Miriam Groom

15 April 2026 • Estimated reading time : 21 mins

Process, Timeline, and What to Expect

A practical guide for HR leaders, CEOs, and board members — written from the employer’s perspective, with Canada-specific context built in throughout.

SECTION 1 — WHAT EXECUTIVE SEARCH ACTUALLY IS (AND ISN’T)

Most organizations only conduct an executive search a handful of times in a decade. That infrequency is part of why the process can feel opaque — and why expectations are often misaligned from the start. Before getting into timelines and fees, it’s worth being clear about what executive search actually involves, and how it differs from the recruitment your HR team does every day.

Beyond Job Posting: Why Executive Search Is Different

Standard recruitment is largely inbound. You write a job description, post it, screen the applications that come in, and interview the best ones. That works reasonably well for roles where a qualified candidate pool is actively looking, responds to postings, and can be evaluated through a resume and a few interviews.

Executive search is different in almost every dimension. The candidates you want at the VP, C-suite, or board level are almost never browsing job boards. They’re successfully running something important for someone who desperately wants to keep them. Reaching them requires proactive outreach, an established network, and enough credibility to open a conversation with someone who isn’t looking.

According to industry data reviewed by Altios, the executive search process timeline averages 4–6 months globally, and it often extends beyond that for highly specialized or confidential mandates. That’s not inefficiency — it’s the reality of engaging passive talent at the leadership level.

What executive search covers: CEO, COO, CFO, CTO, CISO, CMO, VP-level roles, General Manager, Managing Director, and board positions. As a general rule: if the hire will report to the CEO or the board, it warrants a structured executive search process.

What it doesn’t cover: Director-level roles with no direct reports, mid-level managers, or specialist individual contributors — these are better served by a contingency recruitment firm.

The Passive Candidate Reality

The single most important concept in executive search is the passive candidate. This is someone who is currently employed, not actively looking, and has no reason to respond to a job posting — but who is exactly the kind of leader your organization needs.

A skilled executive search consultant doesn’t wait for candidates to come to them. They build a long list through market mapping — systematically identifying who holds relevant roles at competitor organizations, adjacent industries, and adjacent geographies — and then make direct, confidential approaches. This is why the process takes time, and why it requires a different kind of relationship between the firm and the client than a standard recruitment engagement.

It also explains why confidentiality is so central to executive search. The candidate can’t know their employer is being contacted. The client often can’t announce the departure or the vacancy. And the search firm is managing sensitive information about both parties simultaneously. Getting that dynamic right requires experience and discretion that most general recruitment agencies aren’t set up to provide.

SECTION 2 — RETAINED VS. CONTINGENCY: WHAT THE FEE MODEL TELLS YOU

Most employers focus on the fee percentage when evaluating a search firm. That’s understandable, but it misses the more important question: what does the fee model tell you about how the firm will behave during your search?

The structure of how a firm gets paid fundamentally shapes its incentives — and those incentives play out directly in the quality and depth of the search it conducts on your behalf.

The Three Fee Models Explained

	Retained	Contingency	Hybrid (Container)
Fee range	25–35% of first-year comp	20–30% of first-year base salary	~20–25% + upfront retainer of $5–8K
When you pay	In thirds: start, shortlist, placement	On placement only	Partial upfront + balance on placement
Exclusivity	Always exclusive	Rarely exclusive	Usually exclusive
Best suited for	C-suite, VP, board, sensitive or confidential mandates	Mid-level, high-volume, easily filled roles	Entry executive, VP, time-sensitive searches
Typical guarantee	Up to 12 months + onboarding support	30–90 days	90–180 days
Candidate pool	Passive + active; deep market mapping	Primarily active / database	Mixed
Typical minimum fee	$25,000–$40,000+	$15,000–$25,000	$15,000–$30,000

Source: Hunter Recruiting, 2025 | TGS US Executive Search Fees Guide | Sheer Velocity: Executive Search Fees

Why the Retained Model Dominates at the C-Suite Level

When a search firm works on retainer, it commits to your search — and you commit to working exclusively with them. That mutual commitment changes the nature of the engagement. The firm invests significant research time, engages passive candidates through careful outreach, and provides intelligence on the market that you wouldn’t get from a firm racing to fill a role before a competitor does. Retained search fees typically run 30–35% of first-year compensation, paid in three instalments: one third at engagement, one third at shortlist presentation, and the balance on placement.

