Key Executives is pleased to announce The Top 25 Executives of Montreal for 2023. Montreal is one of Canada’s oldest cities, with its first European settlement by French explorers in 1642. As a result, it's the largest French-speaking city in Canada and North America. The economy of Montreal is the second largest of all cities in Canada and the first in Quebec. Its economy is driven by diverse industries, from commerce, technology, and culture to finance and world affairs. Many of our awardees participate in this healthy economy by steering C-level executive positions at companies such as Michael Kors, Xerox, Yellow Pages, Logistec, and ALDO Group.

Among this year’s awardees is David Bensadoun, Chief Executive Officer of the ALDO Group, who led the second wave of expansion in the US, opening 250 stores in just three years. Awardee Madeleine Paquin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Logistec, was inducted into the list of the 100 Influential Women in Canadian Supply Chain by Supply Chain Canada in 2019 and named one of the ten winners of Canada’s EY Entrepreneur of The Year in 2021. Also awarded is Martin Bachant, President of Xerox’s Canadian Operations, whose tenure with the company spans over 17 years.

Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of The Top 25 Executives of Montreal for 2023.

 

1. Vitold Horodecki
Vice President Americas and Chief Procurement Officer, Capgemini

Vitold Horodecki is the Vice President of Americas and Chief Procurement Officer at Capgemini. He is responsible for multiple functions, including IT and telecommunications, external resources, training, professional services, travel, and meetings. Previously, Horodecki was the Capgemini Travel Director within the Global Procurement organization.

Before joining Capgemini, he was at HP for over 13 years. He managed the worldwide hotel and card programs. Before this, he was a Network Administrator at the French Embassy in Rome. He began his career as a Financial Analyst at GE Healthcare. Horodecki has a master’s degree in applied economics, with a major in banking and finance, and a master’s degree in economics modeling from the Université Paris Dauphine - PSL.

 

2. Martin Bachant
President, Xerox

Martin Bachant is the President of Xerox’s Canadian Operations. He is responsible for the go-to-market strategy, marketing, sales, and delivery of intelligent workplace services and technology for small, medium, and large enterprise clients and production print offerings for graphic communications clients across all business channels.

Prior to this, Bachant was Senior Vice President of Canadian Sales Operations, responsible for the overall services growth strategy, national business development activities, and strategic investments. Before that, he was Vice President and General Manager of Eastern Regional Operations. He has been with Xerox for over 17 years. Since joining Xerox in 1989 as a Sales Representative in Montreal, Bachant has received numerous awards for top sales performance in Canada. Bachant received an MBA from McGill University in Montréal and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Quebec in Montréal.

 

3. Michael La Salle
Vice President and CFO, Swissport Canada

Michael La Salle is the Vice President and CFO of Swissport Canada. He is responsible for all aspects of the financial reporting, planning, performance analysis, taxation, capital budgeting, and treasury functions of Swissport Canada Inc.

Before joining Swissport, La Salle was the Director of Finance at Immunotec Inc. Before that, he was a Senior Manager at Ernst and Young. La Salle graduated from McGill University with an undergraduate degree in political science.

 

4. Debra Margles
President, Michael Kors

Debra Margles is the President of Michael Kors. She first joined the company in 2004. Margles’ leadership skills and unparalleled sales and marketing strategy have made Michael Kors the aspirational luxury brand leader in the Canadian marketplace.

Margles has over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, business strategy, and retail. After spending four years at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in business and economics and a degree in marketing, Margles landed her first job in New York City, where she worked for designer Perry Ellis. In September 2001, she became the President of Kasper and Anne Klein Canada. In 2004, Margles resigned as President of Kasper and Anne Klein Canada and was hired to be the President of Michael Kors Canada.

 

5. Daniel Buron
SVP and CFO, Domtar

Daniel Buron is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Domtar. Buron is responsible for all financial functions, including investor relations, financial reporting, financial risks, debt management, treasury operations, taxation, and information technology. Buron has been with the company since 1999. He previously held the positions of Vice President of Finance for the Pulp and Paper Sales Division, Vice President and Controller, as well as other senior positions in finance.

Prior to joining Domtar, he held various finance positions with a firm in the commercialization and development of IT applications, solutions, and tools, as well as with a major international accounting firm. Buron currently serves on the Board of Directors of the McGill University Health Center Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. He is a member of the Québec Order of Chartered Professional Accountants. Buron is a chartered professional accountant and holds a Bachelor in Commerce from Université Laval.

