National Accounting Firm Expands Into St. Catharines

National Accounting Firm Expands Into St. Catharines

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2016, CALGARY, AB – MNP LLP, one of Canada’s largest national accounting and business consulting firms, announced today that R.K. Shaver, Chartered Professional Accountants, a St. Catharines-based accounting firm, has merged with MNP, effective January 1, 2016. While R.K. Shaver was looking to add much-needed resources and expand their specialty services to clients, MNP was looking to establish a presence in St. Catharines / Niagara Area with a well-respected and client-focused firm that shares the same values.

“Our firm first entered the Ontario market in the summer of 2008 in Toronto and since that time has added 11 more locations, while continuing to look for like-minded firms to build on their strategic plans for growth in Ontario,” said Jeremy Cole, MNP’s Executive Vice President for Ontario and Quebec. “St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada’s Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario. As the economy of St. Catharines grows, so do the needs of the business community and we recognize that both the business community and our firm have an opportunity to grow together.”

MNP is ranked as the fifth-largest firm in Canada and employs over 3,500 team members from Victoria to Montreal. In addition to tax and accounting expertise, MNP delivers a diverse range of advisory services, including consulting, enterprise risk, corporate finance, valuation and litigation support, succession planning, estate planning, insolvency and restructuring, investigative and forensic accounting, cross-border taxation and more.

R.K. Shaver was established in 1985, when Keith Shaver teamed up with his father, Bob. They began by servicing owner-managed businesses in southern Ontario; firms that could benefit from the expertise and counsel of a Chartered Accountant. Today, some of those ‘small’ businesses have grown into multi-million dollar corporations and R. K. Shaver has grown with them. R.K. Shaver has a professional and support team of 11 who provide a range of accounting, assurance, tax and consulting services.

“We are very excited to have joined MNP. For more than 55 years, MNP has served the small to mid-market public and private sectors in the areas of accounting, consulting and tax and has also been recognized as one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada by the AON Hewitt for eight consecutive years,” said Shaver. “As the marketplace evolves and our client needs become more complex, we are embarking on a new chapter of our story. We believe joining a national firm with a local client service philosophy and greater breadth and depth of services and resources will serve our clients well and position us for continued success and growth. Coming together will strengthen and deepen our existing leadership and offer our clients strategic advice specifically tailored to their business so they can continue to overcome current business and industry challenges.”

Rick Wismer, CPA, CA, CAFA, PAg, LPA, an MNP Partner, who recently joined MNP himself and relocated to the R.K. Shaver location, said what appealed to him about MNP was that the firm has an organizational culture and values founded on an unwavering commitment to people. “MNP focuses on creating a great place to work and do business, where a healthy balance between home and work life are at the core of how business is run,” he explained. “I am truly excited to be a part of the MNP family.”

MNP credits its strategic mergers and acquisitions, organic growth, value-added services and corporate culture for catapulting the firm to lead with the highest year-over-year growth rates of any of Canada’s top accounting firms for nearly a decade.

“To maintain our corporate culture, we have been very strategic about who we invite to join our team,” explained Cole. “We carefully guard our corporate culture and as a result, we have a low client and employee turnover and are attracting some of the brightest professionals in our industry. We are thrilled to have the R.K. Shaver team join us in our efforts to help St. Catharines and the Niagara area business community achieve even greater success.”

Shaver and Wismer were admitted into the MNP Partnership on January 1, 2016 and will continue to operate out of One Church Street—along with their team– now under the MNP banner.

About MNP LLP

MNP is one of the largest national accounting and consulting firms in Canada, providing client-focused accounting, taxation and consulting advice. National in scope and local in focus, MNP has proudly served individuals and public and private companies for more than 55 years. Through the development of strong relationships, MNP provides personalized strategies and a local perspective to help them succeed. For more information, visit www.mnp.ca.

For more information, please contact:

Jeremy Cole, CPA, CA
Executive Vice President, Ontario and Quebec
MNP LLP
416.596.1711
jeremy.cole@mnp.ca

R. Keith Shaver, B.Comm., CPA, CA
Partner
MNP LLP
905.641.0846
keith.shaver@mnp.ca

Rick Wismer, CPA, CA
Partner
MNP
905.641.0846
rick.wismer@mnp.ca