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By Kevin Strain

April 28, 2026

Canada is at a pivotal moment in leadership and long-term economic development. Productivity, access to talent, and trust in our institutions will shape what happens next.

Policy debates often focus on taxes, regulation, and investment, and those are all important.

But in my experience, there is another lever we don’t talk about enough: how well our organizations are led, and the cultures those leaders build. If we want more Canadian companies to scale, compete globally, and bring the benefits back home, we need leaders who can build strong teams, set a high bar, and make decisions with clear purpose.

I’ve seen firsthand that culture is not a perk; it’s a performance driver. In many organizations, the advantage isn’t only what you sell, it’s how you work together, whether you listen well, adapt quickly, and build trust across differences.

Those capabilities compound in global markets, where customers, partners, and regulators are paying close attention. Purpose is what makes culture durable. When purpose is aligned to strategy, it helps people understand why their work matters and leads to better decisions when trade-offs are unavoidable.

I’ve also learned that a global mindset improves local performance. When leaders build the habit of learning from other markets, they raise the quality and speed of decision-making and bring new ideas and innovation back home.

Great People and Playing to Win

In 2012, I saw the power of people and culture in very tangible terms. I had just joined Sun Life’s Executive Team when our CEO at the time, Dean Connor, asked me to run our Asia business. Before I started, he gave me advice I still use today: we needed to attract and retain better talent, and we needed to stop “playing not to lose” and start “playing to win.”

Between 2012 and 2017, my focus in Asia was overwhelmingly on people and on building a winning culture. Over that period, we tripled earnings and increased the value of sales five-fold. We benefited from a supportive environment and good fortune, but the real driver was a team with clear expectations and a shared belief that we could win.

That lesson applies well beyond one company. Countries and firms that act like winners, and build the talent systems to match, tend to get better results.

Global Mindset, Local Impact

Building globally has been central to Sun Life’s resilience. Operating across markets exposes us to different customer needs, regulatory environments, and approaches to product design and service delivery. New ideas, technologies, and solutions often emerge first in one market, but their real power comes from the ability to learn quickly, adapt them, and apply what works elsewhere.

Just as important, global experience is a leadership accelerant. People grow into global leaders by navigating complexity, building judgment across cultures, and broadening their views. When those leaders return to local roles, they bring sharper perspectives, higher ambition, and a deeper understanding of what it takes to compete and win in a connected world.

For Canada, this matters. The more firms that can scale globally, the stronger our domestic capabilities, the deeper our leadership benches, and the greater our resilience at home. It also means that more of the value created abroad flows back to strengthen the Canadian economy. A global mindset doesn’t dilute local impact; done well, it amplifies it.

Great People

Attracting, retaining, and developing great people is hard work. Now more than ever, it’s work that leaders and employers cannot afford to defer. Talent decisions shape outcomes for decades, not quarters. Getting them right requires judgment, accountability, and the willingness to act early and decisively.

This is also where businesses can make the most direct difference for Canada. Governments and educators set the conditions, but employers make thousands of daily decisions that shape the talent pipeline. Partnering with post-secondary institutions to keep curricula relevant, investing seriously in on-the-job learning, and giving early‑career talent real responsibility sooner — these are all choices within our control.

I’m a strong believer in co‑op and other work‑integrated learning programs because they shorten the distance between education and meaningful work. I did a co‑op at the University of Waterloo. It helped me understand what the work really involved, and I landed my first role immediately after graduating. That experience is why we continue to partner with universities today, including through programs that support aspiring CPAs, so early‑career talent can build credentials while contributing real value.

But building talent is only half the challenge. In fast‑moving, highly competitive markets, capable teams need leaders who are prepared to deploy that talent with conviction. Hesitation is expensive. Companies that win are clear on their strategy, move with intent, and build teams who believe deeply that they can compete and succeed.

Purpose-Driven Leadership

As CEO, I’ve seen how purpose can align great people and a strong culture, especially in times of uncertainty. Purpose isn’t separate from strategy; strategy is how an organization delivers on its purpose, day in and day out.

At Sun Life, our purpose is to help clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. When purpose is clear, it becomes a source of competitive advantage, and it directs growth and provides clarity when trade‑offs are unavoidable.

In a period of economic uncertainty and rising expectations, the most successful companies will be those that deliberately align what they do best with what societies need most. That intersection, where purpose meets client outcomes, citizen well‑being, and economic resilience, is where sustainable growth is built.

Purpose also shapes leadership behaviour. It keeps leaders focused on outcomes for clients and communities not just quarterly results or personal reward. Purpose helps guide hiring, performance management, capital allocation, and decision making.

Canada’s opportunity lies in connecting these ideas. A global mindset strengthens local impact by exposing leaders and organizations to new ways of competing, innovating, and serving clients and this translates directly into stronger performance at home.

When Canadian companies scale globally, they don’t just export products and services; they develop leaders, import ideas, and reinvest skills, capital, and ambition back into the Canadian economy.

Global success is not accidental. It is built by leaders who invest early in talent, partner with educational institutions, and accelerate the move from learning to real responsibility. It is sustained by purpose‑driven leadership, where strategy and culture reinforce each other and decisions hold under pressure.

Companies that align what they do best with what clients, communities, and economies truly need are the ones that endure. Build leaders, think globally, lead with purpose. Canada will be stronger for it.

Kevin Strain is President and CEO of Sun Life Financial Inc.