Nicole LeBlanc, until recently the CFO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, is moving to a new role in Toronto.

Speaking from Montreal, where she is training ahead of beginning her new job with the Strategic Investments & Partnership Group at the Business Development Bank of Canada, LeBlanc said she is excited by the move but will continue to support Atlantic Canadian companies.

“My husband (Philip LeBlanc of Fredericton’s Makerspace) and I have always wanted to see the country and the best way to do that is to live in different places,” she said.

“I’ve always been a Blue Jays fan and it’s a dream of mine to go to Opening Day. But there is never a good time to leave. There is a lot going on in New Brunswick. It’s important to me to stay involved with companies on the East Coast. In my new role I will continue to work with startups across the country, including ones in Atlantic Canada.”

LeBlanc will be much missed as she has been a respected and committed mentor to this region’s entrepreneurs. Her contribution to the community was noted in May when she received the Special Recognition award at New Brunswick’s Knowledge Industry Recognition and Achievement Awards,

LeBlanc said she has spent 50 per cent of her career or a total of six years at NBIF. She is excited by the new challenge, and would also like to live abroad at some point. “I don’t know how we’re going to manage that yet,” she added with a chuckle.

The native of St. George, N.B., was known for both doing the finances of NBIF, and for using her knowledge of accounting and technology to nurture a range of companies around the region. She played a similar role for Halifax’s First Angel Network, where she worked part time for 18 months while Philip LeBlanc studied at NSCAD University.

While working for the Angel Network, she also worked independently with fledgling companies as a consultant. It was the first time she’d helped entrepreneurs with their management issues and she enjoyed the entrepreneurs’ vision and optimism.