The Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada (CGFC) raises funds for Commonwealth Sport Canada to fulfil its Mission of sending a Team Canada to the Commonwealth Games every four years!  Incorporated in 1982, the CGFC is a registered charity led by volunteer Board of Directors comprised of business people from across Canada.The Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada raises funds through corporate donors and events and through generous Canadians, like you.

Pradeep Sood, President 2020 –

Pradeep Sood is a successful business executive who is based in Markham, Ontario.  He has devoted his time and energies to his family, building businesses and supporting the community.  Pradeep has been a director of the Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada since 2014 and was elected to be Chair/President in 2020.

He is  co-owner and Director of Highbury Canco Corporation, a food processing company that purchased the Heinz facility in Leamington, Ontario. This acquisition helped save more than 250 jobs. HCC has since expanded and employs more than 600 full time workers. Pradeep is also the founder and owner of XactScribe Inc., a Toronto based Transcription Company.

Pradeep has served as Chairman of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and President of the Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce. He has also served on the Boards of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Toronto Region Board of Trade. He has also been a Director of Prostate Cancer Canada, Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation and a member of the Civic Action Steering Committee. He currently is on the Board of Governors of George Brown College. In recognition of his numerous contributions and professional excellence, Pradeep has received the Lifetime Outstanding Achievement Award from the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, the Bob Marley Humanitarian Award, Professional Excellence Award from the Transformation Institute for Leadership and Innovation, and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for contribution to Ontario and Canada.

Pradeep has a Bachelor of Arts degree ( Hons. Economics), holds a Chartered Accountant designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors, Rotman School of Management, Toronto.

Bruce Robertson, Treasurer 2014 –

Bruce Robertson has been actively involved with CSC for almost 20 years as a Member-at-Large, Treasurer, Vice President, and as President of the Commonwealth Games Foundation of Canada.

Presently, he is Vice President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Ex Officio Member of the CSC Board of Directors. He is also the Chair of both the CGF Marketing and Coordination Committees. Bruce is known professionally for his excellent project management skills as a systems consultant throughout North America. His earlier professional experience included postings in Dusseldorf, Germany and Toronto with a major international consulting firm.

Background in Sport

As a competitive swimmer, Bruce won 16 medals for Canada in international competitions. At the 1974 Commonwealth Games, he was the most decorated Canadian athlete, winning a total of six medals. At the 1973 World Aquatic Championships, he won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly and a relay bronze medal. At the 1972 Olympic Games, he won one silver and one bronze medal.

In recognition of his athletic accomplishments, Bruce was named Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year in 1973 and was awarded the Order of Canada a year later. In 1977, he was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Canadian Aquatic Hall of Fame, the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Bruce is a resident of Manotick, Ontario.

Sean Shannon, Director 2013 –

Sean brings over 30 years of global business experience and brand building success to the organizations he is involved with.  Currently, Sean is the COO for Busbud Inc., an online travel service for finding and buying intercity bus tickets around the world. Prior to this, Sean spent 14 years at Expedia, Inc., including over 10 years as Managing Director of Expedia Canada, and 4 years also as leader of Expedia Latin America and Australia/New Zealand business units.  During his time at Expedia, Sean lead the growth of Expedia.ca from its first days of operations to scaling to well over $2 billion per year in travel bookings by Canadian customers.

Prior to joining Expedia, Sean held several executive positions including Vice President, Business Development for Molson Breweries. Sean began his career at Procter & Gamble in brand management.

Sean holds an Honours Bachelor degree from the Ivey Business School at the Western University. He is also sits on the Board of Directors for Food For The Poor Canada, is a past American Marketing Association of Toronto board member, and served on the Marketing Hall of Legends Canada executive for many years from its inception.  Sean lives in Toronto with his wife and has 3 adult children.

Lorraine Lafrenière, Director 2017 –

Lorraine is a strategic thinker with excellent people skills and an enthusiastic approach to challenges who has played a leadership role in the sport community for many years. Her passion for sport goes back decades to when she saw the incredibly powerful role athletes play in inspiring younger generations to stay active and healthy while making a contribution to society. She began her sport career with the Canadian Intramural Recreation Association 25 years ago before moving to the Canadian Olympic Committee in 1989. During her tenure as the COC’s Media Relations Manager, she held several leadership positions with the mission staff at numerous Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and World Championships. In 2002 she was appointed Chief Operating Officer for the Coaching Association of Canada (CAC), a position she held for four years -- playing a key role in establishing sponsorship programs and strengthening the organization’s relationships with the provinces/territories and federal government.

