His love for innovation dates back to when he was only 16 years old
The 2021 CanadianSME National Business Awards have named Bryan Jaskolka the Entrepreneur of the Year, with his company CMI Financial Group a finalist for Best Team of the Year.
Jaskolka comes from a long innovation background: he started a web design company at 16 with seed money won from a national contest. He also delved into other successful ventures before landing himself in a near-fatal accident that prevented him from attending formal business school.
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It was in 2005 when Jaskolka leveraged his tech background with his knowledge of the lending industry to found CMI as a digitally focused, family-owned mortgage brokerage. When private financing solutions shot through the roof during the financial crisis of 2008, he reinvented CMI as a lender instead.
Now, CMI Financial Group consists of four business units collaborating to originate, underwrite, fund and service private mortgages for brokers and investors.
Through Jaskolka’s leadership as the chief executive officer, CMI’s investment arm has provided over $1 billion in mortgages to Canadian homeowners, many of whom have been turned away by conventional lenders. Jaskolka was behind the expansion of CMI, achieving growth loan-by-loan by structuring mortgages to cater to the needs of borrowers.
“Bryan has charted a unique path in the sector,” said Kevin Fettig, president of CMI. “His integrity, unorthodox thinking, natural business savvy and willingness to take calculated risks have made CMI a true Canadian success story, one we hope will be an inspiration to other aspiring entrepreneurs.”
Read more: CMI hits the $1bn mark
In November 2021, CMI surpassed $1 billion in mortgage funding since 2015, a record that Jaskolka described as a “milestone achievement.”
Aside from winning Entrepreneur of the Year, he was also a finalist for Inspirational Leader of the Year.
“I am extremely humbled to receive this prestigious honour. Like so many entrepreneurs, my path has not been conventional. This award is proof that there are many roads to success and sometimes you just have to pave your own,” Jaskolka said. “None of this would have been possible without the strength and dedication of the team behind me. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our broker and investor partners, and to our dedicated CMI family, who are the lifeblood of our business. This is a true team achievement.”
