Upcoming Events
Annual General Meeting
Event details coming soon!
Date: June 11 2025
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Cybersecurity Event
Event details coming soon!
Date: Fall 2025
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Past Events
Panel Discussion - Women in Leadership
Celebrating International Women's Month with AFP Atlantic!
In March 2025, we hosted a Women in Leadership panel in Saint John, New Brunswick, featuring a group of accomplished women leaders from diverse local sectors who spoke openly about their career journeys. The panel led a powerful conversation about gender equality in leadership, empowering future young leaders and navigating industry challenges in today's changing world.
A huge thank you to our incredible panelists, our event sponsor, and to all of our attendees for making it such a success!
Event Details:
Date: March 13, 2025
Location: Delta Saint John, 39 King Street, Saint John, New Brunswick
Thank you to our event sponsor:
About Our Panelists:
Natalie Urquhart - CFO & VP, Corporate Services at Horizon Health
As VP of Corporate Services and CFO for Horizon Health Network, Natalie oversees financial services, annual budget processes, and internal controls. With over 25 years in the private sector and 20 years as a CPA, she brings extensive finance and leadership expertise. Natalie earned a Bachelor of Commerce from St. Mary’s University and an MBA from Western University’s Ivey School of Business. Committed to lifelong learning, she has led major projects and actively participates in her community, serving on a local non-profit board.
Anne Guimond Nadeau - Regional Commercial AVP at National Bank
Anne Guimond Nadeau has been with National Bank since 1996 and is the Associate Vice President for Commercial Banking in Southeast New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. She leads a team of 13 employees dedicated to business development within the Commercial Banking sector. With over 30 years in the Canadian banking industry, she has held various roles in Commercial, Public Sector, and International Trade, focusing on business lending and managing high-value relationships.
Christine Lavoie - Director, Reporting & Analytics at J.D. Irving
Christine Lavoie is an esteemed professional with an extensive background in Accounting and Finance. She earned her Bachelor of Commerce (Cooperative) from Memorial University majoring in accounting. Upon graduating and completing 3 co-op work terms with J.D. Irving (JDI) she then moved to a full-time career with the company. Christine then went on to pursue her CPA and her Executive MBA from Western University’s Ivey School of Business. After gaining experience with the company in various leadership roles and across multiple divisions over the last 25 years, Christine is now the Director of Analytics & Reporting and Student Programs for the Finance Division of JDI.
*Approved for up to 1.2 CTP/CCM recertification credits by the Association for Financial Professionals.
Lunch Conference - Economic Update with Benjamin Tal
We launched the 2025 season with a successful Economic Lunch Conference in Halifax.
Many thanks to Deputy Chief Economist, Benjamin Tal, for his insightful and candid economic outlook. His presentation provided attendees with a clear, in-depth analysis of current economic drivers and key indicators for the coming year.
Event Details:
Date: February 25, 2025
Location: The Westin Nova Scotian, Halifax, Nova Scotia
About our Speaker:
Benjamin is a member of the CIBC economic team that is responsible for analyzing macro economic developments and their implications for fixed income, equity, foreign exchange and commodities markets. He also acts in an advisory capacity to bank officers on issues related to wealth management, household credit and risk, and corporate credit and risk.
Well-known for his ground-breaking published research on topics such as labour market dynamics, real estate, credit markets, international trade and business economic conditions, Benjamin not only contributes to the conversation but also frequently sets the agenda.
Benjamin has close to 20 years of experience in the private sector advising clients, industry leaders, corporate boards, trade associations and governments on economic and financial issues. He is also a regular commentator in the media.
Benjamin is a member of the Economic Committee of The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Committee of the Toronto Board of Trade. He is also a board member for the Governors of Junior Achievement of Central Ontario and Toronto Financial International.
Thank you to our event sponsor:
*Approved for up to 1.2 CTP/CCM recertification credits by the Association for Financial Professionals.
**Approved for up to 1.2 FPAC recertification credits by the Association for Financial Professionals.
An evening of networking, hor d’oeuvres and drinks with an insightful presentation on the current fraud landscape in the corporate world from industry specialist Rob Carruthers, Regional Marketplace Leader for Risk Advisory for Deloitte.
Rob’s expertise on fraud trends, behavioral analysis of fraud actors, and ability to connect real-world cases to practical solutions was invaluable to the finance professionals in attendance.
