A message from Rahim Kassam
Our people tell us that the connections they make here are a big reason they came to Deloitte. Truthfully, people join Deloitte for both the connections and the professional development opportunities that build successful careers.
We focus on offering our people exceptional employment experience through leadership and development opportunities, and a unique culture and workplace that allows them to perform at their best and make valuable connections with clients and lasting relationships with each other. We invest in relationships with all of our people because our growth and success are closely tied to our people’s ability to realize their career aspirations – inside and outside of Deloitte.
As an alum, you are always a part of the Deloitte family. Whether you launched your career here or were simply passing through, we hope that the experience and learning were worthwhile. We want the exceptional Deloitte experience to extend beyond our doors. Our alumni program is in place to help you stay connected to the firm and to your former colleagues, and to give you access to knowledge, learning, and networking opportunities to support you and your career.
“Once Deloitte, always Deloitte.”
I’m excited about my new role as National Alumni Leader. I look forward to continuing the enhancement of our alumni program and the benefits it offers so that it provides you with real value, addressing your current needs and keeping you connected to your Deloitte roots. I encourage you to maintain a dialogue with us, as your feedback is vital. You can contact me directly or reach out to your regional alumni leaders. I look forward to hearing from you.
Rahim Kassam
Consulting Partner and National Alumni Leader
rkassam@deloitte.ca
Alumni videos
Ethan Song and Hicham Ratnani, Frank & Oak
Ethan Song and Hicham Ratnani are childhood friends who grew up in Montreal and pursued similar educational and career paths. They both graduated with degrees in engineering and joined Deloitte Consulting early in their careers.
The friends were always passionate about the unique crossroad between design and technology – between art and science. After spending some time at Deloitte, where they acquired critical business experience and industry knowledge through exposure to a variety of clients and industries, they left to start their own company. They launched Frank & Oak, an online menswear brand and retailer, in February 2012.
What started as a team of two quickly grew to more than 80 people and 12 retail stores in Canada and the US. Their phenomenal growth helped Frank & Oak earn the #1 ranking on Deloitte Canada’s Technology Fast 50™ for 2015.
The two partners were fuelled by “a vision to render shopping an effortless task for men by helping them discover clothing they like and delivering it completely hassle-free,” says Ethan. Since its inception, the company saw tremendous growth and momentum, steadily attracting clients and garnering much media attention for both its products and its menswear experience, the Elevate Program. Partners of the Elevate Program benefit from a monthly model that combines a personalized selection and free at-home fitting.
Alumni Connections interviewed Ethan and Hicham at their busy atelier in Montreal, where customers can get a haircut at the barbershop, sip a cappuccino from the coffee bar and relax in the lounge while they shop the latest designs in menswear.
Listen to
CEO Ethan and
COO Hicham share their insights about their company, as well as how their Deloitte experience influenced their evolution.
Alumni interview
Trevor Bell, vice president of tax at Suncor, and former Deloitte partner
Tell us about your role at Suncor
My role is to manage the global tax function for Suncor Energy. The team is comprised of 60 people across four countries (Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, and Scotland). The team is responsible for income tax, indirect tax, customs, and tax controversy.
How did your time at Deloitte prepare you for a leadership role during a time of low commodity pricing? What were the most important lessons learned?
Generally speaking, there is not a lot that can prepare you for the historic low commodity price environment we are in. That being said, during my time at Deloitte I held various leadership roles that helped build my business acumen. You have access to some of the best professionals both in the firm and our client base to really help you understand both the industry that you work in and what’s happening in the marketplace.
In my role as the Prairie region’s director of operations for Tax, I was exposed to some similar challenges that the Alberta market is facing today, in that we needed to evolve our practice to function in a low-cost environment. We had to find new ways to deploy the team more efficiently to increase the group’s overall productivity.
What were the most important lessons learned?
The most important lesson I learned from my time at Deloitte is the importance of fact-based decision-making. You have to understand the facts and make informed decisions in an expedited manner to run the business to succeed in volatile times. Practically, you need 80 percent of the facts before you can make an informed decision because the other 20 percent is always changing.
What value do you feel you receive from staying connected to Deloitte and your former colleagues?
Staying connected to the Deloitte network is extremely important to me. I’ve built some great relationships over the years and I continue to receive mentorship and guidance from these people, whether they’re still with the firm or not. Of course that goes both ways. There are people at Deloitte that I’m in regular contact with, providing them with advice and industry perspective. The sharing of information benefits both myself and the firm.
