Who We Are

Smart Sustainability is no longer out of reach.

Canary Biofuels is already producing cost-effective, profitable solutions to a challenge most are only beginning to understand, and the future of the biofuel industry looks bright.

At Canary, our vision is reducing carbon emissions at scale through sustainable production of biofuels. We will achieve our vision by taking full advantage of the growing global demand for biofuel and available carbon credits with the right balance of innovation and operation.

Canary Biofuels Timeline

Leadership Team

The Canary team is bridging the gap between the needs of a changing climate and the ever-growing demand for energy. Our experienced leadership team represents a strong entrepreneurial track record with multi-disciplinary industry expertise in energy and agriculture.

We rely on diverse opinions and perspectives to keep moving forward as we make the most of innovation on balance with efficient, profitable operation. We understand that clean, renewable energy isn’t just a trend – it’s the foundation of an emerging Canadian economic driver with vast global potential. By connecting that experience with the ever-increasing need for renewable energy we are ready to grow the Canary Advantage.

George Wadsworth

President and Chief Executive Officer

Learn more about George

George brings more than 25 years of leadership, expertise and entrepreneurship in the energy sector. He is president and co-founder of Marquis Alliance Energy and a former executive at Secure Energy.

George graduated from the University of Calgary, Canada with a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology, and completed post-graduate programs in leadership and business management at Queens University, Harvard and University of Calgary.

Rob Skilnick

Chief Financial Officer

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Rob is a seasoned financial leader with more than 20 years of finance and accounting experience in the energy sector, most recently as a former executive and CFO at Trican Well Service. His transparent approach to business management, combined with capital discipline, has enabled him to successfully lead financial transformation and handle the complexities of market and economic volatility.

Rob has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting and finance from the University of Saskatchewan.

Kavanagh Mannas

Vice-President, Corporate Development

Learn more about Kavanagh

15+ years experience as an engineer and senior executive within conventional and alternative energy motivated organizations. Most recently Kavanagh was the Executive in Residence at ARC Financial, Canada’s largest energy focused private equity manager, supporting their efforts in Energy Transition.

Experience founding, acquiring and cultivating organizations focused on energy, agricultural and low-carbon solutions. Recent efforts include ethanol production with CCUS, plant-based-protein development and cogenerated power developments combined within biofuel facilities.

P. Eng with BASc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto, an MBA with a specialization in Finance from the University of Calgary and a CFA charterholder.

Bryan Yeh

Vice President Engineering and US Operations

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Bryan was most recently President and CEO of American Biodiesel, dba Community Fuels. With over 35 years of experience, Bryan held senior positions with Intrexon, ZeaChem, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), General Electric, and Cargill. Bryan served as Chair for the Northern California/Nevada section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and was the recipient of their Professional Progress award in 2011. He is on the Governing Board of the American Oil Chemists Society. Bryan has led the construction of numerous facilities around the world and has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, an MBA from the University of Minnesota, and is a registered professional engineer in the state of California.

Board of Directors

Kent Brown

Board Chair

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Kent Brown is a Canadian entrepreneur focused on the cleantech sector for more than 20 years. As founding CEO of BluEarth Renewables, he built a $1.2B renewable energy platform that sold in 2015 and he stayed on as Director & Advisor until 2020. Prior to founding BluEarth, Kent was CEO of Canadian Hydro Developers, the largest Canadian renewable energy company at the time, until its $1.6B sale in 2009. Currently, Kent is Co-Founder & Partner of Idea Well Capital Partners, a VC/PE climate tech and energy transition fund, Board Chair of VEERUM, a SaaS provider in the industrial cleantech sector, and Director at CMLC, the city-owned urban renewal developer.

Kent was also appointed by the Government of Alberta’s Climate Change Advisory Panel to co-lead and co-facilitate Electricity Stakeholder Technical Engagement sessions, which lead to the Climate Leadership Plan. He co-created The Catherine Bell & Kent Brown Awakened Company Award at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. Kent holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) from Western University and holds both CPA and CA accreditation.

Jennifer Carscallen

Director

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CEO and founder of Arletta Environmental Consulting with over 17 years of experience in the environmental management and assessment industry. Jennifer founded, built and sold her first version of Arletta to Gemini Corp in 2015, where she continued as Director of Environmental Solutions. Jennifer has also had technical roles for both Ark Envirotech and Whitecap Resources. Jennifer is highly versed in Canadian environmental regulations as well as the required framework for ESG.

Professional Agrologist and Biologist with a M.Sc., in Environmental Engineering and a B.Sc., in Environmental Science.

Cody Church

Director

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CEO and President of Clear North Capital. Co-founded TriWest Capital Partners in 1997 where he served >20 portfolio company Boards and helped grow TriWest into one of Canada’s leading private equity groups. Former roles with CS First Boston and PE firm, EXOR

Former Chairman of Edgefront REIT (now Nexus REIT); former Chairman of Source Energy Services, current Chairman of Decibel Inc.; current Chairman of POI Business Solutions based in Markham, Ontario. Graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Economics from Harvard University.

Tony Loria

Director

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Co-founder of Eight Capital with over 20 years of experience in building and managing investment banking franchises and advising a global client base focusing on corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, corporate strategy and business innovation. Tony was previously Managing Director at Dundee Securities and Partner, Managing Director at Genuity Capital Markets prior to being acquired by Canaccord Capital.

George Wadsworth

President & CEO

Learn more about George

25 years experience in the energy industry with 17 as an executive and/or business owner and the remaining as a research chemist, business development and Country Manager having worked for companies such as Schlumberger, Marquis Alliance Energy Group and Secure Energy.

Founded, built and sold Marquis Alliance (drilling, production and environmental services) to Secure in 2011, where George sat on the executive team and led the upstream chemical and waste recycling business until 2020. George also sat on the board of Secure from 2011-2014.

B.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the University of Calgary, Canada with post graduate executive programs in leadership and business management at Queens University, Harvard and the University of Calgary.