Virtual event; timings to be announced
The IR Magazine Awards – Canada 2021 will take place on Thursday, April 8 as a virtual awards ceremony. We will once again be bringing together the investor relations community to celebrate and honor excellence in the IR profession. Further details about the 2021 awards ceremony will follow in due course including information about how to access our virtual platform and timings.
Since the annual event first launched in 1996, tens of thousands of analysts and investors have voted in the surveys behind the awards. The result: vital benchmarking information on which companies do the best IR. In recent years, the awards program has expanded to recognize more aspects of an IRO’s role as we add new categories to the list and give IR teams the opportunity to nominate themselves.
By popular demand, we present two types of award categories – researched and nominated – both celebrating the success of those individuals and companies that are leading the way in IR across Canada.
For our researched categories, companies do not submit nominations. Instead, hundreds of analysts and investors cast their votes and give their opinions on which companies provide the best IR service. In our nominated categories, companies submit written entries to articulate their success and achievements from the past year, giving any publicly listed company the opportunity to be considered for an award.
Timings shown are Eastern Time (ET)
16:00 PM
Pre-event networking
Be matched at random with another attendee and you have a few minutes before you move onto the next attendee
17:00 PM
Award ceremony
Join us in recognizing excellence in IR teams across 26 categories
17:55 PM
Award for best viewer photo announced
It’s your time to shine. Send us a photo of you watching the event to get in the running to win a prize and an award!
18:00 PM
Post-event networking
We’ll be joining all winners and nominees to celebrate their nomination and wins
18:30 PM
Award ceremony ends
For our awards-by-nomination categories, individuals and companies are given the opportunity to submit written entries, free of charge, to be put forward to a panel of expert judges made up of investment professionals and IR Magazine editorial team members.
The entry deadline for 2021 nominations has now passed and we are no longer accepting entries. We will be in touch with successful short-listed companies at the beginning of February.
Please note that categories are subject to change based on the final number of submissions received. Some categories may be split by market cap size.
The awards-by-nomination categories differ from our traditional researched awards, as individuals and companies are given the opportunity to submit written entries, free of charge, to be put forward to a panel of expert judges made up of investment professionals and IR Magazine editorial team members.
The judging process consists of three simple phases:
Phase one: Once the entry deadline has passed, the IR Magazine editorial team reviews all submissions and produces the short list
Phase two: The short-listed entries are shared with an independent judging panel made up of industry experts. The judges review each short-listed entry and select their top two picks per category
Phase three: The judges come together to discuss, debate and select the final list of winners who will go on to win an award
The judges’ votes are not made public, but their comments may be published in articles or reports after the event. Judges are not required to make comments against every submission.
Click on the judges' photos below to find out more
Ben Ashwell
Editor
IR Magazine & Corporate Secretary
Ben Ashwell is the editor at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary, covering investor relations, governance, risk and compliance. Prior to this, he was the founder and editor of Executive Talent, the global quarterly magazine from the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants. Before moving to the US, Ben was the vice president and editor at Executive Grapevine, overseeing a daily news website, ten annual supplements and HR Grapevine, the UK’s leading HR and talent management magazine. In his spare time, Ben writes fiction, poetry and arts and culture reviews. Eyewear Publishing recently named him in their list of the Best New British and Irish Poets.
Janet Craig
Executive director, investor relations
Deloitte
Janet Craig – formerly of Fortis, Loblaw, Nexen, Nortel Networks, Angiotech and ATI – started her career in investor relations in 1995, when she says the function was still largely administrative. By contrast, she says today that she has ‘not encountered a board that does not want to be informed or kept up to date, or a management team that doesn’t consider IR to be a highly strategic function.’
This means IROs should ‘be mindful of developing skills in finance, communications, marketing and relationships, but also understand that there are probably two or three things you really excel at, and capitalize on them,’ she says. As a winner of 20 IR Magazine Awards, a member of our editorial advisory board and an active CIRI board member, Craig embodies the profession’s growth from operational to strategic.
Lorne Gorber
Formerly CGI
Lorne is an executive communications professional with 15+ years of success leading global strategic reputation management initiatives. He delivers effective communications strategies and campaigns for multiple stakeholders within large, global, and publicly-traded companies.
Recognized as a passionate and effective listener with the ability to synthesize complexity into actionable insights and develop messages relevant to all audiences. He also has a strong background in creative arts and writing, and brings a talent for crystalizing key messages and engaging as the company spokesperson.
Colleen Johnston
Former CFO
TD Bank
Colleen currently serves on the boards of Shopify, McCain Foods, Q4, Blue Shield of California and Private Debt Partners. Colleen is Chair of Unity Health Toronto, which includes St. Michael’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Centre and Providence Healthcare; a member on the Board of the Shaw Festival; and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Schulich School of Business. She previously served as the Chair of Bridgepoint Health and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario.
