Canada’s security community comes together at conferences from Toronto to Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver, and the six CISOs below are regular voices at them. They have spoken at the Toronto CISO Roundtable, delivered keynotes at BSides Edmonton, run BSides Calgary, and fielded open questions from their own university communities. Their backgrounds are as varied as their audiences. One trained as a professional announcer, spent 13 years as a voice-over actor, and holds a sixth-degree black belt in karate. Another set out to become a physician. A third managed IT for a United Nations field mission in Lebanon and served with the Indian Army before moving to Toronto. Together they protect a fintech company, a securities regulator, three post-secondary institutions, and members across Alberta.
Sanjay Sharma – VP & CISO, Zafin
Sanjay Sharma began as an IT manager for United Nations field missions in Lebanon, then managed IT, telecom, and IT security for the Indian Army and served as a senior manager at UN Headquarters in New York. As director of IT security at India’s Ministry of Defence, he led information security in a mission-critical environment. After earning his MBA at the Schulich School of Business on scholarship, he advised large enterprises and critical infrastructure organizations at Deloitte and PwC, including two years working with CN Rail. At Toronto Hydro he led a 22-person cybersecurity organization and about $60 million in security investments, then served as SVP, CISO, and head of cybersecurity services at Pathway Communications. Sharma joined Zafin as VP and CISO in June 2024, securing a large Azure estate that supports SaaS products for regulated banking clients and leading security governance for its AI capabilities. He sits on the NKST advisory board, spoke at the Toronto CISO Roundtable in September 2026, and holds CISSP, C|CISO, CISA, and PMP certifications.
Genaro Liriano – CISO, Ontario Securities Commission
Genaro Liriano served as senior director of entertainment and activities in the Dominican Republic’s tourism industry before beginning his Canadian technology career at EDS Canada. He spent 14 years at Teranet, moving from help desk into IT security, then led PCI governance at Canadian Tire Financial Services. At BMO he served as senior security officer for online banking, mobile banking, and ATMs, acted as the bank’s firewall governance officer, and led its data loss prevention program. After more than six years as a director in technology operations risk at CIBC, he became CISO of the Ontario Securities Commission in February 2026, protecting the systems that support Ontario’s capital markets. Liriano holds a certification from the Dominican National Commission of Public Speaking and Broadcasting, worked for 13 years as a voice-over actor, and spoke at the Toronto CISO Roundtable in September 2026. He holds a sixth-degree black belt in Okinawan Goju Ryu karate and has been head instructor at Naha Dojo in Toronto since 1999.
Curtis Blais – Shared CISO, Cybera
Curtis Blais planned to become a physician until rising medical school requirements pushed him toward his hobby, IT. He supported more than 70 routers and 3,000 stations as a network specialist for the City of Edmonton, then spent a decade at TELUS, where he became a founding leader of the TELUS Security Solutions business unit, led its security practice nationally, and grew Western Canada consulting revenue by as much as 301% in a single quarter. After leading information protection for Western Canada at KPMG, he founded Savant Advisory in 2008. Blais has served as Cybera’s shared CISO since 2019, providing CISO services to its members across Alberta. He holds a master’s degree in leadership and published research on the subject, has led volunteer teams to one of the poorest countries in the Northern Hemisphere, and holds CISSP, GCIA, and GPPA certifications with GIAC Gold status. In September 2026 he delivered the Friday keynote at BSides Edmonton on why leadership depends on intention rather than title.
James Cairns – CISO, Bow Valley College
James Cairns joined Bow Valley College in Calgary as a programmer analyst in 2005 and, apart from a stint developing applications for Telecom New Zealand in Auckland, has spent nearly two decades there. He worked as an application specialist, e-learning developer, and database administrator before moving into security as IT security lead in 2019, then associate director of IT security, and became CISO in June 2025. Cairns has been one of the driving forces behind BSides Calgary, serving as president and an organizing committee member for nearly seven years and helping build the event into a fixture of the city’s security community. He also serves on the Cloud Security Alliance’s CxO Trust Advisory Council, previously served as a director at large for ISC2 Alberta, and is chief community and capability sponsor at the Canadian Cybersecurity Network, with a focus on closing the talent gap through mentorship and knowledge sharing.
Brent Fowles – CISO, Western University
Brent Fowles spent nearly 19 years in technology at TD Canada Trust, delivering projects including the Aeroplan credit card launch and customer migration, mobile payments, and branch systems supporting more than 1,100 branches. After leading PCI DSS work for BMO and managing development at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, he joined Western University in 2017 as associate director of Western Technology Services. Fowles became CISO and director of cybersecurity and infrastructure services in January 2022, transforming Western’s security strategy through industry partnerships, 24/7 SOC coverage, risk assessments, and campus-wide awareness programs, and working with the Privacy Office to help teams protect information. He is set to join a panel on AI in Canadian higher education at NKST Summit Vancouver in November 2026.
Nathan Corwin – Chief Information Security & Digital Trust Officer, University of Toronto
Nathan Corwin spent more than a decade in technology leadership at Arizona State University. As director of IT service management, he rebuilt a high-performing team after 100% turnover on a limited budget. As executive director of service delivery, he led a department of more than 350 people and negotiated over $750,000 in annual savings, and as executive director of cybersecurity he ran enterprise security systems, governance, risk and compliance, and incident response. In March 2026 he became the University of Toronto’s inaugural Chief Information Security and Digital Trust Officer and Deputy CIO, leading security and digital trust across three campuses and a global research footprint, with a focus on AI risk governance, data sovereignty, and academic freedom. Corwin introduced himself to the U of T community through an Ask Me Anything session at TechKnowFile 2026.
Leading in Public
These six CISOs treat the stage as part of the job. Sharma and Liriano bring perspectives from government, defense, and banking to Toronto’s CISO community, while Blais uses his keynotes to talk about leadership rather than tools. Cairns has helped build a conference from the ground up, and Fowles and Corwin bring higher education’s open, research-driven environments into the conversation on AI. By sharing what they have learned, they help strengthen Canada’s security community well beyond their own organizations.
Discover more CISOs securing their organizations:
- From Farm to Factory Floor: Food and Beverage Manufacturing’s CISOs to Watch
- Behind the Vault Door: The UK’s Banking CISOs to Watch
- Taking the Stage: Australia’s Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
- Where Downtime Isn’t an Option: Healthcare’s CISOs to Watch
- Where the Fleet Comes Ashore: Virginia Beach’s Cybersecurity Leaders to Watch
John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.