Board of Directors

As Chief of Strategy, Product & Marketing at Coast Capital Savings, Catherine oversees the strategy, member experience, marketing + brand, and social purpose mandate, as well as the product portfolio.

Prior to Coast Capital, Catherine held executive and senior leadership roles at Aviso, Qtrade, TD Bank and Assante in various capacities including digital, wealth and insurance verticals and front-end shared services functions.

Catherine currently serves as a Board Member of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Catherine was named twice as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women, Top 50 Wealth Professionals and Top 50 Women in Life Insurance. Catherine earned an MBA as well as a Masters of Information Studies from the University of Toronto. She holds an Honours BA from York University and a BA from Western University. Beyond her academic credentials, her professional designations include Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Tax and Estate Practitioner (TEP) and Certified Health Specialist (CHS).

Catherine is also passionate about improving diversity of thought and equity for those with disabilities + women + minority groups, emerging technologies and elevating financial literacy.

Rob began his career with IG Wealth Management in 1987 responsible in part for the implementation and training of financial planning tools for advisors.   Rob has worked as an advisor with IG Wealth Management since 2006, is a Certified Financial Planner professional (CFP) and is a member of IG Private Wealth Management specializing in the advanced needs of high-net-worth clients.

Rob comes from a legacy of financial planners. Rob’s grandfather, father and sister are all financial planners, together they have over 140 years of experience with IG Wealth Management.

Rob, his wife and three daughters, are avid skiers during the winter months. In the summer they enjoy spending time on their boat at Lake of the Woods.

Since 2015, Rob has served on the TFAAC Board. Rob served on the Advocis Chapter Leadership Council from 2011 – 2015, acting as Chair 2015 – 2017. Was the 2010 – 2011 President and 2007 – 2009 Treasurer of the Advocis Winnipeg Chapter.

Eric started his financial services career with London Life in 1977. After an initial period as a representative; he went on to three separate management careers. Since January 2002 he has been an independent producer and principal of Lidemark Financial Group Inc.

Eric is a Past President of the Advocis Greater Vancouver Chapter (2005) and as Treasurer worked on the integration of CAIFA Vancouver and the BC Chapter of the CAFP into Advocis Greater Vancouver. Eric was elected to Chapter Leadership Council in 2006 and served as Chair for 2011/2012. His second stint with the Institute was from 2012-2017. Since 2017, Eric has served on the TFAAC Board. Eric proudly chaired the inaugural Strategies for Success Sales Conference for Insurance and Financial Advisors in Vancouver in 2015.

Eric received his CLU designation in 1983 and was the Dunstall Medal award winner for BC. He was President of the BC Mainland CLU Chapter in 1988 – 1989 and won the DeHaerne Award that year for best chapter.

Eric is a season ticket holder for the BC Lions and watches Blue Jays games as much as possible. He plays pool in a league on Wednesday nights in Vancouver. He bowls on Thursday nights in White Rock. Golf is a constant challenge. The goal of breaking 100 is occasionally realized.

Eric and his wife Jackie enjoy travelling and have thankfully and gratefully been able to get away to many interesting international locales on a regular basis for these past few years. They have one son, Kevin.

In business and in life, Eric has tried to live by his 3 R’s: Reliability, Responsibility and Respect.

Stephen has owned and operated Stephen MacEachern Insurance & Financial Services since 1997. His earlier 10 year career in the hospitality industry was an ideal foundation for his work as a financial planner and chartered financial consultant. Attention to detail, compassion, empathy, and a conservative behavior in complex situations are hallmarks of his current popularity with clients in the practice. He is capably supported by a team of administration, technical and underwriting specialists, from various insurers, whose teamwork and follow-through are setting new standards of service excellence in building lifetime relationships with the expanding client base.

Stephen is a past treasurer and Past President of Advocis Nova Scotia and served on the local board for over ten years before joining the Institute Board, and he is a past Chair of the Institute. He received his CLU in 2004 and was the Dunstall Medal winner for Nova Scotia attaining the highest provincial mark. In 2005 Stephen entered the EMBA program at St. Mary’s University and completed his Master’s Degree in 2007.

Stephen is also a Past President of the Armdale Kiwanis Club, and past treasurer of the Metro Executive Group and the Spryfield Lions Rink Society. He is currently involved on the board for the Advocis Atlantic School.

John is President and Chair of RBC Wealth Management Financial Services Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of RBC Dominion Securities Inc., which is an Insurance Agency operating under the Canadian Insurance regulatory environment. John is responsible for managing the existing Agency Business, including the insurance support distribution team (Estate Planning Specialists) that supports Canadian Wealth Management‘s client facing professionals. His team works closely with the Wealth Management Services Business in providing Wealth Preservation and Wealth Transformation solutions using tax effective Life Insurance products.  John has been with RBC Financial Group member companies since 1987, in various business development, operational and distribution roles.

He began his financial services career with London Life in 1980.

John has bachelor’s degrees from the University of Western Ontario and Laurentian University and has also completed the executive program at the University of Western Ontario Ivey Business School. He has a Chartered Life Underwriter designation, and passed the Canadian Securities Course in 1987. He is a 2011 graduate of the Family Business Centre at the UBC Sauder School of Business, and holds the Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) designation.

John has been a board member at the Institute of Advanced Financial Education (IAFE) since 2011, and is an associate member of CALU (Conference for Advanced Life Underwriting). He has chaired the IIROC Insurance sub committee of the Retail Sales Committee.

With over 32 years’ experience in the Wealth Management Industry, Ejaz has a passion for helping individuals realize their dreams of financial success and independence. He specializes in developing successful sales people, leading sales teams to outperform, managing distribution channels and developing strategic relationships.

