For many business leaders, it’s been a year of changing fortunes as the boom times screeched to an abrupt halt. 

With the close of 2022, here are the newsmakers of the year, as chosen by The Logic’s newsroom: 

Janet Bannister

What she did: The venture capital investor stepped down as managing partner of Montreal-based Real Ventures in September, after the seed-stage investment firm failed to raise its sixth fund. 

Why it matters: Despite its high investment rate in many promising startups, Real’s portfolio has produced few and underwhelming exits, leaving limited partners frustrated by the lack of cash returns. Bannister, who had been at Real since 2014, was named managing partner in 2020 as the firm tried to rebuild investors’ trust ahead of its next fundraise. Bannister’s previous positions at high-profile companies like eBay, McKinsey and Procter & Gamble added an element of rigour to Real’s operations that hadn’t been there before. But there was a sense from some investors that her promotion was too little, too late. Her departure from Real—which has paused fundraising and new investments—is an excoriation of the pioneering VC firm’s prospects and a testament to the current challenges of raising capital. For her part, Bannister plans to keep investing in Canadian startups in some capacity, and industry insiders told The Logic there’s strong investor interest in supporting her in a new fund. – Catherine

François-Philippe Champagne, innovation minister

What he did: Convinced automakers and battery-supply-chain firms to commit more than $15-billion into Canadian plants, while proposing major updates to the country’s privacy, competition and investment policy frameworks.

Why it mattered: Honda, General Motors, Stellantis and Rio Tinto were among companies that invested in Canada’s EV supply chain—aided in part by more than $1.1 billion in federal funding. That helped bump the country to the second spot in BloombergNEF’s 2022 battery supply chain ranking. Ontario Premier Doug Ford dubbed Champagne Canada’s top salesman for his pitches to auto firms, while Stellantis executive Mark Stewart said he texts Champagne “probably more than my own children.” “I sort of shudder every time my phone rings and it’s François-Philippe, because I know there’s another deal coming down the pipe that’s going to…cost us a little bit,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a May Stellantis event. “But it’s going to bring in so many more jobs… It’s a good thing.”

Amid his Energizer-bunny battery efforts, Champagne also did some policy-fronting. In June, he tabled Bill C-27, which would re-do Canada’s 22-year-old private-sector privacy law and add new, as-yet loosely-defined AI rules. It’s the Liberals’ second attempt to pass the data-protection act; some stakeholders remain unconvinced. In November, Ottawa solicited feedback on an overhaul of the Competition Act, signalling more focus on tech M&A and digital platforms’ treatment of independent sellers. In December, Ottawa unveiled Bill C-34, which would add new requirements for foreign investors buying into sensitive tech sectors. Public servants actually write legislation and regulatory proposals. But Champagne is steering a drive to update Canada’s business policy suite for the digital age and an unfolding global tech arms race. It remains to be seen whether Parliament—and the innovation economy—is along for the ride. – Anita & Murad

Tiff Macklem, Bank of Canada governor

What he did: Increased interest rates (with the central bank’s seventh and final hike of the year to 4.25 per cent in December), in an attempt to quell soaring inflation that peaked at 8.1 per cent in June. 

Why it mattered: March was the first time the Bank of Canada raised interest rates since 2018, marking the end of an easy-money era. For consumers, it has meant higher borrowing costs when many were already struggling with the cost of living. Macklem even took to a highly produced Twitter video to explain that the interest rate hikes will “take the steam out of inflation” and be “better for all Canadians.” For businesses, higher interest rates deterred companies from going public. Only one innovation-economy firm listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange in the first 11 months of the year. Meanwhile, nearly 60 per cent of Canadian businesses expect rising rates to be an issue in the short term and three-quarters of all businesses do not intend to take on new debt financing amid rising costs of borrowing, according to a November Statistics Canada survey. – Jonathan

Elon Musk, ‘Chief Twit’

What he did: Bought Twitter, reluctantly. Then cut half the workforce (and then some more), began monkeying with features, reinstated users previously banned for odiousness (though Donald Trump, almost two years after being cut off cold turkey, resisted any urge to return), threatened a war with Apple over its app store and promised to find a new CEO, sort of.

Why it mattered: Musk’s move-fast-and-break-things handling of his new acquisition shed light on how Twitter is much less a tech company (though it’s tech matters) than a human-behaviour company. Canada’s federal Liberals are still working on a bill to combat online harms; Twitter is sitting that process out after the company’s mass layoffs, but the object lesson it provided after Musk’s takeover shows how complicated and difficult it can be to improve a social media company even when you own it down to the last byte. In the bigger picture, Musk’s understanding of how public debate works put a big crack in the idol of the techbro übermensch. – David R.

