About Eli's Place
Eli's Place Residential Treatment and Transition Centre ("Eli's Place") exists because Ontario's mental health system, built around short stays, institutional settings and crisis response, cannot currently offer young adults with serious mental illness what they actually need - sustained recovery, resilience and the life skills to move forward. We are building something different. Canada's first long-term residential therapeutic community, where time, meaningful work and a sense of belonging are the conditions for recovery.
Eli's Place will provide long-term residential care for young adults living with serious mental illness, on a 600-acre farm and conservation property north of Guelph. Guests live and work together as a therapeutic community, with individualized clinical care built alongside real, structured work in horticulture, conservation and land stewardship.
The Role
he Financial Controller is a core member of the administration team, responsible for financial integrity, compliance and accurate reporting across the organization. The role reports to the Executive Director.
The Financial Controller directs contracted bookkeeping and payroll services, reviewing and approving their work to ensure accuracy and timeliness, and manages day-to-day cash flow and accounts payable approval directly. In the organization's first year, the Financial Controller works closely with the Board Treasurer to provide senior financial oversight while the organization's financial infrastructure is being established; the role carries full financial management responsibility from the outset.
Like every founding role, this position carries a program-building mandate that distinguishes it from a steady-state financial post. In the pre-launch and early operating phases, the Financial Controller helps establish the budgeting process, financial controls and funder reporting systems that will carry Eli's Place through launch and into ongoing operation. This requires both strong financial judgment and a builder's orientation, someone comfortable establishing systems in a new organization and operating as both a hands-on doer and an overseer in a lean team.
Key Accountabilities
Financial Operations
- Direct contracted bookkeeping services, reviewing and approving work to ensure accuracy and timeliness
- Manage payroll processing, accounts payable approval and day-to-day cash flow
- Ensure compliance with non-profit accounting standards, CRA requirements and applicable financial regulations
Reporting and Financial Planning
- Prepare financial statements and management reports for the Executive Director and Board
- Monitor budget performance, provide variance analysis and flag risks to organizational sustainability
- Lead budgeting, financial planning and audit preparation processes
Funder and Compliance Accountability
- Manage funder reporting and financial accountability obligations across grants and funding agreements
- Support outcomes and compliance reporting in collaboration with the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist
Organizational Support and Program Building
- Provide financial training and process support to Eli's Place staff
- Help establish financial systems, controls and reporting practices during the pre-launch and early operating phases
- Work closely with the Board Treasurer in year one to establish financial infrastructure, holding full financial management responsibility from the outset
Ideal Candidate
Education and Designation
- CPA designation, or equivalent experience in hands-on financial management
- Proficiency in accounting software and financial reporting tools
- Experience in non-profit financial management, fund accounting and grant reporting is preferred
- Comfortable operating as both a doer and an overseer in a lean organization
- Experience preparing financial statements and supporting audit processes
Judgment and Communication
- Strong financial judgment and a compliance orientation
- Clear communication of financial information to non-financial audiences
- Sound judgment in flagging risks to organizational sustainability
Alignment with the Model
- Genuine openness to or familiarity with the therapeutic community model and recovery-oriented, non-institutional approaches to care
- Comfort working as one member of a small, closely connected founding team
- Innovative and adaptable, with an interest in contributing to a new, first-of-its-kind program model
- Alignment with the mission and values of Eli's Place
Conditions of the Role
The role is hybrid, with approximately two days on site per week. The Financial Controller works closely with the Executive Director, contracted bookkeeping and payroll support, and Eli's Place staff to maintain financial integrity across the organization.
The working schedule is determined by organizational needs, including budget cycles, audit periods and funder reporting deadlines, and may occasionally require additional hours around those milestones.
Compensation
The salary range for the Financial Controller is $95,000–$125,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
Eli's Place offers a competitive health and wellness benefits package. The Financial Controller will receive three weeks of vacation annually.
Eli's Place is committed to the ongoing professional development of its staff. Professional development, including relevant CPA continuing education, is supported through a dedicated organizational fund.
Compensation at Eli's Place reflects both the financial and non-financial value of the work. This is a small founding team building something that has never existed in Canada, on a 600-acre working farm where the daily environment is unlike anything an institutional or urban office setting can offer. For the right person, that context is as much a part of the offer as the salary.
How to Apply
Eli's Place is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities and are committed to a fair and accessible hiring process.
To apply, please submit a résumé and a cover letter addressed to Dr. Chris Joseph, Executive Director. Your cover letter should speak to your relevant financial management experience, your comfort operating as both a doer and an overseer in a lean organization, and what draws you to Eli's Place specifically. The substance of the cover letter is an important part of the screening process.
Applications should be submitted by email to [email protected]
This position will remain open until filled. Review of applications will begin September 14, 2026 and we encourage early submission. Applications received by that date will receive first consideration, and the posting will stay open until a suitable candidate is identified.
Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. We thank all applicants for their interest in Eli's Place. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents. The successful candidate should ideally be available to commence employment prior to November 7, 2026.
For the full job profile, see:
Elis-Place-–-Financial-Controller-Position-Profile-09032026.pdf
