Dave Carey is preparing to travel more often as he steps into the role of managing partner of North America at agency Oliver.

Previously the agency’s Canadian country manager, Carey says he has held some of his new duties for some time. But the title change is both a recognition of that work and of Oliver’s growth ambitions south of the border, he says.

Oliver, which has an agency network spanning 45 countries worldwide, specializes in building dedicated agency teams within its clients’ offices. It counts Unilever and Manulife among its Canadian clients, and was picked to help support WestJet’s international expansion last year.

Carey has already been helping set up, staff and manage certain U.S. clients, and will continue to do so while reporting directly to Peter Kuhn, president of Oliver North America. Carey says he was approached by Kuhn, who asked if he’d have the “bandwidth” to take on more of an official role supporting clients across North America.

As he takes on new responsibilities, he will lean on the rest of Oliver’s Canadian leadership team, including director of creative operations Justin Rieder and ECD Bernardo Andrada (who will also be playing a large role across North America).

“They will definitely have more individual responsibilities to make sure the clients in Canada run really well. But my focus is still obviously on the Canadian market,” Carey says. Canada is currently Oliver’s fastest-growing market in terms of both new hires and new client assignments, according to Carey. “We can’t take our eyes off this market.”

Over the last year, Oliver’s Canadian headcount has grown from some 30 employees to 75 as it has expanded its services further into the offices of clients like Unilever, Manulife and WestJet.

This month, Oliver also opened a “hub” from which it has been servicing clients in both Canada and the U.S., including teclo Bright House, PayPal and Diageo. The Canadian hub currently consists of seven staff, and operates much like Oliver’s other global hubs, handling the overflow of work delegated to its clients’ internal teams and helping them scale operations as necessary, Carey says. For example, WestJet can lean on the hub’s resources during peak times such as a Black Friday sale.

In the U.S., Oliver is present in Charlotte, N.C., as well as Miami, from which it services client Microsoft, with several other locations on the way in more Northwestern markets. Its main offices are in New York and San Francisco, where most of its clients are based. Carey was not in a position to share the names of recent American client wins, but said announcements will be made in the next month or so.

According to the managing partner, the U.S. has been taking more advantage of the talent with Oliver’s Canadian hub, as well as the cost-effectiveness of doing business this side of the border.