TORONTO — A&W Food Services of Canada CEO, Susan Senecal and Lightspeed founder and CEO Dax Dasilva and have been named as some of the top CEOs in the country by The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business as part of its annual CEO-of-the-Year award feature.
Five CEOs from across the country are nominated annually based on their display of leadership, innovation and vision. Senecal was named New CEO of the Year, while Dasilva was named Innovator of the Year.
Lightspeed is a cloud-based commerce platform specializing in point-of-sale systems for small and medium-sized businesses.
The award comes after a game-changing year at Lightspeed that includes the launch of Lightspeed Loyalty globally and Lightspeed Payments, as well as an IPO on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: LSPD) with a valuation of approximately $1.4 billion — the largest IPO by a Canadian technology company in nearly nine years.
“Since founding Lightspeed in 2005, Dax’s tenacity and innovative thinking have truly revolutionized the retail and hospitality fields,” says Patrick Pichette, chair of the Board of Directors, Lightspeed. “I’m delighted to congratulate him on this distinguished honour.”
Other recipients include Dani Reiss, president and CEO, Canada Goose (Global Visionary of the Year); George Cope, CEO, Bell Canada (Corporate Citizen of the Year); and Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO, Air Canada (Strategist of the Year). One of the award winners will be named overall CEO of the Year during a gala event on November 25 and be featured on the December cover of Report on Business magazine.