Event Details:
Date: December 5th, 2024
Location: Stewart McKelvey Office, 1741 Lower Water St. Halifax, NS
About our Speaker:
Rob Carruthers is a Partner at Deloitte and a Leader in the Audit and Assurance practice. Based in Halifax, Rob has built national and global experience in advising clients in areas related to Governance, Risk, and Control. This has further expanded into Fraud Risk, Third Party Risk and Assurance, and Cyber Security risk. Rob serves many of Atlantic Canada’s largest organizations and is active as a Board Member and Industry Advisor.
Holiday Social & Fraud Landscape
Payments Modernization with Payments Canada
A lunch and learn* with Ryan Grundy, Lead of Ecosystem Management for Payments Canada, providing an update on the multi-year modernization efforts that will evolve Canada's current payment ecosystem and usher in a new era of innovation and choice for Canadians.
Payments Canada is working with financial institution members, regulators and stakeholder partners, to transform Canada's payment platforms to ensure Canada remains globally competitive in today’s digital economy. Attendees heard about the development of Canada's first true Real Time Payments platform, as well as other ongoing initiatives by Payments Canada.
Event Details
Date: November 21th, 2024
Time: 11:30AM - 1:30PM
Location: Delta Hotels by Marriott Beauséjour, 750 rue Main Street, Moncton, NB E1C 1E6
About our Speaker
Ryan Grundy is the Lead of Ecosystem Management for Payments Canada, managing relationships for all non-Financial Institution players in the Canadian Payments Ecosystem including Paytech, Large Corporate, SME, and Government Segments. As part of his mandate, he leads public outreach and consultation to drive thought leadership and inform development of Canada's first true Real Time Payments platform, supporting Payments Canada's position as a public purpose organization committed to strengthening the safety and soundness of core systems, facilitating innovation and competition, and promoting a stronger Canadian economy.
*Eligible for 1.8 CTP/CCM and FP&A credits
Virtual National AFP Event
Lunch and Learn Series: Selecting a TMS for Success
An insightful conversation with Tom Hunt from the Association for Financial Professionals, Bob Stark from Kyriba, and Linda Dixon from Multimatic as they share their views on selecting and implementing a Treasury Management System (TMS).
Key takeaways:
What is a TMS and do I need one? What are the benefits?
What are the key considerations when selecting a TMS?
What do you consider implementation best practices?
How will I measure success
About the Presenters:
Tom Hunt, CTP
Tom is the Director of Treasury Services at the Association for Financial Professionals and has more than 15 years of direct treasury experience working across different industries, including various roles at Medtronic, Fairview Health Systems and, most recently, at 3M Company. At 3M, Tom oversaw the global banking strategy, redesigned and implemented a new domestic cash management structure and led acquisition activities for the treasury department. He holds an MBA in finance from the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN.
Bob Stark
Bob's role at Kyriba is to execute a multi-product go-to market strategy, driving significant valuation and growth. Through superb content, PR, design and strategic marketing, Bob and his team are building a new brand for the next generation of financial technology. Bob holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University with a specialization in Finance and Marketing.
Linda Dixon, CPA, CTP, CRM
Linda is the Treasurer of Multimatic, Inc. and has held increasingly senior roles with some of Canada's largest multinationals, including Aecon Group, Brookfield Asset Management, RSA, Siemens Canada, and Rogers Communications. Linda graduated from the University of Toronto with a major in Economics. She is also a Chartered Professional Accountant, a Certified Treasury Professional, and a Canadian Risk Manager.
Annual General Meeting (Virtual)
End of Summer Social*
Virtually held Annual General Meeting with board members and AFP Atlantic group members, on Thursday September 19th at 4:00PM.
*End of Summer Social was rescheduled to December as a Holiday event.
Sustainable Financing Framework
This lunch conference* featured Eleanor Marshall, Senior Vice President & Treasurer of BCE and Bell Canada, who discussed corporate sustainable financing in today's market.
Using real-world examples from Bell Canada, she explained how the company uses sustainable financing, its monitoring by rating agencies and other corporations, and the measurable positive societal impacts of such investments.
Event Details
Date: June 20th 2024
Time: 11:30AM - 1:30PM
Location: Delta Saint John New Brunswick, 39 King Street
About our Speaker
Eleanor is an SVP & the Treasurer of BCE and Bell Canada, Eleanor is also President of Bimcor, Bell Canada’s pension fund subsidiary.
Eleanor started her career in the Bell organization in 1996 as part of NBTel, one of Bell’s Atlantic predecessor companies. Over her career and now as SVP & Treasurer, Eleanor has led the strategic and financial management of Bell’s pension and benefits plans, treasury, investor relations, insurance and capital markets activities. Prior to joining Bell, she was controller at Roycom Summit REIT and an audit manager at Deloitte.
