Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation
Supporting Canada’s Large Employers Through the COVID-19 Pandemic
CDEV established Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC) in 2020 to assist in the development of the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF) program with the Department of Finance, to allow Canada’s large employers to remain solvent during the COVID-19 pandemic and support tens of thousands of working Canadians.
Over $7 billion in committed loan facilities were provided to Canada’s large employers to weather the economic crisis due to the pandemic to protect Canadian jobs and businesses, thereby promoting economic recovery. CEEFC also provided loans to Canadian airlines to reimburse Canadians for flights canceled during the pandemic.
With the program having successfully accomplished its objectives, CEEFC is no longer accepting new LEEFF loan applications, and the corporation continues to work closely with existing borrowers to ensure solvency, repayment of the facilities and a return to pre-pandemic operating levels.
Since the inception of the program, $4.2 billion in loan commitments have been repaid, cancelled, or expired. The LEEFF program has incurred no lending losses to date.
Major Beneficiaries
2021 – Air Canada
- ^$500 million equity investment
- ^$4 billion general facility (terminated in Nov 2021)
- ^$1.4 billion facility for air travel voucher reimbursement
2021-22 – Air Transat
- ^$540 million general facility
- ^$350 million facility for air travel voucher reimbursement
2021 – Sunwing Airlines
- ^$350 million general facility
- ^General facility fully repaid in 2023
- ^$100 million facility for air travel voucher reimbursement
2021 – Porter Airlines
- ^$250 million general facility
- ^$20 million facility for air travel voucher reimbursement
2021 – GoodLife Fitness
- ^$310 million facility
- ^Fully repaid in 2021
2020 – Conuma Resources
- ^$120 million facility
- ^Fully repaid in 2023
2020 – Gateway Casinos
- ^$200 million facility
- ^Fully repaid in 2021
Executive Leadership Team
Meet the leader who is helping to drive the business forward.
Bruno Lemay
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bruno Lemay Montreal, Québec
CFA, MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer
Montreal, Québec
Mr. Lemay has over 25 years of experience as an executive and corporate banker, with deep expertise in corporate lending. Prior to joining Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC) in 2024, he had a long and successful career at Bank of Montreal, where he was most recently Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking Montreal for BMO Capital Markets. He was responsible for leading and managing the lending practice, from structuring underwritten or arranged bank facilities to loan participations, risk assessment, and minimizing loan losses.
He is recognized for his strong leadership skills, talent development, as well as the success in the growth of the corporate banking division under his leadership.
Reporting directly to the Board of Directors of CEEFC, Mr. Lemay works closely with Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) and the Department of Finance in providing leadership and overall responsibility for the CEEFC loan portfolio and business.
Bruno has an MBA and BBA from Laval University and is a CFA charter holder.
CEEFC Board of Directors
Our independent Board of Directors provide governance, strategic guidance and deep financial and business expertise.
Sandra Rosch
Chair of the Board
Sandra Rosch Toronto, Ontario
MBA, ICD.D
Executive Vice President and Director
Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation
Toronto, Ontario
Ms. Rosch is an experienced restructuring and financial advisor who has played a leadership role in complex assignments in diverse industries. She is currently Executive Vice President and a Director of Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation. Ms. Rosch served as President of Stonecrest Capital Inc., an independent Canadian restructuring firm, until December 2018. Previously, Sandra worked for 17 years as an investment banker with two of Canada’s largest investment banks.
Ms. Rosch has been a director of Canada Development Investment Corporation since 2015 serving on the boards and various committees of several of its subsidiaries. She is currently Chair of Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation.
Ms. Rosch is a member and past director of the Turnaround Management Association, Toronto Chapter. She holds the ICD.D designation and earned a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and an MBA from Ivey Business School at Western University.
Barry Pollock
Barry Pollock Toronto, Ontario
CPA, CA, BBA, MBA
Independent Director
Toronto, Ontario
Mr. Pollock is a highly accomplished banking professional who is recognized as a strategic thinker, strong team player and consensus builder. He retired as Managing Director and Global Head of Corporate Banking from one of the major Canadian banks where he was responsible for an $80 billion loan portfolio and oversaw a team of 150 professionals.
Through his 32-year banking career Mr. Pollock gained extensive experience in risk assessment, decision-making, policy development, governance and conflict analysis. Reflecting his extensive credit/risk experience and track record of independent judgement and risk/reward decision-making, Barry was a member of various risk committees, setting policy and identifying and evaluating exposures. His experience spans virtually all industry sectors and includes corporate lending, project finance, structured finance, syndication and restructuring.
Mr. Pollock also leads a non-profit board and is a member of the Independent Review Committee for a leading mutual fund company. He is a CPA, CA and has a BBA and MBA from York University.
Nathalie Bernier
Chair of the Audit Committee
Nathalie Bernier Montreal, Quebec
FCPA, FCA
Independent Director
Montreal, Quebec
Ms. Bernier is a board member with strong strategic capabilities recognized for developing a clear vision and understanding how to deliver its execution. She has held senior roles in Global organizations such as Senior Vice-President Strategy and Business Planning, CFO and Managing Partner in large multi-services professional firm. Ms. Bernier understands and has experience with transformations and innovation in period of upheaval, and with the implementation of innovative strategies. Inspirational leader with managerial courage. Nathalie is recognized as a trusted partner for developing long and lasting mutually beneficial relationships with all key stakeholders.
From August 2015 to September 2019, she served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Strategic and Business Planning of Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a large Canadian pension investment manager. Prior to this role, Ms. Bernier has spent nearly 30 years as an Audit and Advisory Partner at Arthur Andersen LLP and KPMG from 1986 to 2015, including serving as Regional Managing Partner (Quebec) and as a member of KPMG’s Canadian Leadership team.
