Toronto is Canada’s financial and corporate capital, home to the country’s largest banks, insurers, pension funds and a growing technology sector. When those organizations need a new CEO, CFO, board director or senior functional leader, they usually turn to a retained executive search firm. These firms define the role with the board or hiring executive, map the market in Canada and abroad, approach leaders who are not actively looking, and manage assessment and negotiation through to an accepted offer.
This list covers the top executive search firms in Toronto for 2027. Every firm here has a verified Toronto office with a street address on its own website, most of them in the financial district around Bay Street and King Street West. We included the global firms that lead board and C-suite work in Canada alongside Canadian-owned firms with long local histories. For more rankings and guides on senior hiring, visit our executive search and recruiting hub.
We ranked firms on the depth of their Toronto and Canadian presence, the range of search and advisory services they offer, the specialisms they publicly market, and the evidence we could verify on their own sites and in independent coverage.
Top Executive Search Firms In Toronto At A Glance
Firm
Base
Best For
Focus
Korn Ferry
Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street
Large, multi-role leadership programs
Search, assessment, organizational consulting
Spencer Stuart
77 King Street West
Board and CEO appointments
Executive search and leadership consulting
Egon Zehnder
Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street
Board search and leadership assessment
Search, assessment, board consulting
Heidrick & Struggles
100 King Street West
C-suite search plus interim talent
Search, leadership advisory, on-demand talent
Russell Reynolds Associates
Commerce Court West, 199 Bay Street
Succession and board advisory
Search, succession, assessment
Odgers Berndtson
200 Bay Street, South Tower
National coverage across five Canadian cities
Search, interim, leadership advisory
Caldwell
130 Adelaide Street West (HQ)
Canadian-owned board and executive search
Retained board and executive search
Boyden
95 Wellington Street West
Mid-market and national searches
Retained executive search
Stanton Chase
36 Toronto Street
Boutique-style service with global reach
Search, assessment, board services
Feldman Daxon Partners
45 St Clair Avenue West
Public sector, healthcare and non-profit leaders
Search, career transition, coaching
Best Executive Search Firms In Toronto For 2027
1. Korn Ferry — Global Search And Assessment Powerhouse
Korn Ferry’s Toronto office is in Brookfield Place at 181 Bay Street. It is the largest firm on this list: at the end of its 2025 fiscal year it reported 103 offices in 51 countries, 9,253 full-time employees and $846.2 million in executive search fee revenue, with more than 6,300 new search engagements opened during the year.
Search is only one part of the firm. Korn Ferry also runs consulting, digital, professional search and recruitment process outsourcing businesses, and it reports having conducted more than 108 million assessments. Its Board and CEO Services cover board succession, board effectiveness, CEO search and succession, and executive compensation.
Korn Ferry suits large Toronto employers, such as banks and insurers, that want search, assessment and pay advice from a single partner.
Spencer Stuart’s Toronto office is at 77 King Street West. Founded in Chicago in 1956, the firm has been privately held throughout its history and has been owned by its employees and partners since 1974. It operates more than 60 offices in over 30 countries.
The firm says it set up the search industry’s first dedicated Boards Practice in 1983 and published its first Board Index in 1987. It now publishes more than 20 Board Indexes a year, which many boards use to benchmark their composition and governance. The Toronto team offers executive search and leadership consulting across industries and functions.
Spencer Stuart is a strong fit for Toronto boards appointing directors, a chair or a CEO.
3. Egon Zehnder — Canadian Practice With Strong Assessment Depth
Egon Zehnder established its presence in Canada in 1989, and its Toronto office is at Suite 3920, Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street. The Canadian practice has more than 25 consultants and over 100 professional staff across Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.
The Toronto office handles executive and board search, executive assessment, coaching and development, and board and team effectiveness consulting. Its consultants are organized into sector groups that include industrials, financial services, consumer, and tech and telecom. Globally, the firm works as “One Firm” with a shared incentive system across 37 countries.
Egon Zehnder suits Toronto boards and CEOs who want rigorous leadership assessment built into a senior search.
Heidrick & Struggles has its Toronto office at 100 King Street West. The Chicago-headquartered firm has more than 70 years of history and was taken private in December 2025 by an investor group led by Advent International and Corvex Private Equity, in a deal valued at about $1.3 billion.
In 2024 Heidrick reported $818.4 million in executive search revenue and 418 search consultants at year end. Alongside search, it offers on-demand talent for interim executives and project leaders, and leadership services such as CEO succession planning, board effectiveness, executive assessment and team acceleration.
Heidrick suits Toronto organizations that need a permanent senior hire and may also want interim cover while the search runs.