The contingency model works on a no-placement, no-fee basis — which sounds attractive until you understand the incentive it creates. A contingency firm only gets paid if they place someone, which means they have a strong incentive to fill the role quickly with whoever is available, rather than patiently engaging the right passive candidate who might take six weeks of relationship-building to bring to the table. For C-suite and board mandates, that dynamic is a real risk.

One practical note on fees: the minimum fee matters more than the percentage for lower-base-salary executive roles. A 30% fee on a $180K CFO salary in Montreal is $54,000. A 30% fee on a $350K CEO in Toronto is $105,000. Both are standard retained search engagements — but the scope of work is very different. Always clarify whether the fee is based on base salary only or total first-year compensation including bonuses and other cash components.

SECTION 3 — THE EXECUTIVE SEARCH PROCESS, STAGE BY STAGE

Every executive search firm describes its process differently, but the underlying logic is consistent. There are six stages, and each one has a realistic time range — and a most common reason for delays. Understanding both helps you plan, set internal expectations, and avoid the mistakes that extend searches unnecessarily.

The overall timeline: most executive searches in Canada take 3–6 months from initial briefing to offer acceptance. VP-level roles tend to close in 10–16 weeks. C-suite mandates regularly take 4–6 months, and CEO or board searches can extend to 9–12 months. Confidential searches — where even the existence of the vacancy cannot be disclosed — add 2–4 weeks to almost every stage.

Stage	Timeline	What Happens	Common Delay
Stage 1Mandate Definition	Weeks 1–2	Search brief developed; role, success criteria, compensation range, cultural context, and confidentiality requirements defined. Internal stakeholder alignment confirmed.	Vague or shifting role requirements — the single biggest cause of extended searches
Stage 2Market Mapping	Weeks 2–5	Search firm maps the relevant talent universe: who holds comparable roles, at which organizations, in which geographies. Long list of 40–80 names developed.	Overly narrow search parameters excluding strong adjacent-industry candidates
Stage 3Candidate Outreach	Weeks 3–7	Confidential, direct approaches made to long-list candidates. Initial conversations held to assess interest, fit, and compensation expectations. Active candidates also evaluated.	Slow response from passive candidates; counter-offers from current employers early in the process
Stage 4Assessment & Shortlisting	Weeks 6–10	In-depth interviews, psychometric or leadership assessments, and detailed candidate profiles prepared. Short list of 3–5 candidates presented to client with full write-ups.	Inadequate client feedback on long-list candidates, forcing the firm to re-scope mid-search
Stage 5Client Interviews & Selection	Weeks 9–13	Client interviews with shortlisted candidates. Multiple rounds, panel interviews, and stakeholder meetings. Reference checks conducted in parallel with final interviews.	Slow internal decision-making; multiple stakeholders with misaligned criteria
Stage 6Offer, Negotiation & Transition	Weeks 12–18+	Offer structured and presented. Negotiation managed by search firm. Notice period bridged. Pre-boarding and onboarding support provided.	Counter-offers from current employer — industry data shows 30% of accepted offers are lost at this stage

Source: IQ Partners: How Long Do Executive Searches Take? | JRG Partners: Executive Search Timeline | Altios: The 6-Month Reality

The Stage Most Clients Underestimate: Mandate Definition

Stage 1 is the most important and most frequently rushed. Organizations that take the time to get the search brief right — clearly defining not just the qualifications but the context, the internal dynamics, the culture of the leadership team, and what ‘success in 18 months’ looks like — consistently see faster, better outcomes than those that hand over a job description and say ‘find someone like our last one, but better.’

This is also where internal alignment matters most. If the CEO and the board have different views on what the next CFO needs to bring, those differences need to surface in week one — not in week ten, when the firm presents a shortlist that satisfies one party but not the other.

The Stage Most Clients Slow Down: Assessment and Feedback

Stage 4 is where the client’s responsiveness matters most. A search firm that presents a long list of 50 candidates and receives no feedback for two weeks loses two weeks of search time at the most active point in the process. The best client relationships involve rapid, specific feedback — not just ‘we liked her’ but ‘we liked her strategic thinking but we’re concerned about her experience in regulated industries.’