Ejaz is Vice President of Wealth Management at FirstOntario Credit Union and specializes in developing successful salespeople, leading sales teams to outperform, managing distribution channels and developing strategic relationships. Besides a Master’s degree in Economics from University of Alberta, Ejaz has completed Levels I and II of the CFA program, and holds both CFP® and CLU® designations.

An Advocis member since 1990, he’s previously served on the boards of directors of GAMA International Canada, Advocis Greater Hamilton Chapter and Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) Golden Horseshoe. Ejaz was also a member of Hamilton-Burlington United Way Campaign Cabinet.

Ejaz is currently the Chair of The Institute for Advanced Financial Education.

Will successfully launched his career in the financial services industry in early 2007, joining Advocis the very same day. He served on the Kingston Chapter board for ten years, including multiple terms as Program, Sponsorship, and Advocacy Chairs, as well as Chapter President. He has also sat on the national Best Practices Committee. He originally joined the Chapter Leadership Council as Sponsorship Chair, and then enjoyed supporting the Chapters of Ontario Central as their Regional Leader for five years before accepting the role of Chair of the CLC.

In January of 2017, Will established his own full-service financial planning firm, Tidal Financial Management Inc. He is also proud to be a member in good standing of FP Canada, Rotary (Kingston Waterfront Club, Charter Secretary), and the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce. Will enjoys taking on several speaking engagements for various companies and organizations each year. As well, he is an active member, patron, and sponsor of the arts community – having served in the past on the Board of Directors of Theatre Kingston, Domino Theatre and the Kingston Arts Council.

Wendy began her career as a financial planner in 1996 after 6 years as an Elementary School Teacher.  She is now a partner in the firm The Binnacle Financial Team out of Mississauga through Canada Life.

Since starting in the financial services industry Wendy has been an active member with the Greater Hamilton Chapter of Advocis holding many Committee and Board positions including President. Wendy is a strong supporter of the enhanced education programs offered by Advocis and has completed her CFP, CLU and CHS. She has been a member of the CLC – Chapter Leadership Committee – supporting Membership and Program portfolios, and held a Director position with TFAAC the last 3 years. Within the community, Wendy is a 30year active member of the Order of the Eastern Star. When not working she enjoys spending time with her two daughters, playing a round of golf, and boating on the West Coast.

Arun is a management consultant with Canada Life.  He works with Canada Life’s top producing firms developing and executing their strategy, marketing and operations plans.  He is the President of the Simcoe-Muskoka Chapter and the Advocacy Liaison for Ontario Central Region.

Currently, Arun also sits on the University of Toronto’s College of Electors who recruit and select Board Governors for Governing Council.  He is also active with the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering raising funds for the re-construction of Survey Camp.  Arun is also a volunteer fire fighter for the Toronto Indy. He is a Past Chair of the Richmond Hill Board of Trade, and Past Chair of Habitat for Humanity York Region.

He has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and completed the Disney Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge.

Recently appointed to the Board of Directors for The Financial Advisors Association of Canada, Kelly Gustafson, Senior Business & Innovation Manager for NOW Wealth Management Solutions Ltd. is serving Advocis and its Membership as Director at Large.

With a career spanning 25 years in Financial Services, Kelly’s roles provide a broad and deep perspective of our industry and include personal production, business development, wholesaling, and leading innovation at one of Canada’s largest distributors. Her passion for problem solving and spearheading digital transformation initiatives, has allowed her to successfully adapt and transform businesses using modern processes and new technologies.

A 17 year member of Advocis, Kelly has fulfilled roles at local chapter levels, participated in Banff School, Coffee Talks, Symposium, is a founding member of the Advocis Technology & Innovation Committee (TIC) and Saskatchewan PAC member. As the original creator of the DIGICAT, a digital catalogue of technology, software and solutions for Advocis members, Kelly is looking forward to continuing to elevate the member experience and bring value through shared insight, information and tools like the DIGICAT in her leadership role on The TFAAC Board of Directors.

Sara is an experienced board director and financial services executive.  Sara has served as a board member of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, including Toronto Hydro and the University of Toronto Governing Council Business Board, and has been named to the Diversity 50 by the Canadian Board Diversity Council.  She successfully completed the Rotman Directors Education Program and holds the ICD.D designation. Sara is a member of Governance Professionals Canada and is a faculty member of the GPC.D program, having collaborated in the design and launch of the designation program.

Sara has held senior leadership roles in the Canadian Financial Services sector and is currently a member of RBC’s Sustainability Team where she leads Human Rights and Sustainability initiatives. Most recently she was an officer of Concentra Bank, where she led compliance and financial crime risk management teams and was a member of the Bank’s ESG/CSR Strategy Team. In a prior role Sara was Chief Compliance Officer for an insurer, and she has helped shape public policy through material contributions as a committee member at the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, the Canadian Association of Financial Institutions in Insurance, and the Canadian Bankers Association.

Sara is no stranger to Advocis. From 2003 to 2008 she held the staff position of Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and earned a strong reputation for her critical thinking and her ability to build strategic relationships, successfully leading a number of key initiatives, including Advocis’ intervention in a landmark Supreme Court of Canada constitutional law challenge.

Sara obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto and attended Queen’s University for Law School. She is a lawyer, and also holds a Master’s degree in International Law from Cambridge University, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.  She completed the Osgoode Hall Law School Certificate in Legal & Regulatory Risk Management for Financial Institutions, and has been a faculty member of the certificate program since 2013. She is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the Northwind Financial Services Invitational Forum, and is a past lecturer at the Rotman School of Management and Queen’s Law School.

Sara shares her home with her spouse and their two children, as well their Leonberger, Golden Retriever, and Bengal Leopard cat.  Her passions include travel and skiing, and she is a long-standing member of the Toronto International Film Festival and a volunteer at Toronto’s Out of the Cold Program.