John Mercuri, President and Director
With well over 30 years of mortgage lending and management experience, John Mercuri has served Premiere Canadian Mortgage Corp. as a Director since February 2007 and as President since December 2011.
John began his involvement with Premiere Canadian in 2000, initially as a licensed mortgage broker with Premiere Home Mortgage Ltd., d.b.a. Premiere Mortgage, the manager of Premiere Canadian. Over the years, John progressed to leadership roles with both Premiere Canadian and Premiere Mortgage. In 2005, along with Franca Mercuri, they acquired an equal ownership stake in Premiere Mortgage, increasing to a majority stake in December 2011 and sole ownership since May 2013.
In addition, John and Franca also owned and operated another licensed mortgage brokerage, Can Terra Financial Inc. from 2012 to 2024, and through Can Terra, managed Classic Mortgage Corporation, another successful mortgage investment corporation (MIC), established in 2003. In September 2024, Classic and Premiere Canadian amalgamated, with Premiere Canadian continuing as the successor entity and Premiere Mortgage continuing as manager.
After 25 successful years, effective September 1, 2025, Premiere Mortgage was acquired by Alta West Mortgage Capital Corporation as a wholly owned subsidiary. Through this collaboration, Alta West Capital has assumed management responsibilities for Premiere Canadian. Along with Alta West Capital leadership, John continues to lead Premiere Canadian business activities as President and Director. Aside from his role with Premiere Canadian, John is also a licensed mortgage broker with Alta West Mortgage Capital Corporation, and acts as an advisor to Alta West Capital relative to Premiere Canadian business matters.
John has been actively involved in the mortgage industry in many capacities, including as a founding member and director of the B.C. MIC Managers Association. Prior to joining Premiere, John spent eight years with Beneficial Canada Inc., a major consumer finance company specializing in secondary mortgage financing, holding several management positions throughout British Columbia.
Franca Mercuri, Director
Franca Mercuri has served as a director of Premiere Canadian Mortgage Corp. since 2021. Along with her directorship duties, for close to 20 years, Franca has overseen administrative activities for both Premiere Canadian and Premiere Mortgage, including shareholder relations, mortgage renewals, account management, along with administrative and accounting matters. Franca also acted in a similar leadership role with both Can Terra and Classic, as detailed above. Since 2003, Franca has also been a licensed mortgage broker, currently licensed in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.
As well, Franca acted as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ultimate Designated Person (UDP), and Dealer Representative (DR) for Fairmont Asset Management Inc., and Exempt Market Dealer (EMD) from 2019 to 2026. Fairmont acted as the exclusive EMD facilitating capital raising activities, and ensuring compliance to applicable securities regulations, for both Premiere Canadian Mortgage Corp. and Classic Mortgage Corporation.
Along with Alta West Capital leadership, Franca continues in her leadership role with Premiere Canadian as Secretary and Director, and as an advisor to Alta West Capital. In addition, Franca continues to be the lead with Premiere Canadian shareholder relations and acts as a DR with Alta West Capital.
Prior to joining Premiere in 2003, Franca spent 15 years with Bank of Montreal holding administrative, personal lending, and investment advisory positions throughout British Columbia.
George Botros, Vice President and Director
Along with his role as Vice President and Director of Premiere Canadian, George Botros serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Alta West Capital, where he leads the firm’s lending operations and investment strategies. George is also a director of the other legal entities that Alta West manages.
Since his appointment as CEO in 2021, George has focused on strengthening Alta West Capital’s market position through disciplined growth, operational excellence, and innovative financing solutions.
Prior to assuming his current role, George held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer from 2014 to 2021, where he was instrumental in ensuring the company’s adherence to strong financial, operational, and regulatory standards.
With over two decades of experience in the lending industry, George’s expertise spans residential, commercial, mezzanine, and interim financing. He began his career in private mortgage lending and later founded Toro Financial Corp., a mortgage investment corporation acquired by Alta West Capital in 2014. Before entering the alternative lending space, George served as a professor of economics and finance, where he taught and developed coursework focused on financial systems, market dynamics, and investment management.
George holds a Bachelor of Economics, an MBA, and the Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designation. As a director and voting shareholder, he continues to guide Alta West Capital’s strategic direction and governance, ensuring alignment and continuity with Premiere Home Mortgage’s ongoing operations.
David Barer, Treasurer and Director
Along with his role as Treasurer and Director of Premiere Canadian, David Barer serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Alta West Capital since August 2022, bringing over a decade of prior experience in corporate finance, commercial banking, and credit risk management. In his current role, David leads the finance function, overseeing treasury operations, the accounting team, and institutional stakeholder relationships. David also serves on the Credit Committee in support of overall fund-level portfolio management.
Prior to joining Alta West, David held senior roles at HSBC Bank Canada and TD Bank Group. As Director of Corporate Banking at HSBC (2019–2022), he managed a diversified portfolio of national and international clients with credit facilities up to $250 million, while also leading the Prairie region’s technology sector strategy. At TD, he served as Senior Manager of Commercial Credit (2018–2019), adjudicating a $1 billion+ loan portfolio across Western Canada, and earlier as Relationship Manager (2015–2018) covering diversified industries including private mortgage lenders. His foundational experience in financial restructuring (2013–2015) involved turnaround strategies for distressed loans and active participation in foreclosure/bankruptcy proceedings.
David holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and he has continued to expand his professional credentials with mortgage licensing in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
Chad Danard, Director
In addition to his role as Director of Premiere Canadian, Chad Danard is a Senior Managing Director at TriWest Capital Partners, a Calgary-based private equity firm that has raised over $1.7 billion of capital across seven funds to date. Chad is involved in all aspects of TriWest’s investing activities, sits on its investment committee and has participated as a board member for numerous current and former TriWest portfolio companies, including his role as chairman of the board for Alta West Mortgage Capital Corporation.
Prior to joining TriWest in 2005, Chad worked at Morgan Stanley in the Global Energy and Utility Group in New York and in the Canada Group in Toronto. While at Morgan Stanley, Chad was involved in a variety of mergers and acquisitions-related strategic advisory assignments, equity offerings and debt financings. Chad also spent time in India, where he co-managed the day-to-day operations of the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley Advantage Services.
He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree (finance concentration) from Queen’s University School of Business, where he graduated as the top ranked student in the program.
Premiere Home Mortgage Ltd., d.b.a. Premiere Mortgage
Premiere Canadian Mortgage Corp. has been expertly managed by Premiere Home Mortgage Ltd., d.b.a. Premiere Mortgage, since inception in 1996, and continued as manager post amalgamation in September 2024. Effective September 1, 2025, Premiere Mortgage (the management company) was acquired by Alta West Mortgage Capital Corporation (Alta West Capital) as a wholly owned subsidiary. As part of this collaboration, Premiere Mortgage’s business operations have been integrated into Alta West Capital’s overall business operations, including assuming management responsibilities for Premiere Canadian Mortgage Corp., effective March 6, 2026. Founded in 1991, Alta West Capital has spent over 30 years building one of the most trusted alternative lending and mortgage fund management platforms in the country. In the past 10 years alone, we have successfully funded $1.5B of residential mortgages, and currently manage over $550 million in assets across Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. Over this time, we have delivered consistent results for our Mortgage Investment Entities.