September 14-15, 2024: The International Centre

Sanchita is the Principal Lawyer at Cypher Law specializing in areas of Franchising, Real Estate and Corporate/Commercial Work. Sanchita has extension experience within the Franchising Industry as she led the Legal Global Franchising team at RBI - one of the biggest QSR Franchisor's in the world!

Sanchita is a great source of knowledge for all things Franchising!

Mohamed brings 26 years of insurance experience in both commercial and personal lines experience.

His experience includes Leadership, Sales and Underwriting for leading insurance companies and brokerage such as Royal Sun alliance and Marsh Canada over that time.  Over the last 15 years he has helped placed insurance policies for both publicly traded and privately owned companies in Canada across many different sectors.

In May 2022 he joined TDI to help launch a commercial lines product offering on a national basis as Senior Manager Sales and Service Distribution for small business insurance.   During this time operations were ramped up to hire approx.. 40 insurance advisors to provide small business insurance product solutions for business owners across Canada.   His contributions to the business included acting as a subject matter expert, assist in the development of underwriting, pricing and product development while also helping to maintain a culture of risk management.

In March 2024 Mohamed has transitioned over to our Affinity Market Group as a Business Development Manager with a new mission to help the business grow organically through existing partnerships and to help TD enter new market segments to promote their product offerings.

Sidrah is an experienced insurance professional currently working at TD Insurance as a Senior Manager on Acquisition Strategy for Small Business Insurance. She is a CPA with over 10 years of experience in the insurance industry across Australia and Canada, working on both personal and commercial insurance products. She is a strong people leader with expertise across business partnering (claims and portfolio), strategic initiatives, acquisition and performance reporting

Gary’s 30+ years of experience in the Canadian franchising industry makes him an industry-leading and much-sought-after consultant for people that are considering franchise ownership. Having been on every side of the franchise business table, he has bought single, multi-unit, and master franchises for himself, brought US franchise concepts to Canada, helped companies to become franchisors, and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs. Gary and his team at FranNet have helped over 2,000 prospective franchisee clients to fully explore their self-employment options. Gary guides his clients through an in-depth research process for the businesses they are considering, including coaching them on who to talk to and providing the right questions to ask to ensure they have as much information as possible to make an informed YES or NO decision.

Gary has published over 250 articles on entrepreneurship, franchise ownership, and industry trends. His first book, The Unstoppable Franchisee: 7 Drivers of Next-level Growth is about how to achieve next- level growth and top performance in franchise ownership. For this book, Gary has done extensive research with top-performing franchisees whose profitability ranged from mid-six figures to mid-seven figures annually. He’s also interviewed numerous franchisor CEOs for this critical subject.

NHT Chartered Professional Accountants is a full life cycle accounting and Consulting firm offering tax, corporate and advisory services to investors and small and mid-size businesses. We are truly a one-stop shop for all our clients' business needs, offering dedicated and personal services. We advise investors to set up proper structures to minimize taxes and to protect their assets.

We have a successful track record of 32 years of experience representing and defending investors and businesses with CRA.

LaMar Vandusen has over 25 years of business, entrepreneur and mangerial experience. LaMar has managed several successful corporations and has lead sales and revenue over $10 Million. For the last 13 years LaMar has provide finance and accounting consulting services for hundred of businessess across Canada.

Terry has been in his current role with TD Bank as National Manager, Franchise Banking for 10 years.  As National Manager, Terry is one of TD's franchise industry experts and is responsible for growing TD's franchise banking portfolio while ensuring that franchisee customers are provided with legendary customer service.  Terry enjoys collaborating with both franchisors and franchisees to assist them with all of their credit and Banking needs.

Colin Sprake is a global authority on assisting companies to grow and scale from multiple 6-figures to 7-figures, 8-figures and beyond. He is also a full-time investor and heavily involved in mergers and acquisitions. He currently owns 14 businesses one of which is on its way to becoming his first billion-dollar business in less than 24-months! He has coached and mentored over 110,000 business owners and knows the vital components to growing a massively successful business balanced with an incredible family life.

Pamela is the founder and CEO of the BizSold (Business Exchange). As an entrepreneur, Pamela has helped 1000s of companies grow. An Alumni of Western University, Pamela started the company with the vision to help business owners and entrepreneurs. With over 26+ years of experience in the business and franchise industry, Pamela can be considered one of the few entrepreneurs who have seen all types of marketing such as print, event, web, and mobile. 

Scott has extensive experience in the Canadian franchise landscape working with some of the most well-established brands in Canada and the United States. Scott began his career at Tim Hortons as a multi-unit franchise owner/operator. After ten years with Tim Hortons, Scott expanded his horizons and joined Kelsey’s as a Franchisee owner/operator.

Scott made a deliberate move to apply his talent and knowledge to corporate operations, joining companies such as Sunoco, McDonald’s, Medicine Shoppe/Rexall Inc., Luxottica Retail and Pearle Vision Canada. From 2014 to 2017, Scott held the position of Vice President of Operations at Mary Brown’s Famous Chicken & Taters.

Greg's practice focuses primarily on assisting Canadian and International franchisors. He works across a broad spectrum of service sectors including quick service restaurants, retail, hospitality, education, manufacturing and technology, with their business needs.

He works with franchisors, master franchise owners, franchisees and muti-unit franchisees. He helps franchisors expand across Canada and internationally and provides valuable advice on brand protection and on the myriad of laws regulating franchising.

He serves as both a lawyer and strategic advisor, providing reliable guidance and unfiltered advice to navigate the many convoluted legal issues that accompany franchising.

Jith Dravin is a Small Business Consultant with the City of Toronto. With two graduate degrees including an MBA, Jith has diverse experience from community building to business development to helping businesses start and scale-up. Jith is pleased to join this event to share the resources available through the City to help you start or grow your business.

Austin Rogers is the Vice-President, Private Capital Markets at Equiton who has worked in the financial industry for his entire career.. Having previously worked in one of Canada’s five big banks in both management and financial advisory roles, he also has a background in real estate, coming from a family containing multiple real estate agents and mortgage brokers. Though real estate is a family affair, his true passion lies in investing; with Equiton he gets the best of both worlds. He applies his real estate knowledge to Equiton’s Funds to provide the best experience and returns for his clients. To date, he has assisted over 500 clients grow their wealth with Equiton. Austin enjoys helping all his clients reap the benefits of private real estate investing without the hassles and headaches that come with being a landlord.

Dean is an innovator in alternative solutions for problems where most others concede to. With a long history of different methods that have helped in evolving a multitude of industries, some of them being both Cryptocurrency and Cannabis. Dean has been in the forefront of new concepts and technologies for the last few decades.