News releases

(Ottawa, ON) – With thousands of dollars worth of shipping, direct marketing and advertisements as prizes, a group of leading experts in commerce, the digital economy and the postal industry have been recruited to select the finalists and winners of the first Canada Post E-commerce Innovation Awards.

The judging panel includes Facebook Canada’s Managing Director, Jordan Banks; PayPal Canada’s Managing Director, Darrell MacMullin; Dr. Robert W. Helsley, Dean of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia; Denyse Chicoyne, a recognized retail industry expert; Jacques Côté, Canada Post’s Physical Delivery Network Group President and René Desmarais, Senior Vice-President, Parcels for Canada Post.

The competition will recognize successful innovation in e-commerce and help to boost Canada’s digital economy. Finalists will be announced next week with winners being revealed at a gala event in Toronto on October 16.

Jordan Banks, Managing Director, Facebook Canada

As the managing director of Facebook Canada, Mr. Banks is responsible for leading and managing all of Facebook’s commercial operations in Canada. Since 2000, Mr. Banks has played a leading role in a number of high-profile companies including Thunder Road Capital, JumpTV and eBay Canada, which he helped launched in 2000. He sits on a number of boards including the Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo and actively mentors a number of entrepreneurial careers and businesses.

Denyse Chicoyne, financial expert

A former member of Canada Post’s Board of Directors, Denyse Chicoyne acts as a corporate director for several publicly listed companies including The TMX Group, Richelieu Hardware and DK Income Corporation. Before becoming a corporate director, Ms. Chicoyne was a senior analyst for BMO Nesbitt Burns, McNeil Mantha and Wood Gundy, and a portfolio manager and senior analyst at Caisse de dépot et placement du Quebec. Holder of a Master’s degree in Business Administration from McGill University and the CFA designation from the CFA Institute, Ms. Chicoyne is viewed as a thought leader for the valuation of retail companies.

Robert W. Helsley, Dean, Sauder School of Business, UBC

Robert W. Helsley was named Dean of the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia on July 1, 2012. Prior to his appointment as Dean, Professor Helsley served as Senior Associate Dean, Faculty and Research at Sauder from 2002 to 2008, and as Director of Research, Director of the UBC Centre for Real Estate and Urban Economics, and Chair of the Urban Land Economics Division. Before joining UBC, Professor Helsley was a Professor in the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley where he held the Chair in Real Estate Development and served as co-chair of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

Darrell MacMullin, Managing Director, PayPal Canada

Darrell MacMullin was appointed Managing Director of PayPal Canada in 2008 having previously held the position of Head of Merchant Services for the company. He is responsible for all of PayPal Canada's operations and delivering a faster, safer and more secure way for the company's 4 million Canadian customers to pay and get paid online. His mandate also includes supporting the company's hundreds of thousands of Canadian merchants by providing companies with simple, secure and affordable ways to get paid online. Prior to his role at PayPal, Darrell was Director of Marketing for eBay Canada and Chapters Online.

Jacques Côté, Group President, Physical Delivery Network, Canada Post

Mr. Côté was appointed to this newly created position in July 2011. In this role, Mr. Côté is responsible for all aspects of the physical delivery of Canada Post products from marketing to the collection of revenues. Mr. Côté was previously Canada Post’s Chief Operating Officer, a position he had held since 2005. Before joining Canada Post in 1993, Mr. Côté held financial positions with Northern Telecom.

René Desmarais, Senior Vice-President, Parcels, Canada Post

Mr. Desmarais joined Canada Post in June 2012 and is responsible for ensuring growth in the Parcels sector by developing new strategies to increase profitability and maintain a competitive service with a focus on e-commerce. Prior to joining Canada Post, Mr. Desmarais spent four years as President and CEO of Yves Rocher, North America, before which he held executive positions with JMF Transport, Astral Media Outdoor, Publicis Canada, CFCF (CTV Network Montreal), J.M. Smucker Company and Yoplait Yogurt.

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Canada Post is the country’s leading provider of business-to-consumer delivery. By reaching more than 15.1 million addresses, and operating the country’s largest retail network of nearly 6,500 post offices, Canada Post is ideally positioned to offer affordable and reliable service, with convenient pick-up and return options. Together, Canada Post, Purolator Inc. (Canada’s largest logistics company) and SCI Logistics offer market-leading end-to-end solutions for e-commerce shippers by leveraging the assets and expertise of the Canada Post Group of Companies.