Sebastian Rennie has made the move to GroupM Canada where he will serve as its first chief investment officer in the market.

Based in Toronto, Rennie will oversee media investment, trading and partnerships across all of the group’s agencies (Mindshare, Mediacom, Wavemaker and M/Six). The role is new to the Canadian market. Rennie will officially assume the position in July and report to country CEO Stuart Garvie.

On top of working with the group’s agencies, he will also collaborate with media owners, advertisers and tech vendors, driving key media investment decisions.

Rennie spent the last 11 years with GroupM Australia. During that time he worked in leadership roles with Mediacom and MEC before assuming the chief investment officer position for GroupM Australia in 2015.

Garvie said in a statement that bringing the role to Canada – and appointing Rennie – helps the local arm tackle industry shifts by giving it a strategic client advantage.

Canada is GroupM’s seventh-largest market globally.