Brian J. Porter served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Scotiabank from November 1, 2013 to January 31, 2023. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of Huron University College at Western University, as a Director of the Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., and as a Director of the Board of the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

He has also served as Chair of the University Health Network (UHN) Board of Trustees for 7 years, and currently sits as a member of the UHN Board of Trustees. Mr. Porter previously served as Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF) as well as a Board Member of the Council of the Americas.

Mr. Porter earned a B.Comm. from Dalhousie University, and has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Dalhousie University (2008) and Ryerson University (2018). He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School.

Bryan Davies has extensive financial sector and governance experience in both the private and public sectors.

He served as inaugural Chair of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, and was Chair of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation from 2006 to 2016, serving concurrently as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Securities Transition Office from 2009 to 2013.

Prior to those appointments, he was Chief Executive Officer and Superintendent of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and also held various Deputy Minister roles in Ontario, including as Deputy Treasurer and Deputy Minister of Economics.

In addition to those public sector assignments, he was Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at the Royal Bank Financial group and was Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Toronto.

He has served on the Boards of both publicly traded and private corporations, and has been, and remains, active in a range of non-profit organizations, focused on heritage and education. Bryan is a graduate of Queen’s University and the University of Toronto.

His distinguished leadership and significant contribution in the field of public administration was recognized by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada which awarded him the Vanier Medal.

Jan De Silva is Canada Co-Chair, Canada-ASEAN Business Council, Canada’s Representative to APEC Business Advisory Council, former President & CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade, and an Independent Board Director.

As President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, one of the largest and most influential business organizations in North America, Jan represented the businesses, talent and economic opportunity in Canada’s commercial centre bringing extensive international leadership and government relations experience to the role.

Prior to joining the Board, Jan served as CEO of Sun Life Financial’s Hong Kong and Mainland China businesses and co-founded and later sold Retail China Limited. She also served as Dean of Ivey Asia for Ivey Business School of Western University.

Highly respected for her business advocacy and government engagement, Jan has been Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Chair of the Canada China Business Council in Beijing and served on the Board of the Asian Corporate Governance Association. She has been appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to two three-year terms representing Canada on the APEC Business Advisory Council where she chairs the Council’s Digital & Innovation Working Group. Jan also sits on the board of Intact Financial Corporation, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

James Cowan is Vice Chair, Global Private Markets at Northleaf Capital Partners, one of Canada’s leading private market asset managers focused on investments in infrastructure, private equity and private credit globally.

James has worked in private markets for more than 25 years, including serving as CEO and President of the MIRA Infrastructure Global Solution funds.

Prior to joining Northleaf, he worked at Macquarie, TD Securities, Hambros Bank and started his career with Ernst & Young in corporate restructuring. James earned a BA from Western University and his Chartered Accountant designation.

James also serves on the board of Canada’s National History Society and the investment committee for Sinai Health Foundation, the latest in 30-plus years of serving on boards of not-for-profit organizations in the education, community and health sectors.

Arshil Jamal recently retired from his role as a senior life insurance and asset management executive after 34 years in the industry, including 26 years with his last employer. The Canada Life Assurance Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco Inc., is a leading Canadian based publicly traded multi-national insurer with a market capitalization of approximately $40 billion. He has a breadth of experience in functional roles and in operational roles including most recently as President and Group Head, Strategy, Investments, Reinsurance and Corporate Development.

Arshil has a deep knowledge of the Canadian, US, UK, Irish and German life, pension and asset management markets as well as the global reinsurance industry. He has served as a group executive director on the Boards of various companies including Irish Life where he was the Chair of the Board. He also served as a non-executive director of Allianz Ireland, a leading Irish based general insurer.

Arshil has an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto and a graduate degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and of the Society of Actuaries.

Ms. Sugiyama, President of ConMark Strategy Inc., provides high level strategy advice to both the public and private sectors. Recognized as a trailblazer and leading counsel to domestic and international businesses on matters of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions law, she now leverages her strengths in strategy, governance and risk management with her broad network, to focus on public service and corporate board work as well as advisory mandates.

Ms. Sugiyama is an experienced corporate director and board advisor. She currently serves as a director of the Mount Pleasant Group and the Building Ontario Fund, as an Emeritus Director of the Gairdner Foundation, as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Innovation Hub and as a strategy advisor to Serefin Health. Among her many board roles, she has served as a director and Vice Chair of the Ontario Financing Authority, as a director of the Gairdner Foundation, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and was the first woman to chair the world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children. She was also a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University).

Ms. Sugiyama was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014 and received an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D. Honoris Causa) from the University of Western Ontario in 2015. She has been recognized for both professional excellence and leadership by University College (Alumna of Influence), Ascend Canada (Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award), Women in Capital Markets (Leadership Award), the Women’s Executive Network (Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women) and was recognized by the International Alliance for Women for her efforts in advancing the economic empowerment of women. In 2023, she received a Foreign Minister’s Commendation from the Government of Japan for her contributions to the promotion of friendship between Canada and Japan.

Recognized as an excellent communicator, Ms. Sugiyama is a much sought after speaker on a broad range of issues including corporate governance and ethics, board culture and effectiveness, enterprise risk management and workplace diversity and inclusion.

Helen Bobiwash is an accomplished financial professional and successful advocate for Indigenous economic prosperity.

A Chartered Professional Accountant, she is a Fellow of CPA Ontario and a member of the Public Sector Accounting Board. She has served on the Boards of several other organizations including Health Sciences North, where she is currently a member of the Audit Committee and the Finance Committee, and AFOA Canada, a centre for excellence and innovation in Indigenous management, finance, and governance.

Helen was a fiscal negotiator for the Anishinabek Education System, advocating for investment in First Nations education for 23 First Nations who restored jurisdiction over education through the first self-government agreement in Ontario and the largest, at the time of signing, in Canada. She also serves on the Investment Committee of the Indigenous Growth Fund, evaluating and approving investments in Indigenous Financial Institutions.

Helen is proud to call Northern Ontario her home. She is a member of the Thessalon First Nation.