Each year, Canadian Business compiles a list of the executives, entrepreneurs, politicos, and thinkers who are changing the way Canada does business. Click or tap any name on the list to read more about where they got their influence and why they matter now.
| Rank | Name | Title | Organization | Why they matter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rachel Notley | Premier | Province of Alberta | Has all of Canada waiting for answers MORE » |
| 2 | Mark Wiseman | President & CEO | Canada Pension Plan Investment Board | Ensures you can retire MORE » |
| 3 | John Ruffolo | CEO | OMERS Ventures | Bankrolls Canada’s tech resurgence MORE » |
| 4 | Justin Trudeau | Prime Minister | Canada | Sets the country’s priorities MORE » |
| 5 | Mike Lazaridis | Founder | Quantum Valley Investments | Building the next Silicon Valley in Waterloo, Ont. MORE » |
| 6 | Steve Williams | President & CEO | Suncor Energy Inc. | Doesn’t let depressed oil prices slow him down MORE » |
| 7 | Prem Watsa | Chairman & CEO | Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. | Has investors hanging on his every word MORE » |
| 8 | Stephen Poloz | Governor | Bank of Canada | Safeguards the economy MORE » |
| 9 | Alain Bouchard | Founder | Alimentation Couche-Tard | Conquered the world, one convenience store at a time MORE » |
| 10 | Deborah Gillis | President & CEO | Catalyst Inc. | Pushes corporations to advance women MORE » |
| 11 | Tobias Lütke | Co-Founder & CEO | Shopify Inc. | Proved it’s safe for tech firms to go public again MORE » |
| 12 | Jason Kenney | Member of Parliament | Calgary Midnapore | Rallying the opposition in Parliament MORE » |
| 13 | Jim Balsillie | Innovation Lobbyist | Speaks for the tech sector MORE » | |
| 14 | John Tory | Mayor | City of Toronto | Put the country’s biggest city back on track MORE » |
| 15 | Karen McKibbin | President | Nordstrom Canada | Setting a new standard for customer service MORE » |
| 16 | Bruce Flatt | CEO | Brookfield Asset Management | Wields a massive portfolio MORE » |
| 17 | Angela Strange | Partner | Andreessen Horowitz | Connects Canadian startups to Silicon Valley MORE » |
| 18 | Jim Pattison | Founder | The Jim Pattison Group | Proves age is just a number MORE » |
| 19 | Jeffrey Orr | President & CEO | Power Financial Corp. | The Demarais family’s chosen one MORE » |
| 20 | David Thomson | Chairman | Thomson Reuters | Bringing the Thomson name to new frontiers MORE » |
| 21 | Sarah Irving | EVP & Chief Brand Officer | Irving Oil | A scion in the making MORE » |
| 22 | Galen G. Weston | President | Loblaw Cos. Ltd. | Commands a growing retail empire MORE » |
| 23 | Shane Smith | Co-Founder & CEO | Vice Media | Tearing down the old media establishment MORE » |
| 24 | Ryan Holmes | Founder & CEO | Hootsuite Media Inc. | Showing Vancouver can compete with Silicon Valley MORE » |
| 25 | Bruce Heyman | U.S. Ambassador to Canada | Strengthening U.S.-Canada Relations MORE » | |
| 26 | Dave Mowat | President & CEO | ATB Financial | At the centre of Alberta’s petro politics MORE » |
| 27 | John Chen | CEO | BlackBerry | Gave us a reason to root for BlackBerry MORE » |
| 28 | Frank McKenna | Deputy Chair | TD Bank Group | Has a direct line to business and government MORE » |
| 29 | Markus Frind | Founder | Plenty of Fish | Putting his fortune back into business MORE » |
| 30 | Frank Giustra | Financier & Philanthropist | Believes mining will rise again MORE » | |
| 31 | Guy Laurence | President & CEO | Rogers Communications Inc. | Upending the telecommunications sector MORE » |
| 32 | Ed Clark | Premier’s Business Advisor | Province of Ontario | Accomplished the impossible in our biggest province MORE » |
| 33 | Elyse Allan | President & CEO | GE Canada | Influencing the future of major industries MORE » |
| 34 | Daryl Katz | Founder | Katz Group | Re-making downtown Edmonton MORE » |
| 35 | Darren Entwistle | President & CEO | Telus Communications Co. | Returned to finish the job MORE » |
| 36 | Iain Klugman | CEO | Communitech | Teaches big business to think like startups again MORE » |
| 37 | Stewart Butterfield | Founder | Slack | Changed the way offices work MORE » |
| 38 | Michael Sabia | CEO | Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec | Throws his weight behind Quebec business MORE » |
| 39 | Calvin Helin | President | Eagle Spirit Energy | Secured First Nations support for pipelines MORE » |
| 40 | Dominic Barton | Global Managing Director | McKinsey & Co. | Advises the world’s top CEOs MORE » |
| 41 | Kirstine Stewart | VP, North American Media | Helps women discover their leadership potential MORE » | |
| 42 | Wes Hall | Founder & CEO | Kingsdale Shareholder Services | Navigates high-stakes boardroom battles MORE » |
| 43 | Marc-André Blanchard | CEO | McCarthy Tétrault | Keeps Big Law fresh MORE » |
| 44 | Jos Schmitt | President & CEO | Aequitas Innovations Inc. | Bringing change to capital markets MORE » |
| 45 | Victor Dodig | CEO | Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Gives competitors a reason to fear CIBC MORE » |
| 46 | Wally Smith | President | Dairy Farmers of Canada | Protects Big Dairy’s turf MORE » |
| 47 | Garry Reece | Mayor | Lax Kw'alaams Band | Could make or break LNG MORE » |
| 48 | Ann Cavoukian | Executive Director | Privacy & Big Data Institute, Ryerson University | Tells business how to keep data safe MORE » |
| 49 | Benoit Daignault | CEO | Export Development Canada | Pushes businesses to go abroad MORE » |
| 50 | Imran Amed | Founder | Business of Fashion | Built a huge following in a $1 trillion industry MORE » |
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