Following the CAC, she went on to head the Canadian Cycling Association where she restructured the organization and instilled financial stability. In 2009, she was hired as Director General of CanoeKayak Canada where she was instrumental in creating the teams and environment which led to CanoeKayak’s three-medal performance at the 2012 Olympic Game. In total, she has participated in 9 Olympic Games, both summer and winter.  Lorraine also has a strong volunteer commitment having sat on the boards and committees of many organizations, including the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame, Canadian Cancer Society (Ottawa-Carleton), Run for the Cure, Big Sisters of Ottawa, and Ottawa-Carleton Epilepsy. She was also the co-chair of the 2004 Ontario Summer Games held in Ottawa and was named twice to the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity’s (CAAWS) Most Influential Women List in 2015 and 2014.

Lorraine became the Chief Executive Officer of the CAC in December 2013.

Sandeep Lal, Director 2021 –

From 1990-2015, Sandeep Lal served at the helm of Metro Label as President.  Under Sandeep’s leadership, Metro Label expanded its business and diversified into additional geographic and consumer markets and revenues grew significantly. It became one of the largest producers of pressure sensitive labels in North America with state of the art manufacturing facilities in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Napa Valley. Metro Label earned numerous industry awards for the quality of work they produced from a number of Canadian, American and International organizations and is continually recognized in industry and environmental publications.  Sandeep built a strong team of motivated team members who ensures that the company leveraged its financial strength to invest in new people, processes and technology to leapfrog ahead of competitors. The printing industry was facing difficult challenges and Sandeep positioned Metro Label Group to turn these challenges into opportunities. The company’s low debt ratio, extremely strong balance sheet, consistent excellent financial performance of all companies within the group made Metro Label a formidable competitor.  In 2006, 2007 & 2008 Metro Label was recognized as one of “Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies” with an award sponsored by National Post, Deloitte, CIBC Commercial Banking, and Queen’s School of Business. In 2006 Sandeep was also recognized as a finalist for the “Entrepreneur of the year” award sponsored by Ernst & Young.  Since 2010 Sandeep has also provided direction to Lucero, a Golf Course and Residential Development in Boquete Panama.

Sandeep is particularly proud of his involvement with the new Metro Label head office, completed in August 2005 built to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. It reflects the corporate culture of excellence, innovation and urgency that he has fostered. His vision, the new 132,000 square foot, state of the art eco-friendly building was the first LEED certified manufacturing facility in Canada. The building incorporates sustainable site planning, innovative wastewater technologies using reclaimed rainwater, recycling heat from the printing presses to heat the building, use of recycled construction materials, and indoor environmental quality in its design.

Sandeep has a strong sense of community and invests his time and money to support organizations that are focused on issues that interest him such as education, health, youth development, sports, and, arts and culture. Sandeep’s outreach efforts include environmental and educational initiatives in conjunction with grass roots organizations aimed at the youth in our community, as they represent our future. ROM, North York General Hospital, Bridgepoint Hospital, Trillium Hospital, George Brown College, Ryerson University, South Asian heritage Foundation and many other institutions have benefited from Sandeep Lal’s decision to invest in their initiatives.  Sandeep’s passion is tennis and through his efforts Metro Label was the primary sponsor of Canada Championships in the Canadian Junior Under 14, Under16, Under 18 and Senior National Championships for ten years ending in 2011.  Metro Label is a member of the Founders Club (A group of individuals or companies who contributed funds to build the Tennis Canada Stadium in Toronto). Sandeep and Metro Label have supported Tennis Canada and junior Tennis players at various occasions for over 15 years now. Tennis Canada recognized Sandeep during the Rogers Cup by presenting him with a distinguished service award in 2007 at Centre Court.  He is delighted to see how well Canadian players are doing at ATP and WTA events globally.  Sandeep Lal firmly believes that corporate responsibility makes good business sense. Under the leadership of Sandeep, Metro Label continues to receive many awards for their contributions and achievements.

Caring for the environment and employees is every bit as important as keeping an eye on the bottom line. He insists that a healthy long-term bottom line is an inappropriate goal when pursued in isolation, with total disregard for the kind of impact the company’s operations have on all of its stakeholders; customers, employees, neighbours and the environment.

Sandeep Lal has served on the board of Bridgepoint Health, Harbourfront, Toronto Board of Trade, Granite Club, Trillium Health Care Products Inc.  and “The Advisory” of ICCC.