Tim Cestnick, FCA, FCPA, CPA(IL) CFP, TEP
Tim Cestnick enjoys a reputation as one of Canada’s most respected experts and public speakers in the areas of tax and personal finance. Tim is Co-Founder & CEO of Our Family Office Inc., one of Canada’s leading wealth advisory firms to affluent families. Our Family Office was named by the international Family Wealth Awards as the best new Multi-Family Office firm in North America in 2021.
Tim consults and speaks in all areas of personal finance. In addition to his CA designation, he is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Certified Public Accountant (Illinois), a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and a Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP).
Tim’s national speaking profile is confirmed by his position as a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail’s Report on Business, Canada’s national newspaper. He has authored 18 best-selling books and is a regular contributor and on-air personality on radio and television. He appears regularly on CTV, CBC Newsworld, BNN, and the best-known money programs in the country.
Tim and his wife Carolyn have three children and two dogs. All are hockey fanatics – especially the dogs.
KAREN COOPER
Ms. Cooper practices charity and not-for-profit law with an emphasis on corporate and tax issues with Karen Cooper Professional Corporation. Ms. Cooper was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995 and became counsel for the Department of Justice in tax litigation before entering into private practice in 2005.
In addition to her considerable legal experience, Ms. Cooper was a sessional lecturer at Carleton University School of Business teaching Business Law and is currently a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Common Law. Ms. Cooper also served as a Director and Chair of many non-profit boards, including presently as Chair of the Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre, Governance Chair of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award – Canada, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Centre for Land Conservation.
She is a member of the Standards Council at Imagine Canada and has been recognised as a leading expert in field of charity and not-for-profit law by Lexpert, The Best Lawyers in Canada, and Chambers and Partners.
ELENA HOFFSTEIN, MA, JD, TEP
Elena has a practice focused in all areas of estate planning, family business succession planning, corporate reorganization both pre and post mortem planning. She also advises on cross border and international matters, will, trusts and marriage contracts. Elena is also a recognized leader in charity law advising both charities and donors on legislative, tax and regulatory matters and on tax effective charitable gifting.
Elena frequently advises clients on family business succession and planning, corporate reorganizations. Having regards to different legal and tax regimes, Elena ensures that multijurisdictional property and family business interests are protected.
Representing clients in both contentious and non-contentious estate litigation matters, Elena assists with will challenges, mental capacity matters, applications for advice, direction of the court and the passing of fiduciary accounts.
ruth mackenzie
In her time at CAGP, Ruth has led the organization’s renewal and rebranding, has been influential in promoting the vital role of professional advisors play in amplifying philanthropy, and has positioned CAGP as an authoritative voice for philanthropy in the charitable sector and with government.
Prior to CAGP, Ruth spent 12 years Volunteer Canada, for 7 years serving as its President & CEO. Ruth began her career at the Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division, and later at the Nova Scotia Division where she served as Director of Volunteer Development. She has also worked at the grassroots level, in the environmental sector and supporting adults with intellectual disabilities.
Ruth is also a committed volunteer, and has served on many boards and committees locally and at the national and international levels. She served on the Governor General’s Volunteer and Philanthropy Advisory Committee from 2012-2015, and currently Chairs the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Grant Review Team in eastern Ontario, and is the Chair of the Board of CanadaHelps. In 2015 Ruth was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in acknowledgement of her impact on volunteerism, and received the Ontario Volunteer Service Award in 2020.
THERESA L.M. MAN, B.Sc., M.Mus., LL.B., LL.M.
A partner with Carters, Ms. Man practices in the area of charity and not-for-profit law, is ranked by Lexpert, Best Lawyers in Canada, and Chambers and Partners, and received the 2022 OBA AMS/John Hodgson Award of Excellence in Charity and Not-For-Profit Law.
She is a co-author of Corporate and Practice Manual for Charitable and Not-for-Profit Corporations published by Thomson Reuters. She is a former member of the Technical Issues Working Group of the CRA Charities Directorate, a member and former chair of the CBA Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section and the OBA Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section. Ms. Man has also written on charity and taxation issues for various publications.
Ilse Treurnicht
Former: CEO – MaRS Discovery District, Toronto CEO – Primaxis Technology Ventures
Director/Advisor: Current: North South Ventures, Triphase Accelerator Corp, Public Policy Forum, Equality Fund, Advisory Committee on Open Banking, Global Innovation Council, Impact Canada
Former: Advisory Council on Economic Growth, Canadian Task Force on Social Finance
Education: BSc, MSc in Chemistry – Stellenbosch University DPhil in Chemistry (Rhodes Scholar) – Oxford University
SHARMILA KHARE
In 1995, Ms. Sharmila Khare was recruited to the Federal Public Service through the Accelerated Economist Training Program (now the Advanced Policy Analyst Program). In 1997, Sharmila joined the Department of Finance. During her time with the Department of Finance, Sharmila spent one year as Assistant Departmental Secretary in the Deputy Minister's Office and four years as Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Within the Tax Policy Branch, she held progressively more senior positions, and in 2009, she was named Chief of Charities, a position that allowed her to pursue her deep passion for issues facing the charitable and non-profit sector.
Sharmila joined the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in May 2015 as Director of the Policy, Planning and Legislation Division in the Charities Directorate, where she helped advance many Ministerial priorities including the launch of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector. She is currently co-chair of the Executive Group Network at the CRA. On May 16, 2022 Sharmila was appointed to the position of Director General, Charities Directorate.
Sharmila holds a Combined Honours B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Glendon College and a M.A. in Economics from McMaster University. She has completed additional graduate diplomas and certificates in public administration, public sector leadership and international development including a Non-Profit Management Certificate from Mount Royal University.
Robert Hayhoe, LL.M., TEP
Robert Hayhoe specializes in advising organizations in and supporters of the charities and non-profit sector in Canada. Certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a specialist in Tax Law and ranked by Chambers, Best Lawyers and Lexpert, Robert provides both general counsel and specialized tax advice to charities and not-for-profit organizations across Canada.
Robert advises clients on the tax law governing charitable registration and non-profit status. He has experienced dealing with the complex law governing foreign expenditures and activities by Canadian charities, and with establishing structures to permit foreign charities to work and fundraise in Canada. Robert frequently advises charities and their donors on structuring gifts to maximize benefit to donors and minimize risk to charities. He is the principal author of the Charities Taxation: Policy and Practice textbook.
