Your next VP, director or C-suite leader, presented in 21 days.
50+ years of executive search. Our senior recruiters come from your industry and already know the leaders you're looking for, at a 20% success fee paid only when your leader signs.
A senior recruiter from your industry replies within one business day.
Organizations who trust us
A vacant VP, director or C-suite seat costs you every week: decisions stall, teams drift, competitors move. The leaders you want aren't reading job boards. They're running someone else's business, and they won't answer a posting.
First qualified candidates within 21 days. A leadership seat that sits open is a decision nobody is making.
Replacing a leader, opening a new region, building a board: some searches cannot be public. Ours never are unless you want them to be.
Our senior recruiters held leadership roles in the sectors they now recruit for. They know what good looks like before the first interview.
Direct headhunting, not job postings. The best candidate for your role is employed, successful and not on the market. We go and get them.
Retained. Billed in thirds up front, whether or not you hire.
Based in Canada, we leverage the strength of your currency to run the same executive search a U.S. firm would, at roughly 40% less.
Based in Canada, we leverage the strength of your dollar. The same search, the same senior recruiters, on average 40% more affordable than U.S. firms.
20% of first-year base salary, paid only when your leader signs. U.S. executive search typically runs 25 to 35%, retained up front, whether or not you hire.
Recruiting senior leaders since 1975 for more than 600 client companies. A reputation built one mandate at a time.
Your first shortlist inside three weeks. Speed on a leadership hire is not a nice-to-have.
Not a generalist firm. Each mandate is led by a senior recruiter who has worked in your sector and already knows the candidates you're looking for.
AI maps the market and surfaces leaders the job boards never will. Every candidate you meet has been interviewed face to face by one of our senior recruiters.
Most U.S. executive search firms have one or two of these strengths. We built the model around all of them.
| Advantage |  | Typical U.S. executive search firm |
|---|---|---|
| Fee | ✓20% of first-year base | ✕25 to 35% |
| Payment terms | ✓Success fee, paid when your leader signs | ✕Retained: paid in thirds, hire or no hire |
| First candidates | ✓21 days | 4 to 8 weeks |
| Sector-specialized senior recruiters | ✓Leaders from your industry | Often generalist partners |
| Years in executive recruitment | ✓50+, since 1975 | Varies |
| Confidential search | ✓Standard on every mandate | Varies |
| AI-assisted market mapping | ✓Built into every mandate | Varies |
| Cross-border U.S. + Canada network | ✓Same team, both sides of the border | ✕Rare |
| Replacement guarantee | ✓Included | Varies |
No hand-off to a junior researcher. The person who takes your brief is the person who presents your shortlist.
With a senior recruiter from your sector, not an account manager. Role, mandate, culture, compensation, timeline. You leave knowing whether we're the right firm.
Our sourcing tool builds the full universe of leaders for your role across the U.S. and Canada. Then we pick up the phone, discreetly.
A shortlist, not a long list. Every candidate has been interviewed face to face, typically for over an hour, before you meet them.
Offer support, reference checks and psychometric assessment on request. Replacement guarantee included.
St-Amour Executive Search is the executive search division of St-Amour, the largest specialized recruitment firm owned and operated in Canada. For 50 years we have supported companies through the critical phase of recruiting senior executives and C-suite leaders. Now serving organizations across the United States.
Entrust us with your next executive mandate →
Each mandate is led by a senior specialist with deep expertise in recruiting for their sector. This is who picks up the phone.
CEO and President of the Board
Manufacturing, consumer goods
VP, Executive Search
Consumer goods, finance
VP, Executive Search
Life sciences, MedTech
VP, Executive Search
Industrial, manufacturing
Director, Executive Search
Consumer goods, industrial
Not generalists who recruit everywhere. Senior recruiters who place leaders in the sectors they come from.
