Compensation consultancy Southlea expands into Alberta with addition of Desmond Salisbury

Southlea, a Toronto-based executive compensation and governance consulting firm, has hired Desmond Salisbury as a principal and head of the Alberta market.

The addition of Salisbury will allow the firm to better serve the needs of Western Canadian organization in the energy sector, which Southlea says it specializes in. The firm says it has an “extensive client base in Alberta with many large and complex energy companies.”

Based in Edmonton, Salisbury has over 12 years of experience in compensation and human resources. He most recently spent three years at Inter Pipeline, a major Alberta pipeline company, where he was head of human resources.

Before that, he spent over a year as a principal in the executive compensation practice of Mercer. Earlier in his career, he spent five years at utility firm TransAlta, where he was a manager in the business services and analytics division and a specialist in the executive compensation and governance division.

Salisbury has a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Alberta.

“I look forward to leading the firm’s presence in Alberta and the energy sector, and to fostering the Southlea way of providing dedicated support to HR Committees and CHROs on strategic performance, talent and compensation issues,” Salisbury said.

Southlea was founded in 2021 and has 18 employees, according to its website. The firm has extensive experience advising clients on compensation levels, design, oversight, and special circumstances.

Southlea is part of GECN, a network of independent compensation and governance consultancies with 150+ professionals in 35 countries.

“Southlea has grown significantly over the past four years to meet the demand for tailored executive compensation advice that aligns with each client’s business strategy,” said Amanda Voegeli, president and managing partner.