Colleen Johnston retired from TD Bank Group in 2018. Prior to this, she was the Group Head Direct Channels, Technology, Marketing and Corporate & Public Affairs, TD Bank Group. Colleen served as TD’s Chief Financial Officer from 2005-2015. Prior to joining TD in 2004, Colleen spent 15 years with Scotiabank in various senior finance positions. Colleen started her career at PwC in 1982. She received her CA designation in 1984 and in 2006 was elected an FCA (FCPA) recognizing her outstanding career achievements and dedication to community activities.
At TD, she was actively involved in promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace as Chair of the Women in Leadership Committee for ten years. In 2013, Colleen was awarded the Catalyst Canada Honours in the Business Leader Category. Colleen has received numerous top industry honours as a senior finance executive including Canada’s CFO of the Year in 2012. She was recognized by Women’s Executive Network as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women three years in a row and inducted into Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2011, for the third year in a row, she was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking by American Banker. Colleen has received Honorary Degrees from St. Mary’s University and York University (Schulich School of Business).
View our awards best practice guide for insights from our past winners and partnersAccess the guide
Our awards-by-research nominees are determined by the input of hundreds of analysts and portfolio managers, who give their opinions on which companies provide them with the best IR service in the US. Every year we invite any publicly listed company to submit their list of buy and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers, so that they have the opportunity to vote via our survey.
For the current research survey, the deadline to submit lists has now passed. If you have any questions on this process or wish to access our data sharing agreement, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. For any further queries about the research, please contact [email protected].
Please note that categories are subject to change based on the final research results. Some categories may be split by market cap size.
The first thing to explain is that our researched awards are different from most others; for our awards by research, companies do not submit nominations. The winners are identified by in-depth research and any publicly traded company is eligible to be considered. This survey is the only one of its kind to go directly to the investment community, via a combination of an electronic survey and one-to-one telephone interviews, canvassing the opinions of the people who matter to you most.
July 2020: Sample selection
IR Magazine has been building investment community databases for more than 30 years. As part of the updating process, listed companies are contacted every year for details of the professionals who currently cover their stock.
September – November 2020: Telephone survey
The telephone survey then gets under way. The researchers conduct in-depth interviews with an additional 200 portfolio managers and analysts based in Canada. Many of them participate in the study year after year, but there is always a healthy proportion of new respondents each year as well. As the research progresses, the sample is adjusted to ensure appropriate weightings are maintained.
October 2020: Electronic survey
IR Magazine then conducts an electronic survey of buy-side and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers. The electronic survey typically receives 200 individual responses from the investment community. These responses then go to Mary Maude Research for initial analysis. The research firm determines what will constitute a representative sample, weighted for industry sector.
Results analysis
Once the survey stage of the research is completed, the final analysis is undertaken. The companies with the highest scores make the short lists for the awards categories, and the points are further analyzed to identify the best exponents of IR by sector. The independence of our research is crucial to the integrity of the whole awards program, so IR Magazine sees the results only once the research is complete. This ensures a transparent, independent set of results that IROs can trust as a valuable bench-marking tool.
January 2021: Short list compiled
IR Magazine receives the results in January and contacts the short-listed companies to give them the good news. The short list is then published to the entire IR community one month before the event.
March 25, 2021: Winners announced
And finally… the winners are announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday, April 8, 2021!
March 2021: Report published
Shortly after the awards, the Investor Perception Study – Canada 2021 report is published and made available to IR Magazine subscribers.
Awards Partners
Broadridge, a global fintech leader with $4 billion in revenue, provides communications, technology, data and analytics. We help drive business transformation with solutions for enriching client engagement, navigating risk, optimizing efficiency and generating revenue growth. We power the entire investment lifecycle, from trading, portfolio management and financial advisory to omni-channel communications. Part of the Canadian financial services community for three decades, our footprint spans the big five banks, one-third of North American wealth management firms and 75 percent of the mailboxes in North America. We are uniquely positioned to help clients get ahead of today’s challenges and capitalize on what’s next.
Broadridge also delivers a single-source solution to help corporations simplify securityholder management, efficiently navigate regulatory and compliance communication requirements and gain insights to effectively serve and engage securityholders. Our smart, simple and strategic solutions for public companies and alternative investments, such as REITs help you build your brand and engage your securityholders. Our communication tools help gain efficiencies, cultivate goodwill toward your brand, educate and influence securityholders and increase participation. We simplify the annual meeting process by streamlining proxy communications that improve your annual meetings with solutions to efficiently, and effectively reach all of your securityholders and support your goals and priorities. We help you drive a successful proxy outcome with data-driven, predictive insights based on securityholder voting patterns. Our data and insights help you gain a greater understanding of securityholder behaviours and trends so you can make smart decisions that support good governance practices.
