Vice-President, Government Relations & Public Affairs

Join one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies and be part of something extraordinary – welcome to goeasy! At goeasy, our people and culture are at the heart of everything we do, and we’re proud to be recognized for it. We’ve earned prestigious accolades such as Waterstone Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures, Canada’s Top Growing Companies, and the TSX30, highlighting us as one of the top performers on the TSX. We’re also honoured to be named a Greater Toronto Top Employer and recognized by Great Place to Work® as having the Best Workplaces for Women & Most Trusted Executive Teams, and included on TIME Magazine’s 2025 list of Canada’s Best Companies.  These honours reflect our commitment to fostering an inclusive, high-performance culture where talent thrives and innovation drives us forward. 

As one of Canada’s leading alternative consumer lenders, we’re passionate about helping everyday Canadians create a brighter future. Our vision is to provide a path to a better tomorrow, today. We offer a full range of products, including non-prime leasing, unsecured and secured loans, and point-of-sale financing through easyhome, easyfinancial, and LendCare.

If you're seeking an exciting, high-growth environment where your contributions truly matter, we want to hear from you! Join us, and together, let's create a future of financial empowerment.

About the Role

The Vice President, Government Relations & Public Affairs plays a crucial role in developing, shaping and executing goeasy’s government relations and public affairs strategy.

This highly visible role will build and manage complex relationships with key government, media, and industry stakeholders. By monitoring relevant government policies, legislation and regulations, you will raise goeasy’s visibility among key decision-makers and help advance proactive strategies that support our business objectives — particularly those impacting consumer lending, financial services, and fintech innovation.

Reporting to the Chief Legal Officer, this individual will lead a comprehensive policy, public affairs, and stakeholder relations program that strengthens goeasy’s reputation and influence among key external audiences.

Key Responsibilities

Government Relations Strategy & Policy Development

• Develop and implement a strategic approach to government relations that balances goeasy’s business requirements with the intricacies of all levels of applicable government.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments across all jurisdictions and prepare policy briefs, position papers, and testimony for hearings and consultations.
• Advise on complex legal matters and tailor recommendations to meet business goals as outlined by the Executive Leadership Team and applicable to a publicly traded company (TSX: GSY).
• Collaborate with the Chief Legal Officer to implement the government relations strategy and advance organizational and brand objectives.
• Oversee regulatory affairs activity across relevant jurisdictions, consulting with internal stakeholders, tracking developments, and coordinating timely responses to emerging requirements.

Stakeholder Engagement & Representation

• Lead engagement with federal, provincial, and municipal government officials, regulators, and industry associations to raise awareness, influence policy, and position goeasy as a trusted leader in the alternative lending space.
• Represent goeasy in meetings with senior government officials, key stakeholders, and third-party influencers.
• Manage relationships with government relations agencies, ensuring timely and appropriate completion of assigned work.Ensure compliance with lobbying and political activity regulations.

Public Affairs & Communications

• Lead strategic communications related to public policy, regulatory issues, and corporate reputation, working closely with internal and external communications teams.
• Develop engaging materials for government and stakeholder engagement, including presentations, briefing notes, speeches, consultation responses, and other communication collateral.
• Oversee development of public messaging, press releases, op-eds, and social media content related to policy and advocacy.
• Partner with the communications team to manage proactive media outreach and issues management, ensuring clear and timely messaging to all stakeholders.

Legal & Regulatory Advisory

• Provide legal direction and oversight on key corporate transactions, regulatory matters, and legal proceedings, including management of external counsel and contract review.
• Advise and provide legal direction relating to regulatory and governance requirements for mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and sponsorship initiatives.
• Support enterprise risk management and ensure the Chief Legal Officer is apprised of material issues or emerging risks.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of related experience, either in a legal, public sector, or corporate government relations capacity.
• Membership in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario (or other provincial equivalent), with demonstrated expertise in all relevant areas of law.
• Post-secondary education in a field such as law, government relations, or similar.
• Strong government and public relations acumen, including deep knowledge of various levels of government.
• Proven experience developing and implementing government relations, public relations, and media relations plans.
• Strong presence with superior relationship-building skills and success connecting with functional leaders, partners, and stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; French–English bilingualism is an asset.
• High attention to detail with the ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
• Confident, proactive self-starter with strong initiative and ability to take plans from concept to execution.

We offer a Flexible Work Program that provides you the ability to work three days onsite per week, from our Mississauga office.

Internal Applicants: please apply through the link and provide written endorsement from your current manager.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity Employment:

At goeasy, we believe that we can only be the best when people are able to bring their best selves to work every day. goeasy is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other’s differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to providing accommodations (including accessible meeting rooms, captioning for virtual interviews, etc.) to help us remove barriers so that you can participate throughout the interview process. Please let the talent acquisition team know if you require an accommodation during any aspect of the recruitment process and we will work with you to address your needs.  

Additional Information: 

All candidates considered for hire must successfully pass a criminal background check, credit check, and validation of their work experience to qualify for hire. We thank all interested applicants; however, we will only be contacting those for interview who possess the skills and qualifications outlined above.  

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