Eleanor has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University and holds both Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations. Eleanor is a board member of Vestcor Inc., the Atlantic Women’s Venture Foundation and an independent member of the finance committee of Hockey New Brunswick.
*Eligible for 1.8 CTP/CCM and FP&A credits
Thank you to our event sponsors!
AI For Treasury
The Good, The Bad and The Scary
The ChatGPT revolution has accelerated the discussion about the role that AI and data play to drive data-driven processes and decisions for CFOs and Treasurers. While data-driven technology is continually promoted to Treasurers as the path to digital transformation, hyperautomation, and real-time business intelligence, AI has the potential to be much more impactful for tomorrow's Treasurer. In this session, we will explore how AI will support, transform and (in some cases) replace treasury processes.
Event Details
Date: April 24, 2024
Time: 11:30AM - 1:30PM
Location: Deloitte Canada 1741 Lower Water Street, Suite 800, Halifax, Nova Scotia
About our Speaker
Bob Stark is the Global Head of Market Strategy at Kyriba and has been a product and go-to-market financial technology leader for 25 years and works directly with clients, partners, and industry influencers to ensure Kyriba is at the forefront of financial technology. He has empowered finance leaders at some of the world’s largest companies, and is a frequent speaker and author on treasury, risk management, and payments.
Cyber Security Event
November 8, 2023 - Halifax NS
Our inaugural event, a cyber security panel conversation featuring four field experts from varying backgrounds.
Event Details
Date: November 8, 2023
Location: Purdy's Wharf Tower 1, 1959 Upper Water Street, Suite 1000 Halifax, Nova Scotia
About our Panelists
Travis Barlow (KPMG Canada):
Our Moderator
Travis is a dedicated Senior Security Leader with 24+ years experience leading excellence in cybersecurity strategy, programs, architecture, and reporting. Strategic in optimizing security of data and assets, ensuring top levels of confidentiality, integrity, availability, privacy, and recovery. Strong track record of development, implementation, and enforcement of risk-based policies, procedures, standards, and regulations for organizations of various size and complexity. Proven team builder and leader focused on creating high performance teams which exceed expectations across multiple business sectors. Skilled at blending technical, analytical, and business acumen to deliver high-impact and lasting solutions that align with budgets and timelines.
Frédérick Gagnon (National Bank of Canada):
Business Information Security Officer, Personal, Commercial & Insurances for National Bank of Canada & Adviser for Prompt Innovation Cybersecurity Program in Quebec
Frédérick has a Masters Degree in administration, with a specialization in Governance, Audit and Information Technology Security (GASTI) from the Management School of University of Sherbrooke. He is also a Certified Chief Information Security Officer, EC-Council, Certified Information Security Manager, ISACA and, ITIL, Axelos.
Frédérick is a Successful and collaborative leader in digital technology transformation. He helps organizations think differently, creating new ways of resolving complex situations, he considers this at the basis of his core value.
Walid Khayate (BFL Canada):
Vice-President / National Practice Leader, Enterprise Risk Management and Cyber Risk
Walid brings over 15 years of extensive expertise in the risk consulting field with a proven track record in executing complex risk consulting engagements, product development and business development. He is the national practice leader for cyber insurance and cyber risk consulting at BFL in addition to his role of risk advisory co-leader.
Prior to joining BFL CANADA, Walid was the National Practice Leader of Enterprise Risk Management and Cyber Risk Consulting at a global insurance broker. In his role, he supported large and medium-sized companies (national and multinational) from various sectors in their needs, challenges and objectives in Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), Cyber Risk Management & Business Resilience Management.
Walid has a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a second Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering. He also holds a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering in Energy from the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers in Paris and a second Master's degree in Applied Science in Industrial Engineering, Risk Management from the University of Montreal (École Polytechnique de Montréal).
Walid is a member of the Ordre des Ingénieurs du Québec.
Adam Todd (Cooke Inc.):
Vice President of Information Technology for Cooke Inc.
Adam is an accomplished and forward-thinking senior IT executive with a decade of visionary leadership, orchestrating technology strategies that align with organizational vision.
Adam is recognized for his proficiency in aligning IT initiatives with organizational goals, optimizing operations, and delivering innovative solutions.
He is respected for his experience and track record in building high-performing teams and fostering a culture of growth, innovation, and collaboration.