CFO · VP finance · Chief risk officer · Head of wealth management · Controller
COO · VP operations · Plant director · VP supply chain · General manager
CEO · VP sales · VP marketing · Director of category management · Head of e-commerce
CTO · VP engineering · Practice lead · VP product · Head of data
General manager · VP regulatory affairs · VP quality · Country manager · Medical director
Chief sustainability officer · VP ESG · Director of environmental affairs · Head of energy transition
VP engineering · Director of operations · Head of automation · Chief technology officer
Portfolio CEO and CFO · Operating partner · Board member · Chief of staff
VP development · Director of construction · VP asset management · General manager
Don't see your sector? Let's talk →
Chicago, Dallas and Charlotte are where our U.S. networks run deepest. And we have covered Canada end to end for 50 years.
Hiring outside these markets? We still take the mandate. Our recruiters work the same networks across North America. Tell us the role and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right firm for it.
The largest industrial and corporate base in the Midwest, and the market that runs closest to how Canadian head offices operate.
Exceptional growth, a diversified corporate base, and very strong demand for senior leadership.
Fast growth, finance plus industry, and lighter competition for senior talent than the coastal markets.
Where we have recruited since 1975 from Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and nationwide. The largest specialized recruitment firm owned and operated in Canada.
Their reputation is well established. Professional, friendly, and resilient, they have always delivered on their mandates over many years in various sectors of the pharmaceutical and medical industries. They are always my first call for a mandate.
Their in-depth understanding of our industry and their ability to present us with high-quality candidates meet our needs perfectly. Their communication and follow-up at every stage of a recruitment mandate is regular and seamless. With our rapid growth, St-Amour is a reliable partner in helping us support our growth.
Our experience with the team at St-Amour has been extraordinarily positive. Not only have we shared best practices and camaraderie, but also solid business referrals. We are very pleased that St-Amour chose to join the CFR Global Executive Search Network.
Whenever our clients have sales, operations, finance, or other position needs, we partner with St-Amour to find the best candidates as efficiently as possible. They have helped us fill our clients' difficult positions quickly and effectively. They are absolutely trustworthy, communicate very well, and have extensive networks in most industries.
Very professional team! Excellent service and great results!
You pay 20% of your new leader's first-year base salary, and only once they have accepted your offer. No retainer, no upfront thirds, nothing owed if you don't hire.
Most U.S. executive search is retained: 25 to 35% of total compensation, billed in three instalments whether or not the search succeeds. Our Canadian cost base is what lets us run the same search on a success basis.
[TO CONFIRM WITH CLIENT] We recruit U.S.-based leaders for U.S. roles. Our team and cost base are in Canada; your shortlist isn't. Where a cross-border candidate is the right fit, we tell you up front and walk you through what it involves.
Yes, and most are. Replacing an incumbent, opening a new region or hiring ahead of an announcement are all handled without your company name in the market until you decide otherwise. Candidates sign an NDA before the role is disclosed.
St-Amour is the largest specialized recruitment firm owned and operated in Canada, with 50 years and 600+ client companies behind it. Our senior recruiters have held leadership roles in the sectors they recruit for.
It also means a lower fee, a cross-border candidate network, and consultants used to head offices that run on both sides of the border.
You are better served working with a single firm on a leadership search. Multiple providers means the same executives approached twice about the same role, which weakens your employer brand with exactly the people you want to attract.
Every candidate goes through a thorough face-to-face interview with the senior recruiter leading your mandate, typically over an hour, with behavioral and situational questions. Psychometric assessments, reference checks and pre-employment verifications (criminal, academic, credit) are available on request.
Thirty minutes with a senior recruiter from your sector, not a salesperson. We go through the role, the mandate, the compensation band and the timeline, and we tell you honestly whether we're the right firm. If we are, the search starts that week.
No sales pitch. No corporate presentation. A single 30-minute call to assess the feasibility of your mandate and move into action.
For employers only. Confidential consultation, no obligation.
A senior recruiter from your industry replies within one business day.
lower cost than U.S. search firms
to first candidates
years in executive recruitment
client companies