Exit Planning Institute - Find a CEPA

Catherine Ouellette, MBA, CEPA, FEA, partners with enterprising families to strengthen their businesses and increase enterprise value, align family and ownership, and create enduring multigenerational wealth.

Working across the entire family enterprise—family, ownership, and business leadership—she helps clients navigate growth, governance, succession, and business transition while preserving family relationships and preparing future generations. Whether an owner intends to grow the business for years to come or transition through a family succession or sale, Catherine helps clients:

Accelerate business value by strengthening the drivers that increase enterprise value, resilience, and long-term attractiveness.
Prepare the business and ownership for growth, succession, or a successful transition when the time is right. Align family, ownership, and management through governance, communication, and effective decision-making.Prepare owners for life after business, helping them achieve the financial readiness, purpose, and confidence to embrace their next chapter.

Recognizing that the best outcomes are achieved through collaboration, Catherine works closely with each client's trusted advisors—including legal counsel, tax specialists, accountants, wealth advisors, estate planning professionals, insurance advisors, lenders, and M&A advisors. Acting as a strategic advisor and coordinator, she helps align business, financial, legal, tax, estate, and family planning into a cohesive strategy focused on achieving the family's long-term objectives.

Prior to founding her advisory practice, Catherine held senior leadership and client advisory roles with one of Canada's leading global financial institutions, advising privately held companies, family enterprises, ultra-high-net-worth families, and publicly traded multinational corporations. Working closely with business owners, boards of directors, executive leadership teams, and family decision-makers, she led multidisciplinary teams that delivered integrated solutions across corporate banking, capital markets, treasury management, wealth management, governance, succession planning, and business transition.

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Working across the entire family enterprise—family, ownership, and business leadership—she helps clients navigate growth, governance, succession, and business transition while preserving family relationships and preparing future generations. Whether an owner intends to grow the business for years to come or transition through a family succession or sale, Catherine helps clients:

Accelerate business value by strengthening the drivers that increase enterprise value, resilience, and long-term attractiveness.

Prepare the business and ownership for growth, succession, or a successful transition when the time is right. Align family, ownership, and management through governance, communication, and effective decision-making.Prepare owners for life after business, helping them achieve the financial readiness, purpose, and confidence to embrace their next chapter.

Recognizing that the best outcomes are achieved through collaboration, Catherine works closely with each client's trusted advisors—including legal counsel, tax specialists, accountants, wealth advisors, estate planning professionals, insurance advisors, lenders, and M&A advisors. Acting as a strategic advisor and coordinator, she helps align business, financial, legal, tax, estate, and family planning into a cohesive strategy focused on achieving the family's long-term objectives.

Prior to founding her advisory practice, Catherine held senior leadership and client advisory roles with one of Canada's leading global financial institutions, advising privately held companies, family enterprises, ultra-high-net-worth families, and publicly traded multinational corporations. Working closely with business owners, boards of directors, executive leadership teams, and family decision-makers, she led multidisciplinary teams that delivered integrated solutions across corporate banking, capital markets, treasury management, wealth management, governance, succession planning, and business transition.

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CATHERINE OUELLETTE

CATHERINE OUELLETTE

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The Impact of Unplanned Consequences on Business Value Whitepaper

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