 

6. David Bensadoun
Chief Executive Officer, ALDO Group

David Bensadoun is the Chief Executive Officer of the ALDO Group. Bensadoun became the fourth generation of his family to work in the shoe business when he joined the Montreal-based footwear and accessories giant in 1995 as a project manager. Before becoming the CEO, he was most recently President of Aldo Group North America. Prior to this, he spent two decades working in almost every corner of the business, from operations and IT to buying. In 2001, he took his first leap as an executive leader, heading the Call It Spring brand, where he tripled profits in a two-year period. Soon afterward, Bensadoun moved to the Aldo brand, where he led the second wave of expansion in the US, opening 250 stores in just three years.

Since its beginnings, Bensadoun has played a key role in the ALDO Group’s omnichannel journey by leading several innovative in-store technology projects, improving the customer experience and using the eComm platform to its full extent. Bensadoun graduated from the University of Cambridge with a master’s degree in philosophy and land economics and a bachelor’s degree in arts from Queen’s University.

 

7. Alain Masse
President, UAP

Alain Masse is the President of UAP. He leads all UAP’s activities across Canada, which includes the Auto Parts and Heavy Vehicle Parts Divisions, as well as all corporate functions. Masse joined UAP in 2011 as Executive Vice President of the heavy vehicle parts division and was promoted two years later to Executive Vice President of NAPA operations. At the end of 2014, he took the leadership of all corporate functions for the auto parts division as well as heavy vehicle parts.

Prior to joining UAP, he was an independent business owner. He moved on to Cantrex Group, where he was President and General Manager for over five years. Masse has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from HEC Montreal.

 

8. Franco Sciannamblo
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Yellow Pages

Franco Sciannamblo is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Yellow Pages Group. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s financial reporting and accounting services, in addition to ensuring the existence of adequate internal controls and best-in-class disclosure. He is also responsible for the budgetary process, the cost control, and the shared services such as billing, accounts payable and administrative services.

With more than 23 years of experience in finance in major corporations, before Yellow Pages, Sciannamblo was the Vice President of Finance for Bell Business Markets and Wholesale at BCE Inc. He previously held senior management positions at BCE Inc.’s corporate office, where he was Vice President and Deputy Controller, and at Bell Canada International, where he was Assistant Vice President and Deputy Controller. He began his career at Samson, Bélair, Deloitte & Touche. Sciannamblo is a CPA, CA (a member of the Ordre des Comptables Agréés du Québec) and has a graduate diploma in public accounting from McGill University.

 

9. Steve Mason
Co-Chief Operating Officer, Altasciences

Steve Mason is the Co-Chief Operating Officer of Altasciences. Mason is responsible for all of Altasciences’ preclinical and clinical pharmacology sites.

He began his career as a Toxicologist for Huntingdon Life Sciences. He built the Safety Pharmacology Department at CTBR Bio-Research (now Charles River Laboratories) in Montreal. Then he moved to China to establish the Charles River Shanghai preclinical facility, which became the first non-clinical facility in China to be certified as OECD GLP compliant. He joined WuXi AppTec in Suzhou, China, as VP of Preclinical Services, before heading to Altasciences in 2014. Mason has a Master of Science in toxicology from RMIT University and a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from The University of Salford.

 

10. Audrey Lara
Chief Financial Officer, Randstad Canada

Audrey Lara is the Chief Financial Officer of Randstad Canada. She plays a role as a strategic business partner with the CEO. Focusing on strategic analysis and financial planning, she advises the management team regarding the decisions that are key to achieving the company's objectives. She first joined the company in 2019.

Previously, Lara was the CFO at LXRandCo. Before that, she was the Regional CFO of EMEA at Criteo. She worked with Deloitte & Touche as an Audit Manager earlier in her career. Lara earned an MBA in finance from École Supérieure de Commerce Et de Management.

 

11. Jean Roy
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kruger Energy

Jean Roy is the SVP and Chief Operating Officer of Kruger Energy Inc. and Real Estate at Kruger. In this role, Roy leads a dynamic team and helps to develop a new portfolio in renewable energy. Under his management, operations of the company’s power installations, ranging from hydroelectricity, biomass, natural gas, wind energy, and biogas, have grown with investments of over $1 billion.

Roy has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry. He began his career as a Plant Manager at Polsky Energy Services, where they were responsible for the first 30 MW biomass cogeneration plant built in Northern Quebec. He then went on to become the Directeur Général at BORALEX, where he managed eight power and cogeneration plants. Roy has degrees from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Institut de Marine de Rimouski.