What advice do you have for someone who just started with or is thinking of joining Deloitte?
At Deloitte you have access to some incredible opportunities to build your professional brand. My advice is to take on as many projects as you can and work with as many people as you can. This early experience helps you form the base for your professional career. It will determine your working style going forward, areas of interest, your risk tolerance and leadership capabilities. It’s an exceptional learning environment so you need to take advantage of it.
Describe your most memorable Deloitte moment.
In 2007, after spending some time in industry, I rejoined the firm as a partner. Shortly after I returned, I was able to work on a massive M&A deal that would take place over the next two years. The project involved over 60 people and involved integrating myself with partners and staff throughout the Calgary office. It was a great project and really re-established me within the firm.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
Former partner Bryan Pinney once shared with me that you always need to base your decisions on putting the business first. You cannot achieve results for yourself, your team and the firm without this approach. Sometimes decisions can be extremely complex and we can lose sight of putting the business first.
Who or what do you credit for your success?
I owe 100 percent of my success to the people in my life, especially my family. I learned business from the ground up from my father and during my time articling with the firm. I wouldn’t have been able to get to where I am today without the support and guidance of my Deloitte partners, the outstanding Deloitte employees and other peers I have had during my career.
Clients also contributed greatly to my success. I’ve had so many valuable experiences through my client work. They taught me the industry and developed my broader business sense. They put me in situations that allowed me to develop and demonstrate my abilities.
Getting personal with Trevor Bell:
- Gadget you can’t live without: iPhone or BlackBerry. It’s like another appendage.
- Favourite place in the world: If I could be anywhere, it’s Pebble Beach in Carmel, CA
- Favourite hobby/sport: Golf
- If you weren’t doing the job you are now, what would you be doing? I’ve always had a knack for finance and numbers, so I’d probably be in investment banking or treasury. But I’d really love to be independently wealthy and playing golf for a living.
Alumni news
Congratulations to the following Deloitte alumni on their recent appointments:
Alison Thompson
- Saäd Rafi was appointed the first chief executive officer of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan Administration Corporation (ORPP AC) in January. Rafi was a partner in Financial Advisory in Toronto. He left the firm in 2008.
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Former Edmonton partner Don Paulencu was appointed chairman of the board of Athabasca Minerals Inc. in February. Don was with Deloitte for 39 years (1976 to 2015), and served as an audit partner for 31 years. He served in many leadership capacities in the Edmonton office, including office managing partner for 10 years.
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Calgary alumna Alison (Taylor) Thompson was elected to the Energy Futures Lab Fellowship of The Natural Step Canada. Alison joined a cohort of 40 influencers representing government, NGOs, industry, academia, First Nations and community groups, who were brought together to initiate a shift in Alberta towards an energy system characterized by sustainability, resilience, and innovation.
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Deloitte US alumna Frances Donald was appointed senior economist at Manulife Asset Management in January. She has held other key research roles with major organizations, including Scotiabank in Toronto, Pavilion Global Markets in Montreal, Roubini Global Economics in New York, and the Bank of Canada in Ottawa. Frances served as a research analyst in the Financial Services practice with Deloitte LLP in New York from December 2010 to February 2012.
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In January, Toronto alumnus William Herman was appointed executive vice president and interim chief financial officer of Progressive Waste Solutions. He had held various positions at the company, most recently as vice president and chief accounting officer. At Deloitte from 1995 to 2002, William was serving as a manager in the Audit practice when he left.
Russ Robertson receives prestigious Miskiman Leadership Award
Russel (Russ) C. Robertson, a former Managing Partner, was recently named the recipient of the
2015 H.E. Miskiman National Leadership Award by JA Canada, the country’s largest youth business education organization. Inspired by former JA Canada president and active volunteer H.E. Miskiman, the prestigious award recognizes volunteers whose participation in and lasting contribution to JA and its programs at a local and/or national level has immeasurably furthered the organization’s aims and objectives. Russ was honoured on April 12 at the JA Central Ontario Governor’s cocktail reception.
Russ began his career in 1969 with Arthur Andersen in Toronto. He held increasingly senior roles with Andersen and later Deloitte, including Managing Partner of Deloitte Canada from 1994 to 2002. He is currently executive vice president and head of anti-money laundering at BMO Financial Group. Over the years, Russ has been involved with a variety of educational, community, and arts organizations, including the Shulich School of Business, Junior Achievement, the National Ballet of Canada, Royal St. George’s College, and Pathways Canada.
