Mathieu Duguay, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer

Mathieu Duguay has been COGIR Real Estate’s Chief Executive Officer since 2014 and the firm’s Senior Partner since 2004. Since Fall 2022, he’s also Chief Investment Officer.

Over the years, Mr. Duguay has enhanced Cogir’s enviable reputation in the fields of management, acquisitions, development, construction, partnerships and capital markets. He has proven his undeniable ability to assemble a first-class management team that is fully committed to its corporate mission.

Mr. Duguay is also quite involved, both personally and through Cogir Real Estate, in many charitable endeavours, particularly those concerning education, health issues, sports and the arts.

Antoine Bernier, Chief Financial and Asset Management Officer

Mr. Bernier has served as Chief Financial Officer since August 2014. He is in charge of the company’s corporate finances and oversees the accounting teams in our residential and commercial divisions.

Mr. Bernier is a chartered professional accountant who joined the company after working for almost ten years in a national accounting firm as the senior certification manager for a diverse portfolio of small businesses and publicly traded companies.

Mr. Bernier holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a graduate diploma in public accounting from HEC Montréal.

Bruno Desautels, Chief Partnership and Corporate Affairs Officer

Mr. Desautels became a member of COGIR’s executive board in October 2014. As Chief Partnership and Corporate Affairs Officer, Mr. Desautels is responsible for maintaining and developing COGIR’s investment activities and tax planning.

Prior to joining the company, Mr. Desautels was a partner at KPMG LLP, where he gained significant experience in real estate, mergers and acquisitions, negotiations, and business development.

Mr. Desautels is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) and holds a bachelor’s in commerce from Université du Québec à Montréal.

Frédéric Soucy, President, Cogir Management Corporation G.P.

Mr. Soucy is responsible for the overall management and the growth of COGIR Management Company’s services. In this role, he is responsible for business strategy, team leadership, asset performance, client relationships, and business development. The management company has the mandate to provide property management and real estate consulting services. The services are designed for multi-residential buildings, seniors’ residences, student housing, shopping centres, office towers and industrial space.

Mr. Soucy is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Regroupement Québécois des résidences privées pour aînés. Mr. Soucy holds a Bachelor of Marketing degree from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Université de Sherbrooke. He has more than twenty years of management and business development experience.

Prior to joining COGIR Realty, he worked at RONA (TSX : RONA), where he was one of the company’s commercial builders, serving as National Sales Director.

Stéphane Côté, President, Major Projects Division

A determined visionary and active entrepreneur in the Montreal business district, Stéphane Côté graduated in 1992 with a major in economics and a minor in administration from Université du Québec à Montréal. Obtaining a contractor’s licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Quebec, he quickly developed an interest in renovation and conversion projects. The transformation of the old Hudson’s Bay warehouse into lofts marks the debut of his real estate entrepreneurial career in Montreal.

In 1998, he incorporated DevMcGill and served his clients well by carrying out multi-phase and mixed-use projects that featured a classic and trendy design and revealed a unique creative talent that focused on a new lifestyle.

Always with the same vision in mind, building smart living environments for tomorrow, DevMcGill continues to enrich the lives of its residents, helping residential areas to grow and to thrive.

Marc Doré, President, Real Estate Development and Construction

Mr. Doré was in charge of managing Cogir Real Estate’s investments and assets since 2020. Since Fall 2022, he’s President, Real Estate Development and Construction.

During his career, he has acquired extensive investment, financing and management experience with public and private companies in various industries, including several years as Managing Director and Chief Investment and Asset Management Officer with SITQ (Ivanhoe Cambridge) (worldwide), as Managing Director at Fengate real assets (Toronto), as CEO of Seasons Retirement Communities (Toronto) and as Chief Investment Officer at Réseau Sélection.

Most recently, he was President and Chief Operating Officer at Peak Financial Group. He is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA), a graduate of the Université du Québec à Montréal with a Bachelor of Business Administration and he has received leadership training from Oxford University.

Lee Warren, Managing Partner, Ontario & Rest of Canada

M. Warren joined Cogir in 2022, and he is responsible for leading and scaling the firm’s investment and management platforms in Ontario and Western Canada.  M. Warren also supports the development and realization of environmental, social and governance aspects of Cogir’s business strategy.

