Doug Wilkinson takes his seat in front of a looming hearth, adjusts the lapel of his sports coat, and beams. Undoubtedly, the Chair of the Board for Trafalgar Castle School has much to smile about. Not only does he have many accomplishments to be proud of when looking back at his storied career, but even in “semi-retirement,” accomplishments continue on a steady trajectory. Because Doug Wilkinson is never done, he’s playing “the long game,” something he learned from a mentor long ago and keeps close to his chest to this day.
Wilkinson had an exciting 30-year career at Deloitte Canada, which provides audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services to address business challenges for public and private clientele across various industries. That 30-year career took Wilkinson from an utterly green university co-op student to Vice Chair of a global conglomerate, then on to Vice Chair of the Trafalgar Board of Directors, and now to Chair.
It all started when Wilkinson was a post-secondary student at Brock University in the Chartered Accountant program. In 1987, Wilkinson jumped into the University’s co-op program, which gave him his first opportunity at Deloitte and, unknowingly back then, kick-started his 30-year career. Wilkinson did eight months of the program at Brock University and then switched to eight months of work at Deloitte, which Wilkinson says gave him incredible insight into whether the career field he had chosen was something he would want to do long-term.
“Co-op programs mature you very quickly,” Wilkinson explains, “When you jump into the co-op job, you’re feeling quite vulnerable because you’re not exactly sure what’s expected of you or even how to do the job you’re in for. So, you mature quickly in that sense and learn many advantages as you move forward in your career, like how to interview and interact with people and teams. It’s a fantastic experience that I would recommend to any student.”
Wilkinson has had many mentors throughout his career and says that having a few mentors as you progress through a long career is invaluable as they provide you with different viewpoints in several areas. One mentor in particular stands out in Wilkinson’s mind: Yezdi Pavri, a partner with Deloitte who took Wilkinson under his wing. As Wilkinson puts it, Pavri “moved me out of Durham Region as a 22-year-old who had no idea what he was doing and into the Toronto office where he mentored me to become a partner.” During that time, Pavri selflessly gave much of his time mentoring and supporting Wilkinson and was his biggest cheerleader as he worked his way through the firm. Pavri had a saying—one that Wilkinson still uses today, indicative of his journey: ‘In the fullness of time.’
“So many of us rush to get to that next stage of our career, often without the right experience or maybe being a little too eager for that raise or promotion, and that can leave you jumping around and being a little scattered.”, Wilkinson explains, “In the fullness of time essentially means ‘play the long game.’ In the long game, if you’re focused, driven and loyal to your organization, you’ll not only meet your goals, but you’ll surpass them.”
One only has to look at how far Wilkinson has come and where he continues to lead to see that he embodies that notion. Over the past 30 years, he progressed through a number of different careers and practiced in a number of different industries at Deloitte, including working for some of Canada’s biggest telecoms and retailers and a few large public sector entities like universities, high schools, and Boards of Education. A large part of his career was spent in Information Technology and helping clients make the paradigm shift to multi-channel retailing in Canada. Over time, Wilkinson grew into the role of Vice Chair of Deloitte Canada, where he was responsible for developing the firm’s most significant relationships in the Information Technology space, serving Canada’s largest Chief Information Officers, Chief Data Officers and Chief Security Officers and developing the teams that would serve those individuals across Canada and in some countries around the world.
Wilkinson has much to be proud of during his time as Vice Chair, most notably working with three founding partners of Deloitte to develop the risk management practice of more than 1000 people in Canada — something that didn’t exist over 20 years ago — and watching that team play their own long game and flourish in their careers.
Wilkinson is now “semi-retired,” but his long game is far from over. Following his retirement from Deloitte, Wilkinson began looking for new roles to play and ways to give back to causes that were important to him. That has led him to join several Boards, including the Brock University Dean of Business Advisory Board and the Trafalgar Castle School Board of Directors.
“I’m always looking to give back to causes that are important to me, and I’m not interested in paid Board positions. My daughter is a Grade 10 student at Trafalgar Castle School, so it felt natural for me to join the board.” He says, “It’s been quite rewarding both as a parent and a board member. I’ve learned just how incredible Trafalgar is at delivering not only the best education for its students but also the best educational experience. I enjoy working with its Head of School and other Board members to take that even further in the future. “
With regards to Brock University, joining the Dean of Business Advisory Board was an opportunity to give back to an institution that provided him with an amazing education, a fantastic career and the opportunity to do what he does now. Keeping his entrepreneurial spirit going, Wilkinson and his family invested in a few small businesses, one of them being a ski resort in Haliburton, Sir Sam Ski Resort, where he’s been working to modernize the business with the Haliburton community. Learning how to run a skill hill is reminiscent of Wilkinson’s days when he first joined Deloitte as a co-op student: you learn fast and look to grow in your role. It’s another notch he’s added to his belt “in the fullness of time,” and he’s looking forward to where semi-retirement takes him next.