Parallel reference checking is now standard practice at the better firms. Running references alongside final interviews rather than after candidate selection saves 2–3 weeks without reducing rigour.

SECTION 4 — THE CANADIAN CONTEXT: WHAT MAKES EXECUTIVE SEARCH HERE DIFFERENT

Generic executive search guides treat North America as a single market. It isn’t, and Canada is particularly distinct. Several factors shape how searches are conducted here — and ignoring them leads to misaligned briefs, missed candidates, and searches that stall for avoidable reasons.

Bilingualism: A Genuine Constraint, Not a Checkbox

For executive roles based in Quebec, or for national mandates at organizations that operate in both official languages, bilingualism is not a preference — it’s a hard requirement. Quebec’s Charter of the French Language (Bill 101, updated by Bill 96) governs language in the workplace, and organizations operating in the province face meaningful compliance obligations that affect how they can manage, evaluate, and communicate with employees — including at the executive level.

In practice, this means the bilingual executive talent pool for senior roles in Quebec is genuinely smaller than the broader Quebec executive population. A CFO or CHRO who is fluent in both English and French, has the relevant sector experience, and is at the right career stage represents a narrower intersection of qualifications than most organizations initially anticipate. This is one of the main reasons Quebec-based executive searches consistently run longer than equivalent searches in English Canada.

As of June 2025, federally regulated institutions also face new bilingual supervisory requirements — most positions responsible for supervising employees in bilingual regions must now be designated bilingual — which is expanding the pool of organizations competing for the same limited supply of bilingual executive talent.

Canada’s Smaller Executive Talent Pool

Canada’s population is roughly one-ninth of the United States. At the executive level, that ratio matters more than it does for broader professional roles. In any given sector, the pool of experienced, proven C-suite leaders is small — and in specialized industries like financial services, energy, mining, or life sciences, it’s small enough that senior candidates often know each other personally.

This has two practical implications. First, confidentiality is harder to maintain in Canada than in the US. In a sector where the CFO shortlist might include four or five people who all know each other, word travels. Search firms operating at this level need strong protocols for managing information — and clients need to be realistic about what confidentiality can and cannot protect.

Second, the off-limits constraints that come with a retained search firm’s existing client relationships can meaningfully reduce the effective candidate pool. If your search firm also works with three of your major competitors, their candidates at those organizations are off the table. Always ask about off-limits policies before engaging a firm.

Regional Market Dynamics

Canada doesn’t have one executive labour market — it has several, each shaped by the industries that anchor it.

Toronto is Canada’s financial and enterprise hub. Financial services, insurance, consulting, technology, and a rapidly growing startup ecosystem all compete for the same pool of senior talent. C-suite searches here are generally faster than other regions but face more competition — candidates are fielding multiple approaches simultaneously.
Calgary is dominated by energy, resources, and increasingly by technology companies diversifying away from oil and gas. Executive searches here often have a strong operational and P&L orientation, and candidates with both sector knowledge and transformation experience are particularly scarce.
Vancouver is increasingly tech-driven, with a strong influence from US companies operating Canadian offices. Searches for technology executives — CTO, VP Engineering, Chief Product Officer — are among the most competitive in the country, with candidates regularly evaluating USD-denominated offers from US employers.
Montreal has a distinctive profile: strong in AI, gaming, aerospace, pharmaceutical, and fintech, with a bilingual talent pool that creates both opportunity (lower nominal salaries than Toronto) and constraint (smaller effective pool for bilingual mandates).

DEI at the Executive Level: Canada’s Distinct Position

Canada’s approach to diversity at the board and executive level is evolving, and it’s diverging from the US in ways that matter for how searches are conducted. While US proxy advisors and institutional investors have pulled back significantly on DEI requirements in 2025, Canadian institutional investors and proxy advisors continue to consider board diversity — and Canadian securities law already requires non-venture public companies to disclose their approach to gender diversity at the board and executive officer level.

According to the Osler 2025 Diversity Disclosure Practices report, women held 30.5% of board seats at TSX-listed companies in 2025 — surpassing the 30% threshold for the first time, but with the smallest year-over-year increase since reporting began. Representation of visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities has stagnated.

