Helping a local real estate company grow its revenue while dedicating volunteer hours to youth initiatives
Age: 38
Job Title: Executive Vice President of Finance at Cantiro Group
Steven Ewaskiw was on track to become a partner at a large accounting firm when, out of the blue, he got a phone call from George Cantalini, founder and CEO of Cantiro, award-winning land developers and home builders, wondering if he’d like to make a change. Cantalini had an opening — for controller for his company — and he thought Ewaskiw was the man for the job.
“George is a pretty hard guy to say no to,” Ewaskiw says. “We talked about it, and I decided to make the jump out of public practice into industry and I haven’t looked back since.”
Ewaskiw has been with Cantiro, formerly known as Beaverbrook, since 2015, and the numbers speak for themselves: He has helped the company grow its assets from $300 million to more than $500 million, and he’s secured more than $500 million for developments in his time at Cantiro. Ewaskiw is proud of that growth, but he says watching projects like West Block Glenora and CX downtown become part of the city’s fabric has been especially rewarding.
“It’s really cool to see something that we saw on a blueprint come to life and become a place where people are gathering and spending time together.”
Part of Ewaskiw’s excitement about the city stems from the fact that he grew up in Edmonton and has been shaped by his experiences here. His childhood in Edmonton inspired him to give back to the community. He’s coached youth hockey for the last two decades, and he volunteers as board chair of Youth Empowerment and Support Services (YESS), a low-barrier shelter. More recently, he connected Cantiro to the organization, securing YESS more than $100,000 over three years through a charity golf tournament.
“I had different advantages growing up that not everybody has,” he says. “You want to be able to help people who don’t have those advantages and try and help them as much as you can.”
This article appears in the November/December 2025 issue of Edify
