Edelman Canada has opened an office in Ottawa, putting an end to a dubious distinction for the company in Canada.
Until now, Canada was the only G7 country in which Edelman did not have an office in the national capital, says Bob Richardson, executive vice-president and national practice lead, public affairs at Edelman Canada in Toronto. “This was the last piece of the G7 puzzle.”
Having a presence in a G7 capital “is important because we have a number of global clients to serve and also it’s a market that we think is ripe for a lot of business expansion.”
The new office adds to Edelman’s existing offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Edelman now has 250 employees across Canada.
Richardson says Ottawa is comprised primarily, but not exclusively, of boutique agencies and Edelman can provide a large, global, full-service offering. “For large, global firms we will be able to offer services that, frankly, some of the smaller boutiques won’t be able to do. I know that, having run a smaller firm before.”
The Ottawa office is starting off with four employees and will be assisted by the firm’s Toronto team as it grows.
It’s being headed by Darcy Walsh, senior vice-president and general manager, who joins Edelman after eight-years at Hill + Knowlton Ottawa. Most recently, Walsh was national director of business development at H+K and he also built and led the agency’s procurement group. Before H+K, Walsh was director of parliamentary affairs in the office of the Minister of Public Works.
Richardson was previously president of the Toronto-based public affairs company Devon Group, which was acquired by Edelman last year. “Edelman had a very limited public affairs offering prior to that,” he says, but the Devon acquisition and expansion of the public affairs team across the country has changed the situation significantly.
Richardson says there was demand from existing Edelman clients that it develop a public affairs presence at the federal level in the Ottawa market.
Over time, Edelman can make a play for clients in Ottawa’s large tech community, Richardson says, noting the firm has a large tech practice in Toronto. “We think there is a really good opportunity to build a great business.”
Edelman has also hired Courtney Glen as vice-president, public affairs in its Toronto office. Glen has more than 10 years of experience in communications and public affairs. She was most recently a senior consultant at StrategyCorp , deputy director of communications for the Toronto mayoralty campaign of John Tory and worked on his transition team.
In addition, Paul Di Ianni has joined the Toronto office as account director, public affairs. Di Ianni has almost 10 years of political experience at both the municipal and provincial levels. He has worked on numerous municipal campaigns, and has served a minister and two premiers in Ontario, most recently as Premier Kathleen Wynne’s director of tour.
