creator & CEO, THE TEN SPOT® beauty bars
Ontario

Please visit www.bnn.ca for short biographies on each honouree.

Canada's Top 40 Under 40™ is an annual recognition of the exceptional achievements of 40 outstanding Canadians under the age of 40. The program is supported by several prominent organizations all enthusiastically committed to Top 40's success, including: Founder and Managing Partner Caldwell Partners; Presenting Partner MNP LLP; National Partner Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.; Media Partners BNN and National Post; Travel Partner WestJet; and, Leadership Forum Partner Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Founded in 1995 by Caldwell Partners, Top 40 has recognized more than 640 outstanding Canadians and is the country's most coveted award for young business leaders. Honourees have a remarkable track record of achievement after their win; the ranks of Top 40 alumni include hundreds of nationally and internationally prominent CEOs, CFOs, executives, and entrepreneurs.

About MNP LLP
MNP is a leading national accounting, tax and business consulting firm with more than 65 offices and 4,000 team members across Canada. National in scope and local in focus, MNP has proudly served clients in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors for almost 60 years. Through partner-led engagements, they provide a collaborative, cost-effective approach to doing business and personalized strategies to help organizations succeed across the country and around the world. For more information, visit www.mnp.ca.

About Caldwell Partners
Caldwell Partners is a leading international provider of executive search and has been for more than 45 years. As one of the world's most trusted advisors in executive search, the firm has a sterling reputation built on successful searches for boards, chief and senior executives, and selected functional experts. With offices and partners across North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific, the firm takes pride in delivering an unmatched level of service and expertise to its clients.

The Caldwell Partners' Common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CWL). Please visit our website at www.caldwellpartners.com for further information.

SOURCE The Caldwell Partners International Inc.

Michelle Jursa, Caldwell Partners, [email protected], [phone]; Nick Greenfield, MNP LLP, [email protected], [phone]