For more information please visit: www.broadridge.com
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in multi-platform press release distribution and financial disclosure services. Thousands of organizations and communications professionals turn to Business Wire for superior optimization, presentation and distribution of their news, photos and multimedia to news media, websites, search engines and wireless services. A recognized disclosure service in the United States, Canada, and a dozen European countries, Business Wire handles regulatory filing into EDGAR, SEDAR and other systems. With more distribution options in more countries than any other commercial newswire, Business Wire provides members with targeted reach to virtually any market or industry worldwide.
For more information, visit us online at www.BusinessWire.com
CIBC (CM: TSX, NYSE) is a leading North American financial institution with a market capitalization of $44 billion and a Basel III Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.1%. Through our four strategic business units – Canadian Personal and Small Business Banking, Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, US Commercial Banking and Wealth Management, and Capital Markets – CIBC provides a full range of financial products and services to 10 million personal banking, business, public sector and institutional clients in Canada, the US and around the world. We have approximately 45,000 employees dedicated to providing our clients with banking for a modern world, delivering consistent and sustainable earnings growth for our shareholders, and giving back to our communities.
For more information please visit www.cibccm.com
Craib Design & Communications (Craib) is an industry-leading, full-service design and communications agency specializing in Investor Relations (IR) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For over four decades, Craib has been delivering creative and award-winning integrated IR and CSR solutions for some of North America’s most notable companies. Our experience has helped to inform “The Craib Difference”, our expert approach to communications, strategy, planning, design and implementation.
Craib’s team consists of leading designers, IR strategists, CSR specialists, editors, account managers, production specialists, developers and proofreaders. We are detail oriented, solution focused and dedicated to executing amazing results.
Our services draw upon a wide range of expertise across many industry sectors to help you deliver one-off projects or complete integrated solutions across all forms of print and digital media. The following outlines our group of IR and CSR products and services:
Investor and CSR Communications:
• Annual reports
• Sustainability reports
• Websites & online reports
• Investor and AGM presentations
• Quarterly reports
• Roadshow materials
• Proxy, MIC, and shareholder materials
• Fact sheets
• Strategic writing and editing
DFIN is a leading global risk and compliance company. We’re here to help you make smarter decisions with insightful technology, industry expertise and data insights at every stage of your business and investment lifecycles.
As markets fluctuate, regulations evolve and technology advances, we’re there. And through it all, we deliver confidence with the right solutions in moments that matter.
Learn about DFIN’s end-to-end risk and compliance solutions. Visit DFINsolutions.com or call +1 800 823 5304.
Intrado Digital Media powers your mission-critical communications with a suite of solutions that lets you connect and engage with your investors, employees, the media, and all your critical stakeholders. Our IR communications solutions include: webcasting, IR websites, GlobeNewswire press release distribution, regulatory filing, IPO packages, and monitoring.
Visit www.intrado.com/Digital-Media to learn more.
Lumi is the leading digital platform facilitating in-room, hybrid and virtual AGMs for the world’s largest corporations, membership organisations, associations, legislative bodies, faith based organisations and partnerships.
It is the only platform that digitises the entire lifecycle of an AGM in a single solution that enables sophisticated meeting facilitation before, during and after the live meeting – including authenticated registration, live secure polling, Q&A management and relevant reporting.
Lumi is headquartered in Hampshire, UK where central functions including finance, product development and marketing are based, but has offices in 11 countries across EMEA, APAC and the Americas. Highly differentiated in the majority of markets where it is active, Lumi benefits from extremely strong, experienced and renowned MDs who head up each in-country team.
Its mobile solution enabled Lumi to facilitate the UK’s first electronic AGM held by a listed company, Jimmy Choo, in June 2016. The onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic rapidly accelerated the adoption of the Lumi virtual meeting platform, and Lumi has run over 2500 virtual and hybrid AGMs during 2020, in 35 different countries, including several hundred here in Canada.
For more information, visit www.lumiglobal.com
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market, and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors.
To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com.
Q4 is the fastest growing cloud-based investor relations and capital market solutions to the IR Industry with over 1,200 clients. Public companies the world over (many of which are Fortune 1000 brands) look to our leading web and intelligence solutions to power successful (and award winning) IR programs — and to better connect with their investors, make more effective decisions, and understand the capital markets.
Learn more at https://www.q4inc.com/home/default.aspx
TMX Group operates global markets, and builds digital communities and analytic solutions that facilitate the funding, growth and success of businesses, traders and investors. TMX Group’s key operations include Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, TSX Alpha Exchange, The Canadian Depository for Securities, Montréal Exchange, Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation, and Trayport which provide listing markets, trading markets, clearing facilities, depository services, technology solutions, data products and other services to the global financial community. TMX Group is headquartered in Toronto and operates offices across North America (Montréal, Calgary, Vancouver and New York), as well as in key international markets including London and Singapore. For more information about TMX Group, visit our website at www.tmx.com. Follow TMX Group on Twitter: @TMXGroup.