 

12. Annick Guerard
President and Chief Executive Officer, Transat

Annick Guérard is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat. She joined the company's Board of Directors in 2021. Guérard previously served as the Chief Operating Officer and headed all of the company’s operations and commercial activities. She joined Transat in 2002 and has served in numerous senior management posts involving strategy, operations, sales and marketing, the digital shift, revenue management, customer service, and product development for several Transat business units.

Guérard previously had a career in engineering consulting in the transportation industry, then served as a Senior Consultant in operations management for Deloitte Consulting. She holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Polytechnique Montréal, an MBA from HEC Montréal, and the designation ICD.D. from the Institute of Corporate Directors. She sits on the boards of the Pomerleau and Espace Go theater.

 

13. Jean-Sebastien Joly
Chief Executive Officer, Intelcom

Jean-Sebastien Joly is the Chief Executive Officer of Intelcom. He first joined the company in 2006 as Chief Financial and Operating Officer and shareholder. During his tenure, he’s become the majority owner and driving force behind a strategy that has transformed Intelcom into one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies. Intelcom revenues topped $315 million in 2020 after doubling on average over the previous three years.

Previously, Joly was a director of finance at Technologie Interactive Mediagrif. Before that, he was a File Manager at RCGT. Joly earned an undergraduate business administration and management degree from the University of Ottawa.

 

14. Jean Trahan
Chief Financial Officer, Stingray Digital

Jean-Pierre Trahan is the Chief Financial Officer of Stingray. Trahan leads an experienced team of professional accountants and analysts at Stingray and oversees all of the financial and accounting activities of Stingray. In 2016, the Quebec chapter of FEI Canada awarded him a prestigious “As de la finance” award in the "Finance executive of a small or medium-sized firm" category.

Before joining Stingray, he held various positions at Gestion Juste Pour Rire Inc, 20-20 Technologies Inc, Hydro Agri Canada (a division of Norsk Hydro ASA), and Raymond Chabot Grant Thorton LLP. Trahan is a CPA, CA, and has a bachelor’s degree in commerce, with a specialization in accounting from L’Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and a bachelor’s degree in social sciences with a specialization in economics from the University of Ottawa.

 

15. Yannick Poulin
Chief Operating Officer, Lion Electric

Yannick Poulin is the Chief Operating Officer of Lion Electric. He has served as Lion’s COO since April 2016. Before this, Poulin was the Chief Operating Officer and Plant General manager at Paradox Security Systems. Previously, Poulin held various positions related to production and manufacturing at Electrolux, an international home appliance manufacturer. Poulin has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University.

 

16. Madeleine Paquin
President and Chief Executive Officer, Logistec

Madeleine Paquin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of LOGISTEC Corporation. She’s been with the company since 1996. Paquin currently holds directorships in Air Canada Ltd. Paquin is a Director of CargoM, the Logistics and Transportation Metropolitan Cluster of Montréal. She is Co-Chair of its Working Group I – L&T Development Opportunities. She is a member of the Marine Industry Forum and the Marine Transportation Advisory Council.

Prior to becoming President and CEO of LOGISTEC, she held various positions in the marine sector. She has held directorships in several maritime and trade associations, such as the Maritime Employers Association and the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montréal, as well in prominent company boards, such as Sun Life Canada, Canadian Pacific Railway, and Les Aéroports de Montréal. Throughout her career, Paquin has received many awards and accolades, including being inducted into the list of the 100 Influential Women in Canadian Supply Chain by Supply Chain Canada in 2019 and being named one of the ten winners of Canada’s EY Entrepreneur of The Year in 2021. Paquin graduated from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and HEC Montréal.

 

17. Quentin Gallet
CTO, TouchTunes

Quentin Gallet is the Chief Technology Officer of TouchTunes. Gallet drives the company's technology vision, from platform infrastructure to product development. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Technology and General Manager of TouchTunes Montreal.

Prior to joining TouchTunes, Gallet held senior positions at several technology companies. This includes spending over 11 years at Ubisoft, where he led the technology group and also served as Executive Producer. Gallet has an MBA from EMBA McGill - HEC Montréal, a Master of Engineering in EEE and computer science from École Supérieure d'Électricité, and a Bachelor of Engineering in EEE and computer science from the Université de Bordeaux.