Michele Romanow, co-founder and CEO of Clearco

What she did: In 2021, Clearco was one of the most rapidly growing fintechs in Canada. Backed by SoftBank and onced valued at nearly US$2 billion, the Toronto-based company had planned an international expansion as the pandemic pushed e-commerce to the forefront. Yet, 2022 began with turbulence. Andrew D’Souza announced in February that he would be stepping down as CEO to become the company’s executive chair and that he was no longer dating Romanow, who replaced him. In the spring, the merchant financing startup began quietly reducing its head count in Canada while maintaining that larger layoffs weren’t on the horizon. It later laid off 125 employees—approximately a quarter of its workforce—becoming one of the first Canadian tech companies to make major cuts in light of a downturn. 

Why it mattered: As more tech companies conducted layoffs, executives began to publicly admit that they hired too aggressively because of lofty growth plans. In Clearco’s case, the company said those plans were deterred by slower e-commerce growth and macroeconomic challenges. The company halted its global expansion plans and closed operations in Ireland, the U.K and Australia. At Toronto’s Elevate technology conference, Romanow spoke candidly about the company’s challenges, and advised other firms to pay attention to products that aren’t working, even when changing course feels painful. She also warned that “tech has seen the first kind of bump in this road and it could get a whole lot worse.” – Leah

Danielle Smith, Alberta’s new premier and chief sovereigntist

What she did: Took the helm of the United Conservative Party, and the premier’s office, on a promise to intensify Alberta’s claim to constitutional supremacy within Canada’s federation. In early December, Smith tabled Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, which sought to establish the province as a region with a “unique culture and shared identity” that should not fall “subordinate” to federal powers. The bill, just eight pages in length, was initially laughed out of the room for sweeping away basic democratic checks and balances, and was later walked back somewhat. 

Why it mattered: Constitutional experts can debate the legitimacy of Smith’s sovereignty act, and major questions remain about how Alberta might exercise the law. More generally, the government’s hard-nosed posture toward Ottawa has spurred concerns in the business community that it could drive away investment at a critical juncture in the province’s diversification efforts. Smith’s predecessor, Jason Kenney, was no stranger to challenging Ottawa’s policies on constitutional grounds, but the former premier also came to power on a fairly orthodox platform to slash corporate taxes and draw capital investment. Before leaving office he launched a campaign to attract skilled workers into the province. Smith’s platform, while not an explicit departure from the previous government, introduced a new tone of leadership that left many questioning whether populist sentiments would take priority over the province’s business environment. – Jesse

Ultra-fast delivery companies

What they did: Ultra-fast delivery startups, generally those that promise to bring customers their order within 30 minutes, proliferated at the start of the year. Several new companies popped up in Canada with big expansion plans, on the heels of ultra-fast providers raising billions in capital globally. Major Canadian grocers jumped on the trend, partnering with providers. But the growth took an abrupt turn later in 2022. 

Why it mattered: Despite their ambitions and venture-capital backing, their business models—fast cash burn and low margins—were not well set up to weather the economic storms of the year as cheap money became less available and investors eyed businesses with profitability in sight. Gopuff delayed its initial public offering, sought a credit line in the hundreds of millions and laid off almost 2,000 staff over several months. In Canada, Toronto-based GoodGood ceased operations in November, saying it was “unable to secure the capital necessary to continue,” and grocery-delivery firm Buggy acquired Waterloo, Ont.-based Ninja, which had laid off much of its staff prior to the announcement. Workers also raised concerns about the companies’ promises of speed, turning to unions over fears of safety while on the job. – Aleksandra

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance

What he did: In 2022, Zhao was to the crypto world what alcohol is to Homer Simpson: “The cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.” The Chinese-Canadian CEO of the world’s largest cryptocurrency-trading platform by volume played a major role in the collapse of rival FTX—and by extension, the price rout and contagion that followed. Now, he’s positioning himself as the industry’s saviour, deploying the equivalent of US$1 billion in Binance’s stablecoin, BUSD, to a fund intended to support high-quality crypto companies that “through no fault of their own, are facing significant, short term, financial difficulties.”

Why it mattered: We’ve seen this movie before. Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of FTX, also positioned himself as the crypto industry’s white knight following the summer’s crash, bailing out distressed firms in an effort to stem contagion. As it turned out, FTX didn’t have the balance sheet to support the effort, and U.S. prosecutors now allege it was financed by stolen customer funds. Zhao is working hard to convince the public Binance is different; not everyone is buying it, however. In 2023, we’ll find out if the movie ends differently under Zhao’s leadership. – Claire