Corporate · Consulting
Canadian Joint Venture & Operating Partner: For Companies Building a Real Business Here
A working partner who runs the Canadian side. Not a nameplate, not a shortcut.
The problem
What this usually looks like
You have a product and capital, but no Canadian operating capability. You need someone who can run the local side properly, hire, sell, manage suppliers, meet customers, handle the operations, while you focus on production at home. Hiring a stranger from overseas rarely works; you need a partner with skin in the game.
How I approach it
I take a defined operating role in a genuine Canadian venture: running sales and operations, building the team, managing the supply chain and reporting to the ownership group. The relationship is documented properly, scope, equity or fee structure, decision rights, term and exit. It is a real business relationship with real obligations on both sides.
Scope
What I actually do
Serve as the Canadian operating partner or general manager in a joint venture, running day-to-day sales, operations and staff.
Build the Canadian side from zero: premises, suppliers, first hires, systems, processes and customer base.
Structure the commercial partnership with proper counsel, shareholders' or partnership agreement, decision rights, reporting obligations and exit provisions.
Manage local compliance execution alongside your accountants and lawyers: business registration, payroll setup, WSIB, insurance and permits.
Represent the venture to Canadian customers, suppliers, landlords, lenders and industry bodies.
Report to the overseas ownership group monthly in clear written English with financials and operating metrics.
Recruit and train my own successor when the venture is ready to run without me.
Deliverables
What you get
- Written partnership scope and operating agreement framework
- Canadian market and operating plan
- Supplier, premises and staffing setup
- Monthly written financial and operating reports
- Documented processes and succession plan
Outcomes
What changes
- A functioning Canadian operation rather than a registered shell
- Local decisions made at local speed
- An accountable partner your customers can actually meet
Engagement
How we work together
Equity joint venture with defined operating role
Management agreement with performance fee
Fixed-term interim general manager while you recruit permanently
Questions
Straight answers
Can a partnership with you support an immigration application?
No, and I will not participate in one. I am not an immigration lawyer or RCIC and cannot advise on immigration. I only enter partnerships formed for genuine commercial reasons. If your interest in a partnership is immigration status, I am the wrong person, speak to a licensed representative through the CICC register.
Will you act as a nominee director or shareholder?
No. I take active operating roles only, with real responsibilities and real accountability. Nominee arrangements are a legal and reputational liability for everyone involved and I decline them without exception.
How is the partnership structured?
Either equity participation with a defined operating role, or a management agreement with a base fee plus performance component. Both are documented by Canadian legal counsel before any work begins. Your lawyer and mine.
What do you need from us to start?
A viable product with proven demand, capital sufficient to fund the Canadian setup, and a genuine intention to build an operating business here. A discovery call and a written market brief come before any commitment.
Related
Services that usually go with this
Sales Management Consulting
For owners and executives whose sales team is busy but not closing, and whose forecast is fiction.
Fractional & Interim Sales Leadership
For companies that need senior leadership now but cannot yet justify a full-time executive hire.
Logistics & Supply Chain Consulting
Twenty years on the board, not twenty slides about best practice.
Hiring instead of contracting? See the full-time roles, or the ATS-formatted resume.
Contact
Tell me what you are hiring for
- Call: +1 519 278 5085
- Email: tim@timarmstrong.ca
- Based: London & Southwestern Ontario, Ontario, America/Toronto (Eastern Time)
- Availability: Available nationally across Canada, on-site, hybrid or remote
- Serving: London · Stratford · Woodstock · Kitchener: Waterloo · Cambridge · Guelph · Brantford · Sarnia · Chatham-Kent · Windsor · Toronto · Mississauga and Canada-wide