The credit and collections team at Willson International.Supplied
In her 19 years at Willson International, Therese De Leon had never seen such an overwhelming workload for the Mississauga, Ont.-based customs brokerage as when the United States imposed tariffs on Canadian imports in early 2025.
“You can only imagine the amount of phone calls we were getting when a truck was stuck at the border because the tariffs were exceeding the client’s credit limit,” says De Leon, senior credit and collections specialist. “We were sending out multiple announcements and communications to customers. Customers were consistently calling because they did not know what to do or what tariffs applied to them. It was very chaotic.”
Willson’s 300 employees collaborated closely to persevere.
De Leon says she had to quickly learn new processes and customs documentation. “Departments were collaborating in unique ways. Operations was overwhelmed, so the credit team assisted them, and accounting assisted us. There was significant cross-departmental training and increased communication between teams.”
Sheri Gonyou, vice-president, Canadian brokerage operations and regulatory affairs, says the company had to adjust processes quickly to stay aligned with new requirements. “We implemented new workflows to support our staff,” she says. “We often had to pivot on short notice to meet client demands and regulatory updates. There were numerous team members working late to ensure that everything aligned with the government changes.
“I can’t tell you how incredibly proud I am of the teamwork and professionalism, because there were considerable last-minute announcements and our team had to jump into action quickly.”
De Leon says that constant communication from the president and management helped employees succeed in getting through the rapid changes and overwhelming client inquiries.
“They made sure everyone was updated with new information and how to communicate that information to the clients,” she says. “We would have multiple meetings throughout the week. One day a meeting with finance, and then another day with sales, and then with operations. The exchange of information from the various departments — and what they had been experiencing and questions that had come up — helped us tackle the issues more efficiently.
“Kudos to all the departments because we were really working together.”
Gonyou says the leadership team thought it was important to provide regular updates and consistent information to help teams stay focused and confident in their work. Willson also expanded its team, bringing in more people to interpret and apply the new rules and regulatory requirements. “We wanted to ensure our team had the guidance they needed to work confidently and accurately,” she says.
“We increased training and shifted resources to accommodate the growing requirements. Some people had to jump into different workflows to support the demands of the trade environment.”
Gonyou says the leadership team is highly engaged and consistently supports employees, including offering extra training and promoting resources like the employee assistance program to help employees manage rising job pressures.
“I’m quite proud of the team. We have a great group. People care about their job and care about the organization,” Gonyou says. “I’ve been here for 38 years. It’s a fantastic organization to work for and just watching everyone, especially the newer employees, adapt and persevere has been really impressive.”
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