Canada Wide Media president Gary Davies is stepping down from his role and relocating back home to Calgary with his family.

Vice-president Samantha Legge will assume the role in the interim, and Davies will act as a consultant for the next few months as the company looks to fill his absence.  

Davies joined the company 18 months ago, transitioning from Calgary-based RedPoint Media Group where he served as executive vice-president.

"I appreciate Canada Wide helping to make this transition for our family a seamless one," Davies stated. "This is a great organization, with great people, with a bright future ahead of it."

"Gary has been a wonderful president and has made many positive changes to our company during his tenure and he will be missed," said Legge in a company release. "But relocating to B.C. and living in North Vancouver has been difficult for his young family."

One of Davies's first key decisions at Canada Wide was the hiring of Tom Gierasimczuk, former editor-in-chief of Marketing, as editor-in-chief of BCBusiness and vice-president of editorial. Under Davies's run, BCBusiness underwent a significant online and print rehaul, TVW rebranded and redesigned as TVWeek, and BCLiving launched print editions in both English and Chinese.