New board chair and vice-chair for CPA Canada
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2019 - Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) today announced the appointment of a new chair and vice-chair for the organization’s board of directors.
Amanda Whitewood, FCPA, FCMA, is the new chair and Richard Olfert, FCPA, FCA, assumed the role of vice-chair following CPA Canada’s Annual and Special Meeting in Fredericton on September 18.
Whitewood earned her accounting designation in 1998 and joined the CPA Canada Board of Directors in September 2017. Previously the vice-chair, she succeeds Terry LeBlanc, FCPA, FCGA, who completed his term of office after serving six years on the board, including two as chair.
“I am pleased to have Amanda as my successor. She is fully committed and engaged, and during her time as vice-chair she has offered tremendous insight to me and the board,” says LeBlanc. “I am confident that her experience and forward-thinking approach to our profession’s leadership will serve us well.”
Originally from British Columbia, Whitewood spent her formative years in Montreal and now lives in Halifax. With more than 25 years of leadership experience in the healthcare, government and post-secondary education sectors, Whitewood currently serves as the chief operating officer of the IWK Health Centre. The IWK is an internationally recognized academic health sciences centre, caring for women, children, youth and families across Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, and providing sub-specialty care to residents of Newfoundland & Labrador.
"CPA Canada is charting a path for success through projects such as Foresight, an ambitious consultation effort to help define the future of the accounting profession," says Whitewood. "Being future focused helps to ensure that Canadian CPAs continue to provide the skills required by the marketplace and strategically help organizations create value.”
As the new vice-chair, Olfert brings 30 years of world-class financial insight to companies across Canada in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Olfert is Deloitte Canada’s Managing Partner, Regulatory, Quality, Risk & Reputation. From 2013 to 2016, he was the firm’s Managing Partner, Audit. He leads The Deloitte Institute for Audit Innovation and Quality, a destination for sound-thinking on audit quality and perspectives on how audits should be performed in future.
Within the accounting profession, Olfert is a longstanding volunteer on behalf of CPA Manitoba, having chaired CPA education-related organizations nationally and in western Canada. He was awarded the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation in 2009 and attained the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors in 2017.
"I am honoured to serve on CPA Canada’s board as vice-chair and support the profession to meet the challenges and opportunities of today’s ever-evolving economy,” says Olfert. “I look forward to working with Amanda, my board colleagues, CPA employees and others to position the accounting profession for success.”