Over the years, xNorth has developed strong expertise in supporting companies through turnaround and complex operational situations, always approaching them with the mindset of operators rather than consultants.
“Our role is not to advise from the sidelines,” says Benoit Créneau, CEO of xNorth. “We step in to take ownership, stabilize operations, and drive execution alongside leadership teams.”
Today, the firm is increasingly called to intervene when organizations face operational pressure. These are rarely businesses in crisis. Most are established companies with solid market positions, but they are dealing with tightening margins, growing complexity, and leadership teams stretched by the pace of change.
“These situations are becoming much more frequent across industries,” Benoit adds. “They reflect a broader shift in the economic environment.”
Canada is not in a recession.
If you look at the main indicators, the economy is still growing, unemployment remains relatively stable, and markets continue to show resilience. GDP growth is expected to be around 1–1.5%, and unemployment remains near 6–6.5%, levels that suggest stability rather than contraction.
On paper, the situation looks under control. But when you speak with leaders in the industrial sector, and when you see operations from the inside, a very different reality emerges.
Across manufacturing, supply chain, and industrial services, companies are feeling increasing pressure. Manufacturing employment has declined in recent months, particularly in export-driven regions, while input costs remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. The challenge today is not survival, it is performance. This is the paradox of Canada’s current economic environment: the macro picture looks stable, but at the operational level, many companies are under strain.
And this is quietly creating a new wave of industrial turnarounds.
Slow Growth Changes Everything
For many years, industrial companies operated in an environment where growth helped compensate for inefficiencies. Even if productivity was not optimal, rising demand could support performance.
Today, this is no longer the case.
Canada is entering a period of modest growth. Productivity has increased by less than 1% per year on average over the past decade, significantly lagging the United States. Borrowing costs also remain at their highest levels in more than fifteen years, increasing financial pressure on capital-intensive sectors.
In a slow-growth environment, companies can no longer rely on market expansion to offset operational weaknesses. Every inefficiency becomes visible. Every delay, cost increase, or disruption directly affects profitability.
Growth used to hide problems. Now it exposes them.
The Industrial Squeeze
Industrial organizations are facing a combination of pressures at the same time.
Input costs remain elevated. Skilled labor shortages persist, with over 40% of Canadian manufacturers reporting difficulty filling key roles. Supply chains continue to require constant adjustments due to geopolitical risks and evolving trade conditions.
At the same time, customers expect faster delivery, greater flexibility, and higher service levels — often without accepting higher prices.
This creates what many executives describe as an “industrial squeeze”: more complexity, more expectations, and less margin to absorb mistakes.
In this context, maintaining the status quo is no longer an option. Companies must actively transform their operations just to remain competitive.
Turnaround Is No Longer a Crisis Situation
Traditionally, a turnaround was associated with companies in serious financial distress.
Today, the reality is different.
Many companies entering turnaround phases are fundamentally healthy. They have strong customers, solid market positions, and viable long-term prospects.
What they need is operational realignment.
They must improve productivity, optimize cost structures, strengthen supply chains, and accelerate decision-making. These are not crisis actions — they are transformation actions required by a new economic environment.
This is why we are increasingly entering what could be called a “turnaround economy.”
The Real Challenge: Execution Capacity
One key observation emerges across most industrial organizations.
The main issue is rarely strategy.
Leadership teams usually understand what needs to be done. They know where inefficiencies are and what improvements are required.
The real constraint is execution capacity.
Recent leadership surveys indicate that fewer than 10% of organizations believe they have sufficient leadership bandwidth to execute major transformation initiatives while managing daily operations.
Senior leaders are already fully occupied managing workforce challenges, operational complexity, and customer demands. Adding large-scale change programs often stretches leadership capacity beyond its limits.
As a result, necessary changes are delayed, and opportunities for improvement remain unrealized.
Entering a Turnaround Economy
Canada’s economy is not collapsing. But it is clearly entering a period of slower growth and higher operational pressure.
In this environment, success will depend less on market expansion and more on execution excellence.
Companies that act early to strengthen operations, improve productivity, and increase leadership capacity will emerge stronger.
Those that wait may not fail immediately — but they risk gradually losing competitiveness.
We are not entering a recession economy.
We are entering a turnaround economy.
About xNorth
xNorth™ is an Executive Interim Management firm, part of the Valtus Alliance, the world’s largest network for executive-level interim management. Led by partners who are themselves former executives, xNorth brings practical business experience and a structured methodology to every mandate. We provide organizations with seasoned interim leaders and executives across all functions to help them navigate periods of transformation, growth, or crisis. Combining a trusted network of experienced professionals with a proven approach, xNorth delivers hands-on leadership that creates impact quickly, strengthening leadership teams and guiding businesses through their most critical challenges.
