Dani Reiss


Dani Reiss is a Canadian businessman, best known for his role as president & CEO of Canadian clothing company, Canada Goose Inc.

Background and early life

Reiss is the son of Malca and David Reiss. His maternal grandfather was Samuel Tick, a Polish Jewish immigrant who worked as a fabric cutter for other brands before founding Metro Sportswear Limited in 1957. His father came into the business after marrying Samuel's daughter in the 1970s, rebranded the company as "Snow Goose", and, after developing a unique down filling machine, refocused the business on the supply of down coats to Ontario police officers and municipal employees. His father served as its CEO from 1982 to 2000.
After earning his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and philosophy from University of Toronto in 1996, Reiss decided to join the family business for a few months to make some money to travel. He dreamed of being a writer, and had no intention of staying in the business. However, after attending a tradeshow in Germany where he tested out the Canada Goose brand, his passion for the business was ignited by the realization that Canada Goose was a real brand with real meaning to consumers.
Reiss spent his time learning the business by working in every area of the company’s factory and travelling with the company's sales managers on visits to apparel buyers in Europe. Reiss came to recognize that European customers associated the product with idealized images of Canadian wilderness, which would eventually encourage him to change the company's name from Snow Goose to Canada Goose.

Canada Goose company

In 2001, at the age of 27, Reiss became president and CEO of Canada Goose. Reiss changed the company with two key decisions - to produce only under the name Canada Goose and to remain "Made in Canada". To continue manufacturing product in Canada, Reiss had to invest his own capital into the Canada Goose factory, while establishing sewing schools Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal. Around that time, when a number of others in the North American apparel industry moved their manufacturing to Asia to increase profit margins, the result was a significant loss to the Canadian apparel-manufacturing infrastructure.
Under Reiss’s leadership, Canada Goose has become known as a "Made in Canada" champion. He believes that an authentic "Made in Canada" product could be sustainable if the company adhered to a best-quality philosophy and a strict distribution model that always ensured greater demand than supply.

Philanthropy

Reiss, a current Polar Bears International board member, has worked with the organization for over a decade, served as chairman of the board from 2008 – 2017, and donated $1 million towards the construction of PBI’s new Churchill facility in February 2018. PBI is a non-profit organization committed to polar bear conservation, climate change, research and securing a future for polar bears across the arctic.
Canada Goose created a PBI collection that includes parkas, lightweight down jackets and accessories for adults and kids. Canada Goose donates $50 of each sale of a PBI jacket, which provides critical funding for polar bears, environmental research and advocacy.
Reiss and his team established the Canada Goose Resource Centre Program along with partners First Air and the North West Company in 2009. The Resource Centre Program gives traditional Inuit sewers access to high-quality fabrics, buttons, zippers and other materials free of charge for them to use in making traditional outerwear and other clothing for their families and other community members. To date, the Resource Centres Program has served many remote and northern communities including Pond Inlet, Cape Dorset, Kuujjuaq, Rankin Inlet, Pangnirtung and Iqaluit. This program allows sewers to continue in their traditional ways of sewing for their community with materials and fabrics they typically would not have access to or could not afford.

Industry involvement/ entrepreneurship

Reiss sits on the Board of Directors of Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation and is on the advisory board for .
Reiss is a regular speaker on the topic of success, "Made in Canada" and authentic brand building, and is often quoted by press on the challenges of domestic manufacturing and global expansion. He has recently addressed the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Economic Club of Canada, lectured at the Schulich Business School’s International MBA Program, The Richard Ivey School of Business and Queen's School of Business. Reiss has also spoken to students at TedX Youth Toronto, and delivered the keynote address at the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation conference.

Awards and achievements

Reiss has received awards including:
In 2008, he was in a list of Canada's Top 40 Under 40.
In November 2011, Reiss was awarded the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In its 18th year in Canada, the Ernst & Young award winner was selected based on several factors including vision, leadership, financial performance and social responsibility. As the Canadian champion, Reiss was admitted into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame, along with 50 fellow country winners from around the globe at a ceremony in Monaco in June 2012.
Reiss was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by Minister Joe Oliver in May 2012, and in 2013, the Canadian Marketing Association named Reiss marketer of the year.
In 2016, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada for "building an iconic brand that is a model of entrepreneurial success and for his commitment to the preservation of Canada's North, notably as chair of Polar Bears International."
In 2019, Dani was awarded the uOttawa honorary doctorate for Telfer’s School of Management for his passion, authenticity and global vision at Canada Goose.