For HR leaders and boards conducting executive searches: diversity isn’t just an ethical consideration — it’s a governance one. Search firms that can demonstrate how they actively source from underrepresented pools, not just tick diversity boxes on a final shortlist, are adding genuine value. Ask for data on the diversity composition of their candidate pipelines, not just their placed executives.

SECTION 5 — WHAT TO EXPECT AS A CLIENT: YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Most articles about executive search focus on what the firm does. This one addresses what the client needs to do — because the most common reasons searches run long or fail are on the client side, not the search firm side.

A retained executive search is a partnership. The firm brings market knowledge, candidate access, and process expertise. The client brings clarity, responsiveness, and decisive leadership. When either party underperforms their role, the search suffers.

✓	Align internally before the search opens The most expensive search delays happen when the CEO and CFO disagree on what they need — in week ten. Hold a proper stakeholder alignment meeting before engaging the firm. Define success criteria, compensation range, cultural non-negotiables, and who has final decision authority. Then don’t change them mid-search.
✓	Invest in the brief A one-page job description is not a search brief. A good brief describes the business context, the challenges the incoming leader will inherit, the team they’ll lead, the culture of the leadership table, and what you’d expect them to have accomplished in 18 months. The more specific and honest the brief, the faster the firm can target the right candidates.
✓	Respond to candidate profiles within 48 hours When the firm presents profiles or a long list, delays in feedback have a compounding effect. Candidates who are passively considering the role lose interest. Market intelligence goes stale. The firm can’t refine its approach without your input. Build explicit turnaround expectations into your engagement agreement.
✓	Make the interview process easy to navigate Senior candidates are busy. A process that requires four separate dates for preliminary interviews, conflicts that push scheduling out two weeks, and committee panels that can’t agree on availability will cost you candidates. Designate a single internal point of contact, block time in advance, and be prepared to move quickly once someone impresses you.
✓	Prepare competitive offers before you need them At the C-suite level, offer negotiation is a known step in the process — not a surprise. Work with your board or compensation committee to define the offer range before the search even opens. Knowing your ceiling means you can move decisively when you find your candidate. Candidates who’ve been approached by a firm and then wait three weeks for an offer number lose confidence in the organization.
✓	Manage the counter-offer risk proactively Industry data shows that roughly 30% of accepted executive offers are lost to counter-offers from the candidate’s current employer. The search firm should be coaching the candidate through this — but so should you. The relationship-building that happens during the interview process, and the clarity you provide about why this role represents a genuine step forward, is your best defence.

SECTION 6 — RED FLAGS WHEN EVALUATING A SEARCH FIRM

Not all executive search firms operate at the same standard. Some are genuinely strategic partners. Others are contingency firms that have added ‘executive search’ to their marketing without changing how they work. Knowing what to watch for can save you a significant amount of time, money, and frustration.

⚠	“We have someone in mind” This phrase, offered before the firm has heard anything about your organization’s specific needs, is a sign that they’re trying to place a candidate they already have — not search for the right person for you. A genuine executive search starts with understanding your context, not pitching a resume.
⚠	No clear off-limits policy A reputable retained search firm will be transparent about which organizations are off-limits due to existing client relationships. If a firm hedges this question or can’t give you a clear answer, you’re at risk of missing candidates — or having your own executives poached later.
⚠	Short guarantee periods Contingency firms typically offer 30–90 day guarantees. Retained executive search firms should offer 6–12 months, along with active onboarding support during the guarantee period. A short guarantee signals the firm doesn’t stand behind the quality of its placement.
⚠	Presenting more than five to seven candidates A shortlist of twelve or fifteen candidates isn’t a shortlist — it’s a database dump. A proper executive search firm does the hard work of assessing and filtering before presenting candidates to you. If they’re presenting volume, they’re not doing their job.
⚠	Vague market intelligence Part of what you’re paying for in a retained search is intelligence: what the market looks like, what comparable candidates are earning, why your top target passed on another similar role last year, and where the talent is concentrated. If the firm can’t or won’t share this kind of insight, they’re not actually doing market mapping.
⚠	Pressure to move faster than the process warrants “We have another client interested in this candidate” is a classic pressure tactic. A well-managed executive search has its own internal urgency — it doesn’t need artificial deadlines. If a firm is rushing you through decisions, ask why.
⚠	No dedicated lead consultant At the senior levels, you should be working with the same consultant throughout the search — someone who knows your organization, has developed relationships with the candidates, and can manage the final negotiation with credibility. If the firm hands the search to a junior researcher after the kick-off meeting, that’s a problem.