Congratulations, Russ!
Celebrating three of Canada’s Most Powerful Women
Last November, three exceptional leaders with Deloitte ties were named among Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women for 2015 by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN). Congratulations to former partner Mary Turner, who is now president of Canadian Tire Bank and Canadian Tire Financial, as well as partner Jane Allen and senior manager Ikram Al Mouaswas, both of whom are still at Deloitte.
Paul Partlo, COO, Wingenback Inc.
Alumnus Paul Partlo is now the chief operating officer of
Wingenback Inc. He joined the company in September 2014 after seven years as president of Point Developments Ltd. and Windermere Water and Sewer. Wingenback provides products and services in two primary areas: ATMs and industrial and specialty moving, rigging and storage. The Calgary-based company, which operates across Canada, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015.
“My wife Jo Anne and I have resided happily in our ‘cabin’ in the woods just outside Bragg Creek for the past 20 years, and plan to be there for another 20,” says Paul, who was an Audit manager with Arthur Andersen (now Deloitte) from 1985 to 1990.
Spotlight on innovation
A conversation with Deloitte’s chief innovation officer
The future, according to Terry Stuart, Deloitte’s Chief Innovation Officer, is a bit of ying and a bit of yang. “In my current role, I’m simultaneously as excited as I’ve ever been in my career and as concerned as I’ve ever been at any point in my life.”
What does he mean? That no industry or business is immune to the current state of flux. New technologies, solutions and capabilities are coming out fast and they’re changing not only business models but also the regulatory and competitive environments. Some are threatening to wipe out whole or parts of industries and businesses, including professional services firms like Deloitte.
“We coined the phrase ‘living in the age of disruption’,” Terry says, “and we are definitely living it!”
You describe your role as ‘constructive disruptor.’ What do you mean by that?
Disruptors break glass. They try to do things differently but they do not offer sustainable solutions. As a constructive disruptor, I do want to break some glass, challenge the norm and try new ways of doing things, but I aim to do this in a way that helps the firm and our clients realize long-term business value.
What are the key challenges in the ‘age of disruption’?
We don’t have a crystal ball. We cannot predict and guarantee what the future will look like, so we will have to act based on our best insights and analysis. And we won’t always get it right. This means we have to be accepting of any failures and be ready to change and pivot as needed, and we have to be quite fast and nimble in the process.
Why is Deloitte investing in innovation?
In recent years, we did some analysis and found out that over 65 percent of our revenues in Canada have the potential of being disrupted by new entrants and new digital techniques. Our clients are facing the same risks. In financial services alone, there are over 8,000 disruptive fintech companies threatening the industry. Technologies like blockchain/distributed systems, peer-to-peer payments, and mobile financial applications are enabling new startups to gain market traction. The same applies to manufacturing, telecommunications and even resource-based industries. Some industries will feel the digital aspects of disruption faster, but no single industry is safe.
How are we doing so far?
We are very well-positioned. We’ve had a good head start with our global innovation team in the area of disruption and exponential research. But the pace has become so fast we decided to embed ourselves in various technology ecosystems and are now working closely with leading research institutions to stay ahead of new innovations.
For example, Deloitte is in the
Communitech hub in Kitchener/Waterloo – the only professional services firm with a dedicated team in that collaborative innovation space. We have teams working at the
MaRS Discovery District in Toronto and at
The DMZ at Ryerson University, a business incubator. We launched
d { } (pronounced ‘dee space’) last year, a prototyping hub for accelerating the development of cutting-edge technology-related products and services that we can bring to our clients.
And there is the Deloitte Greenhouse, currently in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and opening soon in Calgary. The Greenhouse combines Deloitte’s analytics, innovation, and digital capabilities in one space to give our clients the best experience and allow them to achieve breakthroughs in finding solutions to complex business issues.
Globally, Deloitte formed a strategic alliance four years ago with
Singularity University, a think tank in Palo Alto, California, focused on educating people in exponential technologies and business models. It helps senior executives understand cutting-edge technologies and inspires them to apply these technologies to improve life for humanity as well as their business. For us, Singularity had the best research and fact-based understanding of exponential technologies, and it’s also practical for our firm and clients.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of a job where you can say we’ve made good progress and we’re done now. We need to continue to put the pedal down on the accelerator to stay ahead of the curve (and the competition).
What aspects of innovation are you most excited about?
