MCAN Mortgage Corporation (MKP-T) has appointed Derek Sutherland as president and chief executive officer.

Sutherland has acted as interim chief executive officer for the past four months and has been chair of the board of directors since 2020. 

Upon his appointment, effective April 1, Sutherland will step down as chair of the board, and lead director Gaelen Morphet will become chair of the board.

Sutherland has been a member of MCAN’s board since 2017. 

He has held multiple leadership roles, including as chief risk officer from 2013 to 2016, and also as interim chief executive officer for six months in 2023.

Sutherland is a CPA, CA and a corporate director (ICD.D), and he has expertise in finance, risk management and governance.

Parkland appoints two new board members

Parkland Corporation (PKI-T) has added Felipe Bayon and Sue Gove to its board of directors. 

Bayon brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in the energy sector. He served as president and chief executive officer of Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest integrated energy company and he previously worked with BP for more than 20 years. 

Gove has a long history of experience in the retail sector, holding senior positions including as president and chief executive officer of Bed Bath & Beyond and Golfsmith International.

She has led multiple transformations and brings extensive public and private company board experience including 12 years at AutoZone, where she spent eight years as chair of the nominating and governance committee. Gove currently also serves on the board of directors of LKQ Corporation.

Parkland has added six independent directors to the board over the past two years.

Changes at the top for Wall

Wall Financial (WFC-T) announced that Bruno Wall has been appointed as chief executive officer and has resigned as chair of the board of directors. 

Oliver Borgers has been appointed chair of the board. He is a partner at law firm McCarthy Tétrault in the Toronto office.

Wall is the nephew of company founder and prominent Vancouver developer Peter Wall, who died in early March at age 87. Bruno Wall joined the company in 1983 and was appointed president in 1994. 

He is also a graduate of the University of Toronto where he earned both his BA and MA in history.

Wall Financial is a B.C.-based real estate company that develops and manages residential and commercial rental units, residential resale housing and hotel properties.

It was co-founded 1969 by Peter Wall, as Wall & Redekop, which later become Wall Financial.

New Canadian CEO for Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain has chosen Jean-Claude Lasserre as chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain Canada, effective April 1. 

Currently chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain Surface Solutions, Lasserre brings more than 30 years of experience within the Saint-Gobain Group in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

The company, which provides materials for the construction industry, has some ambitious plans for the near term. 

“We are eagerly anticipating the completion of North America’s first zero-carbon wallboard plant in Sainte-Catherine, Que. (Scope 1 and 2) and the imminent launch of CarbonLow drywall,” Lasserre said in a press release.

Lasserre will succeed Julie Bonamy, who managed approximately $4 billion in Canadian acquisitions including Kaycan, Building Products of Canada and Bailey Group of Companies. 

Perkins&Will hires Eckhardt as managing director

Architect Cecily Eckhardt has joined architecture and design firm Perkins&Will as managing director of its Toronto and Ottawa studios. 

She will succeed D’Arcy Arthurs, who has led the Ontario office since 2010. 

Eckhardt has practised architecture in Canada and Europe for more than 20 years. She has contributed to many projects, including Centennial College’s Centennial Place and Culinary Arts Centre in Toronto, McMaster University’s 10 Bay Graduate Residence in Hamilton, Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Medicine in Brampton, Ont. and The New Vic at McGill University in Montreal. 

She joins Perkins&Will after 17 years with another Toronto-based architecture firm, where she focused largely on complex institutional projects. 

Eckhardt is a LEED Green Associate, a Passive House certified designer and a frequent speaker at academic and professional design workshops and seminars. She’s also a member of the Ontario Association of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. 

2 senior leadership hires at Grosvenor

Urban property developer Grosvenor has installed Lucas Berube as vice-president, development and Grant Myles as vice-president, construction, for its Canadian operations.

Berube joins the company after time at Bosa Properties and Rize Alliance Properties, working as senior director, development and director of development, respectively. He also worked previously at Conwest Group, Hungerford Properties and Colliers International Canada.

He will oversee construction at Brentwood Block, which is a Burnaby development of around 3,500 homes, that will include 2,450 rental units, 50,000 square feet of green space, a community centre and 250,000 square feet of commercial space.

Myles — who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry — will manage such developments as Whitford, Mayfair West and Brentwood Block. He previously spent 10 years at Wall Financial, eventually becoming vice-president of construction. 

Goodman adds prominent broker

Goodman Commercial recently brought on Megan Johal, a broker with extensive experience in the commercial real estate sector, as the newest member of its Vancouver team. 

Specializing in multifamily, development land and investment properties, Johal worked for more than eight years at Frontline Real Estate, a boutique brokerage.

She has been involved in around $1 billion worth of development land and investment transactions.

Johal will partner with Mark Goodman and Ian Brackett, and she will remain active in brokering development land transactions, while also taking on a role in Goodman’s multifamily sales business.