Celebrated creative leader Peter Ignazi has a new home as he joins one of Canada’s largest independent agencies, Diamond, as its first chief creative officer.

Ignazi joins the agency at a time of considerable growth. In recent months, Diamond has added new clients including theScore Bet, Accor Hotels and Ontario Tourism’s digital assignment. It has simultaneously been making additions to its creative team, hiring CDs Jordan Cohen in June and Mark Holden earlier this month. In total, the agency has grown its headcount to 120 people across its Toronto and New York offices. SVP and creative director Dave Stevenson also remains with the agency.

Now, it is adding the widely-touted Ignazi, who left the role of global CCO at Cossette in February. Under his direction, that agency won awards both within Canada and internationally for clients including SickKids Foundation, McDonald’s Canada and General Mills.

“This signals our commitment to our clients and to giving them access to the best. That’s what Peter is,” David Diamond, president and CEO of Diamond, tells strategy. “We’re always making sure we bring new, fresh thinking and new ideas – that’s something that we always challenge ourselves with. Throughout our 15 years, we’ve had a lot of momentum. Peter is world class, and giving our clients access to world class talent is truly exciting.”

Ignazi says he is excited to work with Diamond because the agency “has a lot of competencies that I’m excited to learn more about and get stronger at.” The agency has been building out its nine main practices, which include digital, design, experiential, partnerships and influencer marketing, and Ignazi says that he sees “an opportunity to try bigger and more through-the-line things that I think are exciting and have good potential.”

“The marketing world is changing very quickly, and I think the entrepreneurial nature of this organization really lends itself to taking advantage of these opportunities and addressing these challenges for clients in a way I don’t think anyone else is,” he adds. “I’m very excited about this and the opportunities that it does offer for me and I hope for Diamond as well to expand and learn from each other and all of the successes we’ve both had. I want to build on them and find new areas of growth for both of us, then bring that to the clients and hopefully take them places that they’ve never gone before.”