 

18. David Nathaniel
Chief Executive Officer, Ascot Capital Group

David Nathaniel is responsible for the overall operation of the Ascot Capital Group. His primary focus is the strategic growth and development of the business to ensure it provides the highest value for its customers as well as its employees.

David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Concordia University in Montreal. He is active in volunteering his time to assist various organizations, including Electrofed Canada, where he is currently serving on its Executive Board. David relishes time with his family including travel and sports activities.

 

19. Mounir Hilal
President and COO, Valsoft

Mounir Hilal is the President and Chief Operating Officer at Valsoft. Hilal is well acquainted with the organization, having been one of its original partners, a valued advisor, and a key board member for both Valsoft and Valsef Group over the last five years. He has over 20 years of experience in all aspects of building and running enterprise software businesses.

Most recently, he served as Executive Vice-President, General Manager, and Chief Customer Officer at Upland Software, where he completed more than 30 software acquisitions and led a successful IPO. Before Upland, he was a Partner and Senior Vice President of Global Services at Tenrox and played a pivotal role in Upland’s acquisition in 2012. Hilal has an Executive MBA in finance from Queen’s University and a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from McGill University.

 

20. Nicolas Lavoie
Chief Financial Officer, Solotech

Nicolas Lavoie is Solotech’s Chief Financial Officer. In his role, he is responsible for all the company’s financial and procurement activities and its merger and acquisition strategy.

Before Solotech, he was Senior Vice President of Finance for Gildan Activewear. Prior to working at Gildan, he was Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasury at Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines. Before this, he held progressively senior roles in the finance organization within the Yellow Pages Group, up to Vice President, Finance, and Treasurer. He played a significant role in executing and financing many important business acquisitions. He also acted as Chief Financial Officer of a Yellow Pages Group subsidiary, Trader Corporation. Prior to that, he held treasury roles within both Quebecor World Inc. and the Société générale de financement du Québec. Nicolas Lavoie has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Université Laval and CFA and CPA, CGA professional designations.

 

21. Martin Pelletier
Vice President Finance and CFO, Ultra Forensic Technology

Martin Pelletier is the Vice President of Finance and CFO at Ultra Forensic Technology. Pelletier leads a team of accounting and business finance professionals responsible for all the company's financial activities. He has more than 20 years of experience in financial reporting and controlling, financial performance evaluation, financial planning and analysis, strategic planning and budgeting, investments, and mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining the company, Pelletier held several financial management positions at international businesses, principally at CAE, where he worked for 18 years. He is a member of l’Ordre des CPA du Québec and of the CFA Institute. Pelletier has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a specialization in professional accounting from HEC Montréal.

 

22. Edouard Lefebvre
CEO, Prima Solutions Canada

Edouard Lefebvre is the CEO of Prima Solutions Canada. Before Prime Solutions, Lefebvre was the Business Unit Director of Ventiv Technology. Before this, he spent over 14 years at Effisoft devient Prima Solutions, most recently as Chief Operating Officer and Sales Manager, responsible for the entire software lifecycle. Earlier in his career, he was a Risk Advisor at Exense. Lefebvre graduated from Nottingham Trent University with an undergraduate degree in environmental health.

 

23. Laurent Binda
CFO, FlexPay

Laurent Binda is the CFO of FlexPay. Binda is a CPA, CA, who has operated as the CFO of software companies for the past 14 years after starting his career at KPMG. He also served as the CFO of Impulse Capital, a Montreal angel fund prior to joining FlexPay. He has been very active in the startup ecosystem, on the investing side, and in companies' financing, selling, and founding.

 

24. Danick Lavoie
President and Chief Executive Officer, Pelican International

Danick Lavoie is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pelican International. In addition to overseeing all of the company's activities, Lavoie works with the Pelican team on formulating and implementing the next stage of growth for the company.

Before joining Pelican International, Lavoie was a Vice President of the packaging sector at Cascades. Lavoie graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with an MBA in business administration and management and from Université de Sherbrooke with an undergraduate degree in accounting.

 

25. Robert Laufer
Chief Financial Officer, Brown Shoes

Robert Laufer is the Chief Financial Officer of Brown Shoes. Browns Shoes is a family-owned business established in Montreal in 1940. Browns is synonymous with top international designer collections, luxurious leather goods, and exclusive street savvy fashion for ladies, men and children. Robert joined the team in 2009. Prior to joining Brown Shoes, Robert served as a partner with RSM Richter Chamberland.