Executive Leadership Team

Michael Medline was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc. in January 2017. Mr. Medline is a proven leader with a strong track record of success in Canadian retail. He has held senior retail leadership positions at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC), including President & Chief Executive Officer of CTC. He began his career working with the Ontario Securities Commission, followed by two years practicing law with McCarthy Tétrault. He was Corporate Counsel for PepsiCo Canada before moving to Abitibi Consolidated Inc. where he held a variety of roles including Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development.

Mr. Medline serves on the Board of Directors for Scotiabank, and as Chair of the Board’s Corporate Governance Committee. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for SickKids (and Chair of the Human Resources Committee), as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors for Huron University College at Western University, and on the Board of Directors for The Sobey Foundation. He is past Chair of the Retail Council of Canada as well as The Grocery Foundation and was formerly on the Board of Governors for Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Board of Directors for SickKids Foundation and The Black North Initiative.

In recognition of his industry contributions and transformational leadership, Mr. Medline was honoured as the Globe and Mail CEO of the Year in 2018, Canada’s Most Admired CEO for 2020 by Waterstone Capital and with the 2024 Trailblazer Award by the Retail Council of Canada for his outstanding service and dedication to the Canadian retail and grocery industries. In 2025, Mr. Medline was honoured with the 2025 Principled Achievement Award from the Raymond A. Mason School of Business at William & Mary.

Mr. Medline holds an MBA from Raymond A. Mason School of Business, William & Mary; an LL.B. from the University of Toronto; and a BA from Huron University College at Western University.

Simon Gagné serves as Executive Vice President and as a member of the Executive Leadership Team for Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc.

A native of Matane, Québec, Mr. Gagné has more than 30 years of experience in food retailing, and private and public transportation. Between 1985 and 1997, Mr. Gagné held a variety of progressively senior management positions with Cabano Transport in both Montréal and Ottawa, and with the Montreal Urban Transit system (STM).

In 1997, he joined the Oshawa Group as Director, Employee Relations, and in 2000 was appointed Vice President, Human Resources and Internal Communications, Sobeys Québec. In 2010, he assumed additional responsibility for the company’s Distribution and Logistics function in Québec and was promoted to Chief Human Resources Officer for Sobeys Inc. in 2012.

Mr. Gagné has a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Relations and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Laval.

Julia Knox serves as the Chief Technology and Analytics Officer (CTAO) and Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) at Empire Company Limited. In her role, she oversees Technology, Cyber Security, Enterprise Data, Advanced Analytics and AI, and the Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO).

Julia joined Empire in 2021 as SVP, Merchandising Solutions and Retail Enablement, bringing with her extensive retail expertise gained as a highly accomplished executive at Giant Tiger, where she was SVP, E-Commerce and Chief Merchandising Officer for the non-food businesses, leading both merchandising and e-commerce. She also held senior roles at H-E-B Grocery Company in Texas and worked in strategy consulting at Monitor Group in Toronto and New York.  

Beyond her corporate leadership, Julia is deeply committed to serving the retail industry and her community. She is currently Chair of the Advisory Council at the David Sobey Retailing Center at Saint Mary’s University and serves on the Board of Governors at GS1 Canada. She is on the Board of Directors at the St. Joseph’s Health Center Foundation in Toronto, is the Past Chair of the Board of the Ottawa Cancer Foundation and has played a pivotal role as a founding activator of Coralus, a non-profit venture capital fund supporting women entrepreneurs.

Ms. Knox holds an Honours Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

Doug Nathanson is Executive Vice President, Chief Development Officer and General Counsel of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc. In addition to heading the company’s Legal function, Mr. Nathanson has leadership accountability for Real Estate, Corporate Strategy & Development, Strategic Sourcing, Communications & Corporate Affairs, Government Relations and Sustainability.

Prior to joining Empire, Mr. Nathanson was General Counsel at Canadian Tire Corporation, overseeing all legal matters across the Canadian Tire family of companies, including those related to new business opportunities, partnerships, and acquisitions. He also served as Canadian Tire’s Chief Human Resources Officer, led the petroleum business, and managed the corporate strategy group. Prior to Canadian Tire, Mr. Nathanson was the Associate General Counsel at MI Developments, Magna International’s real estate operating company. Earlier in his career, he worked in Toronto and New York at major international law firms and served as a clerk at the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Mr. Nathanson is a member of the Bar in both Ontario and New York State and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University (High Distinction) and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law where he won the Angus MacMurchy Gold Medal.

