UPDATED: Calian IT and cyber boss Michael Tremblay leaving firm for new CEO role

Michael Tremblay is stepping down as head of Calian Group’s IT and cybersecurity division to take on a new role as CEO of another Ottawa tech firm, the veteran executive said Wednesday after Calian announced its third-quarter earnings. Tremblay, who has led the division for almost two years, is resigning from Calian effective early next month. In an interview with OBJ Wednesday afternoon, he said the company he is joining is well-known in the local tech industry but declined to provide further details, adding there be will an official announcement next week. “These sorts of things take time, and I’m very excited about it," Tremblay said of his new role. Tremblay is leaving Calian in the midst of a tough stretch for the firm's IT and cybersecurity division, which has struggled in recent quarters. But he said his departure has nothing to do with the segment's recent sluggish financial performance, which Calian has attributed partly to increased costs as it transitions clients from its own in-house cybersecurity platform to a new one powered by Microsoft. Tremblay said he's been in "ongoing discussions" with his new employer for some time, adding Calian's switch to Microsoft's AI-powered Sentinel cybersecurity platform has taken longer than expected and he wanted to make sure the process was running smoothly before he left his current position. “The transformation is at a stage now where it makes sense for me to move on to my next adventure," he said. "Yes, the (ITCS division's) revenues have been falling, but the reason you do a corrective action on a platform is to remain competitive and be in a position to pursue future business opportunities, and Calian is well-positioned for that.” During a call with analysts Wednesday morning, Calian CEO Kevin Ford said chief information and technology officer Michael Muldner will take over the ITCS division on an interim basis. “We extend our gratitude to Mike for his contributions during his tenure at Calian, and we wish him success in future endeavours,” Ford said of Tremblay, who joined the Kanata firm in December 2023 after a seven-year stint as president and CEO of Invest Ottawa. The IT and cyber department is one of four main business divisions at Calian, along with health, learning and advanced technologies, and one of the Kanata firm’s biggest income-earners.  In 2022, the segment’s revenues more than doubled from the previous year on the strength of aggressive moves such as the acquisition of U.S.-based IT and cybersecurity provider Computex. The ITCS division’s best performance came in the second quarter of 2024, when it brought in $68.2 million to lead all of Calian’s business segments. But the firm’s IT and cyber business has fallen on tough times since then. Its revenues dropped to $51 million in the second quarter of 2025 and $43.9 million in the most recent quarter ending June 30, down from $49 million a year earlier. Calian officials say the business has faced headwinds on a number of fronts, including a pause on new deals in the United States as customers south of the border assess the potential impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as well as higher costs related to the shift to Microsoft Sentinel. Still, Ford has sought to reassure investors that the division is back on the right track. During the company’s previous earnings call in May, he said new deals with partners such as Microsoft and Calian’s investments in “AI-driven innovation” and other new technology would bode well for the ITCS segment’s future. Ford struck a similar upbeat tone on Wednesday, telling analysts the division has landed several “key” contract wins in recent months. “We’re seeing some positive signs of that turnaround and returning to levels that we would expect from ITCS, but I still believe it’s going to take a couple of quarters to get it back to where we would like to have it,” he said. “The team is dedicated. They’re doing great work, and I’m confident over the next couple of quarters, we’ll get that back.”  The ITCS division’s struggles were a rare blemish on what was otherwise a solid quarter for Calian. The company reported overall revenues of $192.2 million in the three-month period ending June 30, a four per increase from $185 million in the same period a year earlier. Taking ITCS out of the equation, revenues in the other business segments rose nine per cent year-over-year. Calian posted a net profit of $590,000, or five cents per diluted share, down from $1.3 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, a year ago. The company said the drop in profitability was primarily due to investments in “selling capacity,” amortization and deemed compensation expenses related to acquisitions.  Meanwhile, the firm’s adjusted EBITDA fell five per cent year-over-year to $19 million, which it attributed to lower profitability in the ITCS segment.

Defence business booming

The market appeared to react tepidly to the latest results. Calian shares were down 46 cents to $50.22 in mid-afternoon trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Much of Calian’s sales gains so far in 2025 have come from customers in the defence and security sector, which now account for half of the firm’s overall revenues. Calian said its total defence solutions revenue grew 12 per cent compared with the previous year as security concerns move to the top of the global political agenda and demand for the company's products, including satellite services and military training, surges.   “Our defence business is thriving,” Ford said Wednesday, pointing to recent wins such as a $250-million increase in the firm’s long-term deal to provide health-care services to the Department of National Defence. In June, Calian announced it was merging its advanced technologies segment – which specializes in products such as high-precision global navigation satellite systems for military and commercial customers – and its learning division, which provides services such as military training exercises aimed at mimicking real-life battle conditions, into a new unit called defence and space. Calian hired veteran defence industry executive Chris Pogue, who previously served as president and CEO of Thales Canada, to lead the new division.  Calling the renewed emphasis on defence spending in Canada and other Western countries a “once-in-a-liftime opportunity” for Calian, Ford said Wednesday that bringing the company’s tech and training expertise under one roof will make it easier to pursue more lucrative deals with customers such as the Canadian Armed Forces as well as militaries in Europe, where the firm pegs its potential sales pipeline at more than $1 billion. “The defence and space sectors are now experiencing significant tailwinds, as are other strategic areas where we are targeting, such as health, nuclear, cyber and energy,” Ford said. “Almost uniquely so in Canada, we’re a company that can support many elements of defence spend.”  Meanwhile, Calian officials did not provide any updated revenue guidance on Wednesday. The company withdrew its previous projections, which called for total revenues of between $800 and $880 million in fiscal 2025, in May due to the potential impact of the ITCS division’s sluggish performance. Despite what he described as a “mixed quarter,” Ford said Calian is on strong footing with more than $1 billion in new contract signings so far in 2025, bringing its total backlog to $1.5 billion. “I’m very optimistic about our future,” he said.