Canada’s energy and utilities companies run pipelines, power grids, and renewable generation across vast distances, and their operational technology makes them prime targets for attackers. The six cybersecurity leaders below protect gas utilities, power distributors, oilfield services, and renewable energy operators, and their paths into security reflect the hands-on nature of the sector. One is a Red Seal journeyman electrician and instrument technician who spent decades programming industrial control systems. Another served more than two decades as a military intelligence and military police officer, rising to lieutenant colonel. A third worked as a security engineer for the European Space Agency in Germany, and a fourth was recognized as a forensic expert by Ontario’s courts before leading security for shipbuilding and renewable power.
Mike Yuen – CISO, AltaGas
Mike Yuen started as an application developer and led information services at Global Petroleum Marketing before spending a decade in information security advisory at EY, rising to senior manager. At ATB Financial he served as managing director of service assurance, covering cybersecurity, GRC, and quality assurance, and then managing director of digital fraud, risk, and compliance. After five years as a director of cybersecurity at PwC, he became CISO of AltaGas in 2022. Yuen sits on the governing body of Evanta’s Calgary CISO community and co-led a session at the 2025 Calgary CISO Executive Summit on building secure data governance programs that protect data across its lifecycle while enabling the business.
James Armstrong – SVP, Global Technology (CIO) & Security (CISO), ATCO & Canadian Utilities
James Armstrong spent 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as an intelligence and military police officer, leading operations at home and abroad with a focus on cyber intelligence and force protection, and received the United States Meritorious Service Medal. As VP of security, emergency management, and customer transportation at the Ottawa International Airport Authority, he was named Canada’s Top Security Executive of 2017. He then served as SVP of data technology and CISO at Shaw Communications, protecting a provider with more than 8 million customers, and was named a Top 10 Canadian CISO in 2022, while also serving as a reserve intelligence advisor to Canadian Special Forces Command. Since 2023 Armstrong has led global technology, AI and data strategy, and cybersecurity for ATCO and Canadian Utilities, a company with 21,000 employees and $23 billion in assets. He led a transformation that integrated IT and OT systems, cut operating costs by more than 25%, and improved effectiveness by 35%.
Trent Johannesson – CISO, Phoenix Energy Services
Trent Johannesson is a Red Seal journeyman instrument technician and electrician who ran his own instrumentation and controls company in Taber, Alberta, before spending 24 years at Keyera. There he worked as an instrument, electrical, and DCS specialist and later senior automation and instrumentation specialist, gaining deep experience with distributed control systems, SCADA, and process safety. He also developed and implemented the IT/OT cybersecurity program for a midstream company, including its policies, standards, and procedures. Johannesson joined Phoenix Energy Services as VP of technical services in 2022 and became CISO in May 2023, leading a team of cyber and automation specialists. He holds the GICSP certification.
Fakhri Mammadov – Director of Cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure Operations (CISO Equivalent), Toronto Hydro
Fakhri Mammadov began as a network and systems engineer for the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy in Baku, Azerbaijan, then spent four years as a senior data communications and security engineer at the European Space Agency in Darmstadt, Germany. After six years as a network and security architect at Symcor, he joined Toronto Hydro in 2011 as interim director of IT infrastructure operations and enterprise architect. Mammadov has served as director of cybersecurity and IT infrastructure operations, in a CISO-equivalent role, since 2018, leading a DevSecOps organization of more than 100 people that advances the utility’s cybersecurity program and service delivery.
Shawn McBurnie – Head of IT/OT Security & Compliance, Northland Power
Shawn McBurnie served as president of his campus branch of the Seneca Student Federation before starting in helpdesk roles at AIG and Bank of Montreal, where he became a server engineer. After contracting at Scotiabank and running his own IT consultancy, he joined Toronto Hydro’s security operations team in 2015 and rose to lead IT security architecture and operations. McBurnie joined Northland Power in 2020 as director of IT/OT security and compliance and became head of the function in 2022, focusing on securing critical infrastructure through vulnerability management, access control, and audit remediation.
Mark Reid – Senior Vice President, Brookfield Renewable
Mark Reid taught IT at Nova Scotia Community College and founded Preclarus Technologies, developing patent-pending technology to keep data secure across separate security domains, and was recognized as a forensic expert by Ontario’s court system in 2003. At Deloitte in London, he led forensic investigations that recovered more than $400 million. Back in Canada, he led security for National Defence programs including the Maritime Helicopter Project at CAE, then managed corporate security for Irving Shipbuilding, leading 60 professionals and cutting operating budgets by 40%. At ATCO Electric he supervised cyber and physical security, including critical infrastructure protection for industrial control systems. Reid joined Brookfield Renewable in 2017 and rose through director of IT security and compliance to VP of cybersecurity and IT compliance, becoming senior vice president in January 2025. He holds CISSP, CISA, and CISM certifications.
Keeping the Lights On
These six leaders bring an unusual mix of operational and security experience to Canada’s energy sector. Johannesson and Reid know industrial control systems from the field, while Armstrong brings military intelligence and executive technology leadership. Yuen built his career in advisory and financial services security, and Mammadov and McBurnie grew through network, infrastructure, and security operations roles at Toronto Hydro. Together they protect the pipelines, grids, and power plants that keep Canada running.
Discover more CISOs securing their organizations:
- Behind the Vault: America’s Banking CISOs to Watch
- Built on Circuits: Electronics Manufacturing’s CISOs to Watch
- Under the Hood: Automotive Manufacturing’s Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
- Voices From the Podium: Canada’s CISOs to Watch
- From Farm to Factory Floor: Food and Beverage Manufacturing’s CISOs to Watch
John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.