Sandra Pasquini is the Chief Human Resources Officer for Empire Company Limited. As leader of the company’s People, Performance and Development strategy, Ms. Pasquini is the principal counsel and steward of Empire’s talent attraction, retention and development initiatives, as well as the organization’s succession and career planning, leadership development and people engagement initiatives.

She joined Empire in 2022 as Senior Vice President Human Resources where she led the HR Business Partner team nationally.  Prior to Empire Sandra was Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Rogers Communications.  There she led HR for Rogers Wireless, Residential and Customer Experience divisions and she led National Talent Acquisition. 

Sandra completed the Advanced Program in Human Resource Management from Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Psychology from York University. She has her CHRP designation, and she is an ACC certified executive coach who has a passion for driving change and building high performing teams.

Constantine Pefanis was appointed Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc. in May 2025. He has spent over two decades in senior leadership roles mostly in the Canadian retail landscape, where he has held a variety of senior executive roles including Chief Financial Officer of Leon’s Furniture Limited (LFL Group), Canada’s largest publicly listed home furnishings retailer.

In September 1999 he began his career in Toronto in the audit and tax practices of the global big four firms, obtained his designation as a Chartered Accountant in 2002 and subsequently embarked as a management consultant within the firms of Arthur Andersen and Deloitte delivering on many international client mandates mostly within the consumer-packaged goods and manufacturing industries before joining the LFL Group’s senior management team in 2005.

Mr. Pefanis holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and is designated as a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant by CPA Canada and CPA Ontario, respectively.

Sandra Sanderson is Chief Marketing Officer of Empire Company Limited and Sobeys Inc. She is accountable for brand strategies across a broad portfolio of banners, as well as integrated marketing, the Scene+ loyalty programming, private label marketing, sponsorships, community investments, marketing technology, consumer insights, and Empire’s in-house creative studio.

Ms. Sanderson launched her career in consumer packaged goods at P&G, Kraft, and Coca-Cola and later became the General Manager of Brand Marketing at Canada Post, and Senior Vice President of Marketing at Universal Studios. Transitioning into the retail sector, Ms. Sanderson held the roles of SVP Marketing at Shoppers Drug Mart and Chief Marketing & Quality Officer at Walmart Canada. Her professional journey even extended into the United States, where she served as SVP Marketing at White House Black Market.

Ms. Sanderson currently serves on the boards of both Special Olympics and Scene+. Furthermore, she has played an active role in fostering the marketing community, and has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Marketing Association and as the Chair of the Retail Council of Canada’s Senior Retail Marketing Committee.

In 2023, she was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Legends and received the CMA’s Marketer of the Year award in 2020. She also received the Marketer of the Year award in 2012 and 2021 for her work at Shoppers Drug Mart and Empire, respectively. Additionally, she was honoured with the Star Women in Grocery Award in 2015.

Ms. Sanderson holds an Honours Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

Pierre St-Laurent is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Empire Company Limited. Mr. St-Laurent leads merchandising, retail operations, and supply chain nationally across our grocery and related businesses.

Throughout his impressive 33-year career at Empire Company Limited, Mr. St-Laurent has amassed a wealth of experience and profound business acumen. His journey within the company has seen him excel in various key functions, including finance, distribution and logistics, retail operations, and business development. More recently, Pierre St-Laurent played a pivotal role in driving Empire’s transformation under our Sunrise and Horizon chapters where his disciplined, decisive approach helped establish Empire as an industry leader, as well as in leading the continuity of our operations and servicing of our customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keenly focused on operational excellence, collaboration, and disciplined execution, Mr. St-Laurent’s track record and reputation are widely respected throughout the industry. In 2020, he was named one of Canada’s 50 Best Executives by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine. 

Mr. St-Laurent holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Université du Québec à Montréal, and is currently Vice President of the Board of Directors at the Fondation Charles-Bruneau.