Works Design is a full-service corporate communications agency and design studio. We help world-class organizations present themselves, tell their stories and build relationships with all of their stakeholders.
For more information, please visit www.worksdesign.com
Corporate Partners
Agnico Eagle is a senior Canadian gold mining company that has produced precious metals since 1957. Its eight mines are located in Canada, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in each of these countries as well as in the United States and Sweden. The Company and its shareholders have full exposure to gold prices due to its long-standing policy of no forward gold sales. Agnico Eagle has declared a cash dividend every year since 1983. For more information, please visit www.agnicoeagle.com
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting approximately C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries — serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.
For more information on CN, visit the company’s website at www.cn.ca
Why partner with us?
The IR Magazine Awards – Canada brings together some of the most influential people in the IR community.
Partnering with us is the perfect way to raise your organization’s profile and cement your position in the IR community.
The unique buzz we create at our virtual awards enables you to:
Put your brand in the spotlight and benefit from months of targeted, high profile publicity across multiple channels pre-and post-event.
We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience through the IR Magazine Awards – Canada. Get in touch with Ian Richman or call on +1 212 430 6865.
The event is free to attend and open to all IR professionals. Please fill in the form below to access the event.
If you have any questions, please contact Chloë Rutter at [email protected] or call +44 20 3002 0396.
Last year we brought the awards to you via our first ever virtual ceremony.
Watch the short highlights reel below for what to expect in 2021!
Attendees at this event are leading IR practitioners from across Canada. Each participant is someone with an established track record and a strategic IR role within his or her company.
Below is a sample of some of our past attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company |
Advisor, investor relations | WSP Global | Manager, capital markets ESG, investor relations | TC Energy |
AVP, investor relations | Manulife | Manager, investor relations | Lundin Mining |
AVP, investor relations | Canadian Tire Corporation | Manager, investor relations | Zymeworks |
CFO | Altus Group | Manager, investor relations and corporate development | Precision Drilling |
CFO | OneSoft Solutions | Manager, sustainability disclosure & impact measurement | BMO Financial Group |
Chief communications officer | AmTrust financial services | Managing counsel, commercial & securities | Rogers |
Communications director | Jamieson Wellness | Senior Director IR | RBC |
Director – finance | Waste Connections | Senior manager, corporate development | Ero Copper |
Director – investor relations | Boralex | Senior manager, investor relations & communications | Cineplex |
Director investor relations | Intact Financial | Sr. director, investor relations | Shopify |
Director investor relations | Suncor Energy | SVP investor relations and strategic analysis | Teck Resources |
Director, communications & government relations | Eldorado Gold Corporation | SVP, head of investor relations & capital management | Sun Life Financial |
Director, corporate access | TD Securities | US chief representative | Samsung Life Insurance |
Director, investor relations | Aecon Group | Vice president investor relations | Agnico Eagle Mines |
Director, investor relations | Canopy Growth | Vice president investor relations & treasurer | Superior Plus |
Director, investor relations | Cenovus Energy | Vice president, head of institutional business development | Instar |
Director, investor relations | Home Trust | Vice president, investor relations | Alamos Gold |
Director, investor relations | Hudbay | Vice president, investor relations | Fortis |
Director, investor relations & treasury | CP Rail | Vice president, investor relations | Hydro One |
Director, strategy, risk, and investor relations | Enerflex | Vice president, investor relations | Royal Bank of Canada |
ESG manager | Liberty Utilities | Vice president, investor relations | Algonquin Power |
EVP investor relations | Sagicor Financial Company | Vice-president and treasurer | Dollarama |
Executive director | Activa | VP capital markets | Baytex Energy |
Head of investor relations | Maritime Resources | VP investor development | Exchange Income |
Head of IR | Goldmoney | VP investor relations | MediPharm Labs |
Investor relations | LMA | VP investor relations | Stantec |
Investor relations analyst | ARC Resources | VP investor relations | Vermilion Energy |
Investor relations analyst | Endeavour Mining | VP marketing & investor relations | Blockstation |
Investor relations associate | Caldas Gold | VP strategy & IR | Endeavour Mining Corporation |
Investor relations, marketing | Lotus | VP, investor relations | CN |
IR manager | IFC | VP, investor relations | Nutrien |
Manager investor relations | BRP | VP, IR | Deloitte |
Manager investor relations & corporate planning | Enerplus | VP, strategy, planning & IR | Gibson Energy |
For partnership inquiries
+1 212 430 6865
For awards inquiries
+44 20 8004 4989
For all other inquiries
+44 20 3002 0396