BAO senior manager receives prestigious Emerging Leader Award from CPA Ontario

The Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) congratulates Hamza Majid who has received the prestigious 2025 Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) of Ontario Emerging Leader Award.

“I am honoured to receive this recognition. To be recognized by my professional regulatory body for my strategic work is very satisfying and motivating. I thank my family, colleagues, and CPA Ontario for this award. Our role to protect the public interest at the BAO is one I take seriously, and I am fortunate to work with such engaged team members,” says Hamza, the BAO’s Senior Manager, Regulatory Compliance, Inspections and Investigations, who joined the BAO in 2021 as its Manager of Financial Compliance. 

Having revolutionized the authority’s financial compliance work on a firm adherence to the law, regulations, and guidance to bereavement sector establishments and professionals in his first few years at the BAO, Hamza was promoted to his current role in December to continue that focus on consumer protection.
 
CPA Ontario describes the Emerging Leader Award as recognizing “the professional and philanthropic contributions of Ontario’s young CPAs, under the age of 35. Nominated by their peers, Emerging Leaders are innovative, strategic thinkers who have made outstanding professional and community contributions early in their careers. They are trailblazing new professional opportunities for the CPA designation, shaping the future of our profession.” For 2025, the CPA Ontario has recognized 18 of its 105,000 members with this award.
 
BAO CEO and Registrar Justin A. Brown says, “Hamza’s diligent focus on consumer protection across our financial compliance and inspections functions strengthens regulatory adherence in the public interest at cemeteries, crematoriums, hydrolysis facilities, and funeral homes. At the same time, he ensures licensed professionals have clear guidance and practical information to better serve Ontarians during times of need. Hamza brings a modern, experienced approach to the BAO that continues to elevate our work in the public interest.” 

Accomplishments 

 Among his accomplishments at the BAO, Hamza has:

• Transformed of the BAO’s Financial Compliance team from basic data aggregation to advanced data analysis, strengthening oversight of consumer and cemetery funds with over $5 billion held in trust;
• Elevated regulatory assurance and consumer protection by improving the quality, validity, and scrutiny of reporting;
• Provided practical guidance to cemetery operators — especially smaller, rural, and volunteer-run — on trust fund management, ensuring long-term sustainability and perpetual upkeep, protecting cemeteries across the province of Ontario;
• Demonstrated commitment to continuous learning and applying it to enhance team and organizational performance;
• Driven innovation by leading the integration of artificial intelligence to enhance compliance monitoring, efficiencies and shifting focus on strategic and intelligence-based insights.

About CPA Ontario

Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario is the professional regulatory and qualifying body for CPAs in the province. CPA Ontario protects the public interest by ensuring its 105,000 members meet standards of integrity, expertise, and professional conduct across finance, accounting, and business sectors.

About the BAO

The Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) is a government delegated authority and not-for-profit corporation administering provisions of the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, 2002 (FBCSA). Accountable to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement and the government, the BAO is responsible for the protection of the public interest. The BAO regulates, ensures compliance with the law, provides resources and services to licensed:

• Funeral establishment operators, directors and preplanners;
• Cemetery, crematorium and alternative disposition operators;
• Transfer service operators; and
• Bereavement sector sales representatives across Ontario.

The BAO is wholly funded by licensee fees (not tax dollars).

Media contact
MediaInquiries@TheBAO.ca