Eva Salem

Early life

Eva Salem was born and raised in Canada. Not much more is known about her early life or childhood. She received her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto, and later earned her Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation.

She also took the Women in Leadership Executive Program from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and the Future Leaders Program from INSEAD.

Eva holds a business degree from Western University’s Ivey School of Business. Eva lives in Toronto with her husband and three children. Much of her personal family life is kept out of the public eye.

Career

After completing her education, Eva Salem began her career in the financial services industry, working as an auditor for a large accounting firm. She then moved on to various senior financial roles in the retail and consumer packaged goods industries, including as CFO of a large Canadian retail chain and as CFO of a global consumer packaged goods company.

From 1993 to 1998 she worked as Marketing Manager for BrandsElite International. In this role, she created and internationally launched a prestige fragrance as a member of a two-person team in 22 countries. She handled every aspect of product development including fragrance, bottle design, packaging, and all point-of-sale elements. She also planned and organized fashion shows, press events, and launch parties in Canada, USA, Italy, and France.

She then worked for Estee Lauder Companies as their Marketing Manager from 1998 to 2000 in New York City. She was responsible for all Clinique special programs including Clinique’s Bonus Time, the #1 promotional campaign in the cosmetics industry. She led in the development of all special events, including holiday campaigns, retailer exclusives, Mother’s Day sets, Valentine’s Day, etc.

In November of 2000, she moved to L O’real where she was Senior Marketing Manager and then Marketing Director. She held a full-time position there until late 2003. All of this high-end retail experience helped her when she decided to go into business on her own, reaching a much-needed untapped market.

She was also the founder and President of Belly Maternity, and from November 2003 until November 2013, she was self-employed in this position. This was the first high-end, brand-driven maternity store in Canada. She was able to grow a $20,000 investment into a multi-million-dollar business within its first year.

Despite not having an advertising budget, Belly became the go-to fashion and media authority for all things maternity and was regularly featured nationally in countless articles, TV interviews, celebrity sightings, and ‘Best Of’ lists. It was sold to a VC firm after 8 years of profitable growth.

She then joined Canadian Tire Corporation in January of 2014, starting as VP of Brand and Digital Marketing, then becoming VP of Brand and Digital Marketing, and now holds the position of Senior VP of Marketing and Brand.

Since joining the company in 2014, Eva has had a number of progressively more senior roles. She currently oversees all brand and digital marketing for Canadian Tire, Sports Chek, Marks, CT Financial Services, Triangle Loyalty, and CTC’s multi-billion-dollar consumer brands portfolio. Eva oversees teams in multiple markets and has helped create a culture that balances the art of marketing with the science of data.

In 2019, Eva Salem joined Canadian Tire Corporation as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, where she leads the company’s finance organization and is responsible for financial planning and analysis, accounting, tax, treasury, and investor relations.

Eva is also responsible for the corporation’s numerous advertising and media agency relationships, including being a key stakeholder in a recent move to in-house content development and digital media services. Eva oversees a team of over 80 and is responsible for a budget in excess of $100 million.

Her marketing department continues to be tasked with driving the company’s higher-level shared value. She says their goal is: “To make life in this fantastic country better. Whether that’s through products that help you play, deal with the weather, keep you dry, or that keep you safe – that’s core to our belief system.”

She believes when a brand makes life better for the consumer, that’s how they hold a meaningful role in their lives.

“Because if you’re doing that, you win on everything else automatically,” she says.

Net Worth

Eva Salem’s estimated net worth is unknown.

Achievement

Throughout her career, Eva Salem has demonstrated her ability to lead and manage complex financial operations. She has a track record of driving business performance and delivering results and has played a key role in several large and successful business transformations.

Eva Salem has also been recognized as a leader in her field. She was named one of Canada’s 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) in 2018.

She was also a judge for the inaugural Festival of Media North America Awards in 2017. Her ability to spot trends, predict customer needs and buying patterns, and build strong brands, her creative ideation, and her successful marketing initiatives are the reasons she was selected as a judge for this festival.