I’m excited about the exponential technologies and business models because of their accelerated performance curve. Whether it’s cognitive science or the Internet of Things, these technologies are starting to get significant traction. Two years ago, for example, people thought the autonomous car was never going to happen or, if it did, it was at least 20 years away. The car is real now, and impacting industries from manufacturing to real estate to insurance. This space can go fast and if we are clever and stay in tune with that, there will be exciting opportunities for our firm and our people.
On a personal level, I’m quite curious about the whole area of neuroscience. I think the next frontier will be about how people make decisions or how we motivate people. Now we have technologies that allow us to figure that out cost-effectively.
Deloitte Germany, for example, has developed a neuroscience institute in collaboration with a university. They’re testing how neuroscience can be applied to how we sell. Another example is Axonify, a software company in Kitchener, which is leveraging cutting-edge neuroscience research to improve corporate learning and advance corporate engagement and culture.
One of your favourite quotes is “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” Can you elaborate?
This is from “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley and I like it for a variety of reasons, but mostly for the meaning. We humans put the boundaries on ourselves and we are the only ones who have the power and control over our thinking, what we do with our lives, and our destiny. It’s kind of liberating.
If you were to give one piece of advice about preparing for the future, what would that be?
Get curious and get dirty and experience it. If you’re talking about the autonomous car, just test-drive one. If you’re curious about blockchain technology, download an app that lets you try some Bitcoin trading without spending any money or putting your ID at risk. Thinking about the sharing economy? Try Airbnb or Uber.
Getting personal with Terry
Prime motivator: Deloitte research suggests that if we don’t change the productivity and innovation agenda for the country, our kids will actually have a worse quality of life than we do. This is the first time in the history of Canada that that is the case; it’s statistically and economically proven. That is not the legacy of our generation that I want to leave.
Source of inspiration: It’s probably too cliché but family is always an inspiration. I have a significant amount of pride in Canada and trying to make Canada better for our kids is a big piece of what I do and why I do it.
Pet peeve: Poor customer service and badly designed products.
Gadget you can’t live without: The Livescribe smartpen. I like writing my notes, and the smartpen transfers them into a searchable electronic document that I can keep in Evernote.
Deloitte news
Deloitte tops Canada's Accounting Top 30
Once again,
The Bottom Line magazine has ranked Deloitte number one in its annual
Canada's Accounting Top 30, a spot the firm has held since at least 2010. Despite challenging economic times, we had the healthiest revenue – up 8.8 percent from last year.
In an interview with the magazine, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Frank Vettese talked about some of the reasons for our growth, including strategic investments in priority areas that have positioned the firm to advise clients on the issues driving the future of their businesses. "We believe we've captured market share, particularly in our advisory services, where we saw double-digit growth” in technology, business risk, data analytics, cybersecurity, and human capital consulting, Frank said. He cited additional services that boosted our capabilities, strategic acquisitions, and new workspaces, which Frank called "the most advanced and collaborative workspaces in the country.” Read the
full interview.
Introducing Deloitte Conduit Law LLP
We’re excited to announce that a new legal business was formed in Canada in March called Deloitte Conduit Law LLP, which will practice in an affiliation with Deloitte. Deloitte Conduit Law LLP acquired the business of Conduit Law and will offer outsourced lawyers to support in-house legal teams, meet business needs on-demand at law firms, and deliver short-term projects or special engagements.
This is part of Deloitte’s ongoing investment in new models that address the evolving legal requirements of our clients. “Deloitte Conduit law LLP offers a unique and more flexible approach to legal services that enhances our capability to provide high-quality solutions that reflect the changing realities of the market,” says Heather Evans, Managing Partner, Tax for Deloitte. Read our
press release.
Meet Canada’s Best Managed companies of 2015
Deloitte’s Best Managed companies recognition is awarded to Canadian privately owned and managed companies that demonstrate excellence in four key areas: strategy, capability, commitment, and financial achievement. The 2015 Best Managed winners were announced on March 9 and celebrated at a national gala award in Toronto on April 12.
This year’s winners are flexible, innovative, forward-thinking and focused on technology – traits shared by the more than 400 companies that have been selected as Best Managed over the last two decades. And as of this year, more than 150 companies have reached Platinum Club status, which means they have earned the Best Managed designation for seven years or more. Learn more about
the winners.
Proud to be one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers
Deloitte has been recognized as one of Canada’s 2016 Best Diversity Employers for the second year in a row. The award celebrates employers across the country who value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment. It’s proof of our commitment to inclusion and to ensuring that we are surrounded by great people who are making an impact that matters every day.
