The man behind Canoe joins Torstar

As of Jan. 27, Wayne Parrish will become SVP of editorial for Torstar. He succeeds Fredric Karen, who held the position for just over a year before heading back to his native Stockholm to hold a similar position with media company Schibstead. At Torstar, he will guide the company’s outlets along their digital transformation journey.

As a member of the executive leadership team, Parrish will report directly to CEO John Boynton, with an indirect report to Neil Oliver, president of daily news brands, and Ian Oliver, president of community news brands and operations. Reporting directly to Parrish will be Toronto Star editor Irene Gentle, Hamilton Spectator EIC Paul Berton and several other directors and heads of brands. Prior to joining Torstar, Parrish worked in various innovation and operation roles at companies such as Postmedia Network, Quebecor and Sun Media. During his time with Quebecor, he helped launch news and information portal Canoe.

EQ Works makes a string of hires

In late 2019, Toronto-based digital marketing and data company EQ Works hired Chris O’Grady, senior director of operations, to manage its operations team. Since then, four members have been added to his team.

Vijay Singh (formerly with Juice Mobile) and Jacob Amenyo (formerly with Walmart Media Group and Mediative) will both serve as ad operations and campaign managers. The operations team has also added two data analysts, Kateryna Dalakova and Mohamed Aamir Khan, to support both data operations and the company’s Locus product.

Quebecor makes moves in partnerships, content

Quebec-based media giant Quebecor has made several senior-level moves.

Sébastien Joncas, who was on the TVA Sports sales team for three years, has been promoted to director of advertising and partnerships with TVA Sports. Prior to Quebecor, Joncas had stints at Airtime Television Sales, Bell Media (both CTV and Astral) and Musique Plus.

In addition, Jean Lemieux, president of Guide de l’Auto (which Quebecor acquired in 2018) is now the director of automotive expertise. With the new title comes new responsibilities, as Lemieux will head up strategy for the entire automotive category across Quebecor’s multiplatform media properties.

Michael Drolet has also been added as director of sales and special projects, while Christine Maestracci has been promoted to VP of acquisitions and international distribution.