Rob Mercier is Chief Technology Officer at Next Dimension Inc., a managed services and IT risk management provider based in Southwestern Ontario. With over 25 years in networking and telecommunications, Rob has built his career from field technician to executive, holding ITIL v4 Foundation and several other industry credentials along the way. His background spans enterprise-grade network design and deployment for Service Providers and major Tier-1 automotive manufacturers and their supplier networks across North America, giving him deep, hands-on experience with the kind of complex, high-availability infrastructure that connectivity projects depend on.
That same technical grounding is what draws Rob to the connectivity challenges facing underserved communities throughout Canada. He has worked directly with both municipal governments and First Nations, delivering fibre and fixed-wireless broadband projects in First Nations territories for business and First Nations across Canada. Rob brings a coach-leader philosophy to this work, shaped by years coaching youth sports (Hockey & Rugby) in Oakville and Fergus: a good coach inspires and guides rather than running every play themselves, and a good technology leader listens as much as they design. He believes closing the connectivity gap for these communities takes that same mix of technical rigour and genuine partnership.
Outside of work, Rob and his wife have owned and operated an alpaca farm for over 17 years in rural Centre Wellington. Born in Montreal and raised in Oakville, Rob's family has been in Canada for over 14 generations, tracing back to 1636 / 1647.