SECTION 7 — FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The questions below are the ones HR leaders, CEOs, and board members most commonly ask — either before engaging a firm or partway through a search that isn’t moving as expected.

Q: How long does executive search take in Canada?

A: Most executive searches take 3–6 months from initial brief to offer acceptance. VP-level roles typically close in 10–14 weeks. C-suite mandates — CEO, CFO, COO — regularly take 4–6 months. Board searches and confidential mandates involving a sitting executive can run 6–9 months or longer. The most common extensions aren’t caused by the search firm — they’re caused by slow internal decision-making, shifting role requirements, or counter-offers at the offer stage.

Q: What percentage do executive search firms charge in Canada?

A: Retained executive search firms in Canada typically charge 25–35% of the hired candidate’s first-year total compensation, paid in three instalments. Contingency firms charge 20–30% of base salary, paid on placement only. Hybrid or container arrangements usually involve a smaller upfront retainer ($5,000–$8,000) plus 20–25% of first-year salary on placement. For most C-suite searches, the minimum retained search fee in Canada ranges from $30,000 to $60,000+, depending on the role seniority and compensation level.

Q: What’s the difference between headhunting and executive search?

A: The terms are often used interchangeably, but there’s a distinction worth knowing. Headhunting refers specifically to direct, proactive outreach to a candidate who isn’t looking — approaching someone in their current role and opening a conversation. Executive search is the broader process that includes market mapping, candidate assessment, shortlisting, and placement support. All executive search involves headhunting; not all headhunting is part of a structured executive search process.

Q: When should I use a retained executive search firm vs. trying to hire internally?

A: Internal hiring works well when you have a strong internal candidate, a non-confidential search, and sufficient HR bandwidth to run a rigorous process. Use a retained search firm when: the role is at the VP level or above; the search is confidential (incumbent in role, undisclosed departure, sensitive succession); you need to access passive candidates who won’t respond to postings; you’re searching in a sector or geography where your internal network is limited; or a previous internal search has already failed to produce the right candidate.

Q: How does bilingualism affect executive search in Quebec?

A: Significantly. For roles based in Quebec that require French-English bilingualism — which at the executive level often means working in French internally and in English externally — the effective candidate pool is meaningfully smaller than the broader executive population. Expect searches for bilingual C-suite roles in Montreal to run 2–6 weeks longer than equivalent searches in Toronto or Vancouver, and to require more flexibility on adjacent-industry experience to compensate for the language constraint.

Q: What is an off-limits policy, and why does it matter?

A: When a search firm places an executive at your organization, that firm typically agrees not to approach your employees for other client searches for a defined period — usually two years. This is the off-limits policy. The implication for you as a client: the more organizations a firm has placed executives into, the more of the talent market is effectively off-limits for your search. Always ask a prospective firm which organizations in your sector are currently off-limits to them.

Q: What should I expect to provide the search firm at the start of the engagement?

A: A good search firm will guide you through a briefing process, but you’ll get better results if you come prepared with: a clear organizational chart showing where the role sits; the compensation range you’re prepared to offer (including bonus structure and equity); the specific challenge or opportunity the incoming leader will face in their first 12 months; names of two or three individuals you consider to be exemplary performers in comparable roles elsewhere; and a list of organizations you’d most like to see candidates sourced from — and any you’d prefer to avoid.

Ready to start an executive search?

Groom & Associates has been conducting executive and senior leadership searches across Canada for over 30 years. We work on retained mandates for VP-level and C-suite roles across IT, cybersecurity, AI, life sciences, engineering, finance, and more — in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa.

Every search is led by a senior consultant from brief to placement. We provide full market intelligence, active DEI sourcing, psychometric assessment integration, and a 12-month guarantee on all retained mandates.

Explore our executive search service: Headhunting & Executive Search → | Get a free consultation →

Sources & References

Miriam Groom

Miriam Groom is a nationally renowned Industrial & Organizational Therapist and HR Strategist specializing in strategic and innovative talent management & workforce transformation strategies that are highly employee-centric.