Ms. Bernier is currently a director of Bausch & Lomb Corporation, a US and Canadian public traded company, where she serves as a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Science and Technology Committee. Ms. Bernier also currently serves as Chairperson of the Risk Committee and member of the Audit Committee of RF Capital Group Inc., a publicly traded company. Ms. Bernier is also Chairperson of the board of United Way of Greater Montreal Foundation, a charitable organization and served on other not-for-profit boards including the Montréal Board of Trade, United Way of Greater Montréal and on the advisory board of the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University.
Ms. Bernier has received several awards including Canada’s CFO of the Year and Québec’s CFO of the Year from the Financial Executives International Canada and Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100. Ranked Number 1 of the Top 10 Women in Business in Canada according to Business Review Canada.
Jennifer Reynolds
Jennifer Reynolds Toronto, Ontario
MBA, ICD.D
Chief Executive Officer
Women Corporate Directors Foundation
Toronto, Ontario
Ms. Reynolds is a CEO of Women Corporate Directors Foundation – the world’s largest network of women corporate board directors, with more than 2500 members serving on more than 8,500 public and private boards around the globe.
Ms. Reynolds’ 25-year career in the financial services industry has included senior roles in investment banking, venture capital, and global risk management. Prior to joining WCD, Jennifer served as the President & CEO of Toronto Finance International (TFI), a public-private partnership which promotes and develops Canada’s financial services sector and serves as the international representative for the Toronto financial centre. Prior to joining TFI, Jennifer was the President & CEO of Women in Capital Markets (WCM), Canada’s largest industry association and advocacy group for women in the financial sector.
Ms. Reynolds is a Director on the Board of BF&M Insurance Group Ltd, the Board of Agrinam Acquisition Corporation, and the Board of Women’s College Hospital Foundation. Jennifer is the Co-Chair of the UN convened Financial Centres for Sustainability (FC4S) network and also serves on the Advisory Council for the Institute of Sustainable Finance. In 2015 and 2017, she was named a Women's Executive Network (WXN) Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner.
Jennifer is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Women's Leadership program, and she received her MBA from McGill University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Economics and Political Science from McGill University. Jennifer also holds the Institute of Corporate Directors Designation, ICD.D.
Al Hamdani
Ex Officio
Al Hamdani Ottawa, Ontario
CFA, MBA
Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer
Ottawa, Ontario
Mr. Hamdani has over 25 years of financial services experience spanning areas including project and corporate finance, enterprise risk management and transformation.
Prior to joining CDEV in 2020, Mr. Hamdani held several senior leadership roles at Export Development Canada (“EDC”) including Global Head of Structured and Project Finance where he led the buildout of a new infrastructure financing business for EDC and originated and negotiated limited recourse financings across various industries in numerous countries across the world. He also served as Chief Risk Officer where he oversaw EDC’s $120+ billion debt, insurance and equity portfolio and led a major transformation of EDC’s risk and governance practices working closely with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions . Earlier in his career, Al had roles at CIBC Capital Markets supporting asset-backed debt financings in the real estate sector as well as at the Bank of Canada supporting financial sector research.
Outside of CDEV, Mr. Hamdani serves on the Board of Governors of Carleton University, the Queensway Carleton Hospital, and various other not-for-profit organizations in Ottawa.
Mr. Hamdani is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has an MBA from the Rotman School of Management.
Bruno Lemay
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bruno Lemay Montreal, Québec
CFA, MBA
President and Chief Executive Officer
Montreal, Québec
Mr. Lemay has over 25 years of experience as an executive and corporate banker, with deep expertise in corporate lending. Prior to joining Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC) in 2024, he had a long and successful career at Bank of Montreal, where he was most recently Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking Montreal for BMO Capital Markets. He was responsible for leading and managing the lending practice, from structuring underwritten or arranged bank facilities to loan participations, risk assessment, and minimizing loan losses.
He is recognized for his strong leadership skills, talent development, as well as the success in the growth of the corporate banking division under his leadership.
Reporting directly to the Board of Directors of CEEFC, Mr. Lemay works closely with Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) and the Department of Finance in providing leadership and overall responsibility for the CEEFC loan portfolio and business.
Bruno has an MBA and BBA from Laval University and is a CFA charter holder.
Jim McArdle
Jim McArdle Ottawa, Ontario
President
Jim McArdle Governance Consulting
Ottawa, Ontario
Mr. McArdle is an experienced Governance expert. His varied experience in private practice and the corporate world help Boards of Directors and Management with a variety of Governance related matters. Jim has spent over 10 years in private practice in Toronto and 25 years in senior positions with Export Development Canada (EDC), a federal Crown Corporation.
Mr. McArdle was Secretary of EDC’s Board of Directors for 17 years as well as a Senior Vice President for 12 years. His roles as Senior Vice President at EDC included being Chief Advisor to the President, as well as being responsible for a wide variety of aspects of EDC. These included (i) Government and Stakeholder Relations, (ii) Communications, (iii) Corporate Strategy and Planning, (iv) Corporate Social Responsibility, (v) Legal Services, and (vi) the creation of the Enterprise Portfolio Management Office at EDC. Jim was also responsible for EDC’s Legislative Reviews, Special Examinations by the Auditor General of Canada, and the establishment of FinDev Canada, a Crown corporation created as a subsidiary of EDC, the mandate of which is to conduct development financing in emerging economies.
Mr. McArdle is a graduate of Western University and Columbia University’s Senior Executive Program as well as the Canadian Securities Course. He is currently a Faculty Member of the Canada School of Public Service and has been facilitating the Orientation Course for Crown Corporation Directors since 2015.