EY Canada names Alycia Calvert as CEO

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Ernst & Young LLP Canada has named Alycia Calvert as its chair and chief executive officer – the first woman to hold the top job in Canada at any of the four large global accounting firms.

A 25-year EY employee, Ms. Calvert served as the firm’s chief operating officer and managing partner for Canada since July, 2022, and the managing partner for clients and accounts since April, 2019. She’s been on the firm’s executive committee for 10 years.

Ms. Calvert ascends to the position in July, replacing Jad Shimaly, who was named one of four global managing partners in March by EY’s incoming CEO, Janet Truncale.

EY is one of the Big Four global accounting firms, along with Deloitte LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and KPMG LLP. EY’s major clients among Canadian public companies include Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., Manulife Financial Corp. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

EY’s global firm hatched a plan in September, 2022, to split its auditing and consulting businesses into separate companies, with partners and employees of the tax division spread between the two. But after pushback from partners in the United States, EY abandoned the plan in April, 2023. (EY Canada, like its peers, is part of an international network of firms that are legally separate but directed by one global leadership team.)

Ms. Calvert’s specialty is taxation. She was EY’s managing partner for tax services for Canada for five years and the national leader for transaction taxes for two years prior to that.

She served on the board of the Canadian Tax Foundation for four years, including a one-year stint as chair, was a member of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada’s tax advisory board for five years, and spent two years on the board of the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society in Calgary.

She has also been on the board of the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital for four years and currently serves as treasurer and chair of the board’s business and audit committee.

She was named as a Fellow by CPA Ontario in 2018, a designation that recognizes CPAs “who have rendered exceptional service to the profession and in their communities.”

In a statement, Mr. Shimaly described Ms. Calvert as “a visionary with deep expertise on the risks and opportunities shaping the business agenda of Canada’s corporate sector.”

Mr. Shimaly, who has been CEO since 2018, will have the title of global managing partner – client service with the task of “ensuring consistency of delivery and teaming across the organization,” EY said.