Mike Dean

School of Accounting and Finance Fellowship Honourees

Mike Dean, BMath, CA CIRP, Licensed Trustee in Bankruptcy

Mike earned a Bachelor of Mathematics (CA/Information Systems) from the University of Waterloo in 1992, graduating with distinction on the Dean’s Honours List. Mike worked in the London office of Ernst & Young as a co-op student, returned to E&Y’s audit practice upon graduation, and earned his CA designation in 1992.

In 1993 Mike moved from E&Y’s audit practice to its commodity tax practice, advising clients on GST, sales tax, customs and property tax issues throughout southwestern Ontario. In 1995 he moved to E&Y’s Toronto office and joined the firm’s corporate finance practice, advising mid-market clients on financing, acquisitions, divestitures and valuation issues.

In 1997, after being seconded to E&Y’s restructuring practice for one engagement, Mike joined the restructuring practice on a full-time basis. He earned his Chartered Insolvency and Restructuring Professional designation in 2001 and became a licensed trustee in bankruptcy in 2002. Since joining the restructuring practice, Mike has enjoyed more than 10 years of experience advising debtors, creditors and other stakeholders on Canadian and cross-border restructuring and corporate finance matters in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, transportation, death care and technology. Mike’s major engagements have included Laidlaw Inc., Slater Steel Inc., The Loewen Group Inc., Bell Canada International Inc., Tee-Comm Electronics Inc., Hollinger Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp., one of Canada’s largest tobacco manufacturers. He became a partner in Ernst & Young in 2003.

Mike attributes his rewarding career to date to the dedication and patience of some excellent teachers and mentors at the University of Waterloo and at Ernst & Young. His advice to young CAs is to focus just as much on people and communication skills as they do on technical skills, to be willing to try new experiences, to be unafraid to make mistakes and learn from them, and never to discount the value of working with an excellent team.

Mike is married to Margaret Wong (BMath 1995). They live in the Toronto area and have two sons.

2007 Fellow: Jonathan Cheuk-Hank Lau