Winning Value in Canadian Retail: Where Value Gets Won — AI, Retail Media & Sustainability

• Explain how AI, agentic commerce, retail media, and first-party data are transforming how Canadians discover and buy CPG products
• Evaluate your brand’s position against sustainability and omnichannel expectations—and identify the gaps
• Apply the Canadian context—tariffs, Buy Canadian sentiment, EPR and labelling rules—to your marketing strategy
• Build a prioritized action plan and at least one concrete strategic move for the next 90 days

• A structured view of the trends shaping the next few years of Canadian retail
• Canadian examples and case studies showing these forces in action
• A trend-prioritization framework and a ready-to-use set of strategic imperatives
• Facilitated discussion and live polling to apply each trend to your own brand

• Brand, product, and marketing managers in CPG and retail
• E-commerce, retail media, and digital marketing professionals
• Insights, data, and strategy professionals
• Marketers responsible for innovation, sustainability, or channel growth

This is Part 2 of a two-part series, building on Part 1 (September 30); attending both is recommended but not required.

Eric Heath, MBA, MCom, CM, PMP®
Founder, AquaCert
Marketing & Key Account Management Professional

Eric Heath is a marketing and retail strategist with more than two decades of experience building brands and driving commercial growth across the consumer packaged goods sector. His career spans two continents and nearly every dimension of the retail landscape—brand development, product launch, category strategy, and national account leadership—giving him a practitioner’s understanding of what shapes performance at the shelf and across the broader market. It’s a perspective he brings directly into the room: practical, current, and grounded in real-world experience.

Eric began his career in South Africa’s fast-moving consumer goods sector, where he developed and launched complete product ranges for Pick n Pay—the country’s second-largest retailer—spanning supplements, sports beverages, and vitamins, leading each from concept through to national listing. As National Marketing Manager for Ultimate Sports Nutrition (USN), he directed brand and event marketing that helped establish the company as a leading name in health and wellness.

His path then took him into the world of global brands at DuPont, where he led business development for the company’s protection technologies—Tyvek® and Sontara®—across Sub-Saharan Africa. Eric built and managed the distributor network behind these brands and opened new ground for Sontara® in the food-service and medical sectors, growing the foundation business by roughly a third in his first year. Along the way he earned a Six Sigma Green Belt for applying Tyvek® to cold-chain distribution—a reflection of the disciplined, problem-solving approach he brings to every commercial challenge.

After relocating to Canada, Eric brought that retail focus into national key account and marketing roles at CHEP Canada, partnering with some of the country’s largest retailers, including Loblaw, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Tim Hortons. He built a reputation for developing trusted retailer partnerships, delivering award-winning retail innovation, and managing national marketing and product initiatives that supported the broader business strategy.

Eric is a Chartered Marketer (CM) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®). He holds a Master of Commerce in Marketing and a Bachelor of Commerce Honours (with distinction) from the University of Pretoria, along with an Executive MBA.

Alongside his marketing career, Eric is the founder of AquaCert, an aquatic safety and certification training provider, and serves as an examiner and instructor with the Lifesaving Society. These roles reflect a long-standing commitment to education, professional standards, and developing others—principles he brings directly into his work as a facilitator.

1. Retail & Category Strategy
2. CPG Brand & Product Marketing
3. Private Label & Health-and-Wellness Trends
4. Key Account Management & Retailer Partnerships
5. Go-to-Market Strategy & In-Store Execution
6. Integrated & Digital Marketing
7. Omnichannel & Retail Media
8. Market Research & Consumer Insight
9. Commercial Negotiation & Revenue Growth
10. Project Management & Cross-Functional Leadership

And more…

Sample Media & Accolades

• AquaCert — Where Water Meets Safety · www.aquacert.ca
• LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/ericheath1
• LinkedIn Recommendations — View recommendations

Cancellation or transfer of registration must be received by e-mail to learning@thecma.ca no later than ten (10) business days prior to the date of the training to receive a full refund. No refunds will be given for cancellations made less than ten (10) business days prior to the training date. If you registered for a training but are unable to attend, substitutions* are welcome any time prior to the original registration training date at no extra cost.

*Substitutions refer to the transfer of a registration from one individual to a colleague