Venture for Canada is launching a national summit focused on helping Canadian businesses transition to new owners as a large number of business owners approach retirement.
The inaugural Canada’s Succession Summit, scheduled for Oct. 17 in Calgary, will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, lenders, advisers, educators and policymakers to examine financing, tax rules, succession planning and other barriers to business ownership transfers.
Venture for Canada says thousands of small and medium-sized businesses are expected to change hands over the next five years, representing what it describes as a $300-billion opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors.
The organization says about three-quarters of Canadian business owners intend to exit their businesses over the next decade, representing more than $2 trillion in business assets.
The summit will focus in part on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, or ETA, a model in which entrepreneurs acquire and operate existing businesses rather than starting new companies.
Steven Wang, CEO of Venture for Canada, said the transition represents an opportunity to maintain Canadian ownership of established businesses while creating new avenues into entrepreneurship.
"Canada is entering one of the most significant business ownership transitions in its history," said Wang.. "At a time when we're having a national conversation about building a stronger and more resilient Canadian economy, we also need to think seriously about who will own the businesses that already power it. Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition gives us an important pathway to keep viable businesses operating, preserve Canadian ownership, and create opportunities for a new generation of entrepreneurs. As one of the organizations leading ETA education and programming in Canada, we see firsthand the growing interest from Canadians who want to pursue business ownership through acquisition. But preparing the next generation of owners is only one part of the equation. We also need the capital, advisors, policy, education, and ecosystem infrastructure that make successful transitions possible."
The summit is being organized by Venture for Canada in partnership with Village Wellth.
Venture for Canada says Canada's ETA ecosystem remains fragmented, with differences in access to information, capital and expertise across regions. The summit is intended to examine the broader systems surrounding business succession rather than individual transactions.
Among the issues participants will consider are financing gaps that can prevent viable acquisitions, the effect of tax rules on buyers and sellers, challenges that prevent business owners from preparing for succession and institutional barriers that can delay transactions.
Programming will also address the future of financing Canadian deals, the perspective of sellers during business transitions, tax considerations for buyers and sellers, and the skills and training needed to prepare prospective business owners.
Confirmed participants include Matthew Mendelsohn, CEO of Social Capital Partners; Iggy Domagalski, former president and CEO of Wajax; Kevin Guenther, partner in the corporate group at Stikeman Elliott; Phil Davidson, who leads the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program at the Haskayne School of Business; Jeff Neufeld, CEO of Neuhoff Capital Corp.; Cordell Jacks, general partner and co-founder of Regenerative Capital Group; Avnit Sekhon, transaction advisory lead at Treewalk Consulting; Daniel Skilleter, director of policy at Social Capital Partners; and Liz MacRae, co-founder of Village Wellth.
Wang said the summit is intended to bring together groups that have traditionally addressed different aspects of succession and business ownership.
"We don't see succession as a challenge that can be solved by any single organization or sector," added Wang. "This is about creating the conditions for more Canadian businesses to successfully move from one generation of ownership to the next. Keeping strong businesses operating, growing and rooted in Canada is not only a succession issue. Increasingly, it is a question of economic resilience. If we get this right, we have an opportunity to preserve businesses, strengthen communities and open meaningful pathways to entrepreneurship for Canadians."
Venture for Canada says discussions at the summit are expected to help identify barriers to ownership transitions, improve connections within the ETA ecosystem and establish priorities for business ownership infrastructure.
The organization also expects the discussions to inform future policy and ecosystem development aimed at creating pathways for Canadian businesses to transition to new owners.
Canada's Succession Summit will take place Oct. 17, 2026, in Calgary.