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Welcome to our second annual ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies. The 400 businesses on this list sprawl across sectors, from fashion to finance, and manufacture everything from medical testing devices to organic pasta.

Much of the success celebrated in these pages occurred before a global pandemic changed how most companies operate. But as you will read, many of these businesses were able to adapt, innovate and even expand despite the challenges posed by these past few months. As individual companies, and the entire country, work to rebuild, there’s more need than ever to share the stories of entrepreneurial success—and the innovations and strategies that made it possible.

Today, retail and investment banks worldwide face a pivotal moment in their evolution, as banking transitions from a digital-first towards a digital-only landscape. The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced traditional face-to-face or high street banking and forced those previously resistant to or unable to access digital banking. This understandably creates significant anxiety and fear around fraud, identity theft and financial crimes in general.

Trulioo, which provides identity verification services, will now be able to perform those functions in Pakistan. Pakistan is the world’s fifth most populous country with 212 million people, the release stated, and Trulioo will be using GlobalGateway, the largest identity verification marketplace, to help provide services in the country.
Trulioo CEO Steve Munford said the idea is to help along the expansion of banking access. “The pandemic has dramatically accelerated the shift to digital all across the world, and this means that online trust and security is now more important than ever,” he said, according to the release. “Our mission is to ensure every person on the planet has a digital identity as a means to access basic financial services and support. Being able to verify identities in the 10 most populous countries in the world is a significant milestone on our journey.”

In 2018, identity theft affected over 14.4 million US consumers and accounted for 14.7 billion dollars stolen. Increased rates of fraud and cybercrime mean it’s vital that financial institutions follow KYC (‘know your customer’) regulations. In most countries, it’s a legal obligation, like due diligence or identity verification. The US CIP (Customer Identification Program) states that, by law, banks and lenders must conduct AML (anti money laundering) audits and flag up high-risk customers.

“We need to re-evaluate how we approach identity, how we think about the online account opening process, and, most importantly, trust and safety online overall.” When those words belong to Zac Cohen, chief operating officer of global identity verification service Trulioo, speaking on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it pays to take notice. Vancouver-based Trulioo has come a long way since 2011, when it set out on its mission to improve financial inclusion by ensuring everyone with a digital footprint can be verified and benefit from the online economy.

Global identification service Trulioo and payment platform Instant Financial, both based in Vancouver, are the only B.C. names to make the grade.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the gig economy are both growing rapidly. The gig economy offers contract workers flexibility and opportunities to generate income in difficult times, such as the ongoing COVID-19 crisis that has left millions unemployed.

Due to the recent pandemic, businesses have had to digitally transform their operations to better serve customers, including the rapid turnover of products and services for both offline and online delivery. The flip side of this is that the investment in new digital capabilities will have long-term benefits.

Education and training around fraud are more important than ever as cyber criminals have increased both the volume and sophistication of their attacks.