Russell Reynolds Associates is based at Commerce Court West, 199 Bay Street. The Toronto team covers executive search, succession planning, leadership assessment and development, and board advisory, and works with colleagues worldwide on searches that cross borders.
The firm advises clients across all industries and functional areas, and its global footprint helps when a Toronto search needs to reach candidates in the United States, Europe or Asia. Russell Reynolds was founded in New York in 1969, and its Toronto team draws on the same board advisory and succession methods used across the firm.
Russell Reynolds suits Toronto boards planning a CEO transition and organizations that want succession work and search from the same team.
6. Odgers Berndtson — National Coverage Across Five Canadian Cities
Odgers Berndtson’s Toronto office is at Suite 3300, South Tower, 200 Bay Street. In Canada the firm operates five offices, in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, which gives it unusually broad national coverage.
Its Canadian services include executive search, interim management, leadership advisory and human capital consulting, with industry and function specialisms that include technology and IT services and a Board and CHRO practice. Globally, Odgers lists country offices across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa.
Odgers Berndtson suits Toronto organizations hiring for roles that span several Canadian regions, and those that may need interim leaders.
7. Caldwell — Canada’s First Retained Executive Search Firm
Caldwell is headquartered in Toronto, at 130 Adelaide Street West in the financial district. The firm began operations in 1970 and describes itself as Canada’s first retained executive search firm. It became a public company in 1989 and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CWL.
The Toronto office is known for board, general management and functional searches, and it serves sectors including financial services, insurance, industrial, real estate, life sciences and healthcare, technology, consumer, professional services, education and non-profit, government, and private equity and venture capital.
Caldwell suits Toronto clients that want a Canadian-owned, publicly listed firm with more than five decades of retained search experience.
8. Boyden — Long-Established Global Network With Five Canadian Offices
Boyden’s Toronto office is at 95 Wellington Street West. The firm was founded in 1946 by Sidney Boyden and focuses on international retained executive search. In Canada it has offices in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
Boyden expanded sharply in Canada in 2013, when Hunt Scanlon reported that it added more than 80 professionals from the Vancouver and Ottawa offices of a rival firm. That growth gave Boyden a national platform that its Toronto team can draw on for searches across the country.
Boyden suits mid-sized and growing Toronto companies that want a retained firm with a long history and coverage across Canada.
9. Stanton Chase — Boutique-Style Team With A Global Network
Stanton Chase Toronto is based at 36 Toronto Street, in the downtown core. The firm describes its Toronto office as a boutique-style team with access to a global network of more than 70 offices in 45 countries, serving clients across Canada and internationally.
Its services cover executive search for C-suite, senior management and board roles, executive assessment, board services such as director recruitment and board assessment, succession planning and executive onboarding.
Stanton Chase suits Toronto companies that want close partner attention but still need to reach candidates outside Canada.
Feldman Daxon Partners is a Canadian-owned and operated firm with its Toronto office at 45 St Clair Avenue West. It has operated for 35 years and describes itself as Canada’s longest-standing provider of career transition, retained executive search, and coaching and leadership development services.
The Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College retained Feldman Daxon for its presidential search, noting the firm’s work with clients in government, healthcare, academia, not-for-profits and financial services. That mix makes it a natural option for public institutions and mission-driven organizations.
Feldman Daxon suits Toronto organizations in the broader public sector that want a Canadian firm for leadership search and transition support.
How To Choose An Executive Search Firm In Toronto
Do You Need A Canadian Or A Global Search?
If the best candidates may be in New York, London or elsewhere, a firm with a large international network will cover more ground. If the role needs deep knowledge of Canadian regulation, public sector governance or a specific provincial market, a firm with a strong national footprint may be the better choice.
Has The Team Placed Similar Leaders Recently?
Ask for comparable searches by sector and seniority, and ask who on the team led them. Firm-level reputations matter less than the experience of the partner who will run your search.
Which Companies Can The Firm Not Approach?
Toronto’s financial sector is concentrated, and large firms often have off-limits agreements with major banks and insurers. Ask for the firm’s off-limits list before you sign so you know which talent pools are closed.
Several firms on this list, including Egon Zehnder, Korn Ferry and Stanton Chase, offer structured assessment and onboarding alongside search. Decide whether you want that support and include it in the scope from the start. Our guide to executive assessment explains the main methods.
Conclusion
The top executive search firms in Toronto include the global leaders in board and CEO search, such as Korn Ferry, Spencer Stuart and Egon Zehnder, and Canadian firms with deep local roots, such as Caldwell and Feldman Daxon Partners. The best choice depends on the seat, the sector and whether the right candidate is likely to be in Canada or abroad.