M. Warren is a seasoned commercial real estate executive and multi-residential leader, with two decades of investment, asset management and development experience.  Prior to joining Cogir, M. Warren enjoyed a lengthy career with a major Canadian Life Insurance company, where his track record was characterized by portfolio growth, top-quartile investment returns and socially-conscious investing.
M. Warren brings to the workplace a passion for creative disruption, data-driven decision making and measured risk-taking, and he is committed to matching Client objectives with suitable investment opportunities and management strategies.

M. Warren holds a B.A. in Economics from Concordia University, and an M.B.A (Finance) from York University Schulich School of Business.  M. Warren is a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity (GTA).

Martine Bazinet, Vice President, Legal Affairs

Ms. Bazinet has been Vice President, Legal Affairs for COGIR Real Estate since April 2015. She is a member of the Barreau du Québec and the Canadian Bar Association.

She received her bachelor of law degree from Université de Montréal, has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from HEC Montréal, and did graduate studies in finance and common law.

Before joining COGIR Real Estate, she spent the past 20 years as Legal Director Canada & Caribbean for PPG Industries, Inc.; Legal Director & Secretary North America Decorative Paints BU for Akzo Nobel/N.V.; and General Counsel & Secretary for Sico Inc., after practising for over 11 years as an associate attorney in a legal firm specializing in business law and finance.

Serge G. Duguay, Founder

With a strong background in real estate, Serge G. Duguay incorporated COGIR Real Estate in 1995 and served as its president until 2013, before handing over this role to his son, Mathieu Duguay.

Still very much involved with the company, he uses his 40 years of experience in property management to develop a unique approach that has made COGIR a distinctive brand in the industry.

What was originally a small company with just a few employees has become a true leader in real estate and the 55th-largest employer in the province of Quebec.

Frédéric Soucy, President, COGIR Management Corporation G.P.

The management company has the mandate to provide property management and real estate consulting services. The services are designed for multi-residential buildings, seniors’ residences, student housing, shopping centres, office towers and industrial space.

Marc Doré, President, Real Estate Development and Construction

Mr. Doré was in charge of managing Cogir Real Estate’s investments and assets since 2020. Since Fall 2022, he’s President, Real Estate Development and Construction.

During his career, he has acquired extensive investment, financing and management experience with public and private companies in various industries, including several years as Managing Director and Chief Investment and Asset Management Officer with SITQ (Ivanhoe Cambridge) (worldwide), as Managing Director at Fengate real assets (Toronto), as CEO of Seasons Retirement Communities (Toronto) and as Chief Investment Officer at Réseau Sélection.

Most recently, he was President and Chief Operating Officer at Peak Financial Group. He is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA), a graduate of the Université du Québec à Montréal with a Bachelor of Business Administration and he has received leadership training from Oxford University.

Stéphane Côté, President, Major Projects Division

A determined visionary and active entrepreneur in the Montreal business district, Stéphane Côté graduated in 1992 with a major in economics and a minor in administration from Université du Québec à Montréal. Obtaining a contractor’s licence from the Régie du bâtiment du Quebec, he quickly developed an interest in renovation and conversion projects. The transformation of the old Hudson’s Bay warehouse into lofts marks the debut of his real estate entrepreneurial career in Montreal.

In 1998, he incorporated DevMcGill and served his clients well by carrying out multi-phase and mixed-use projects that featured a classic and trendy design and revealed a unique creative talent that focused on a new lifestyle.

Always with the same vision in mind, building smart living environments for tomorrow, DevMcGill continues to enrich the lives of its residents, helping residential areas to grow and to thrive.

David Eskenazy, Chief Executive Officer, Cogir Management USA

Mr. Eskenazy leads our USA team as the CEO having last served as President of Merrill Gardens, and was previously the Chief Financial Officer for Aegis Living.

Prior to that, he spent 20 years with RC Hedreen Co., a Seattle-based hotel development company, and for 16 years was a member of the Board of directors for Outerwall (NASD: OUTR), parent company for Redbox and Coinstar, prior to its acquisition by Apollo.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the California Assisted Living Association as Vice Chair.