Jessica Ward is one of Canada’s most recognized emerging leaders in automotive finance education — a finance manager with more than 11 years of hands-on experience, known for building a complete finance department from the ground up, developing high-performing systems, and training new finance managers who now work across British Columbia.

Across more than a decade in the automotive industry, Jessica didn’t step into an established F&I office — she created one from scratch. She built every process, workflow, and standard through real-world trial, refinement, and volume experience. Over the years, she became the internal go-to for onboarding new finance managers, helping them develop the confidence, technical skill, and lender understanding required to succeed in one of the most high-pressure roles in the dealership.

Her professional track record includes:

• Building a complete finance department from square one — systems, processes, lender relationships, and deal flow.

• Training and developing new finance managers who have moved into roles across the province.

• Implementing repeatable processes that increased profitability and improved customer trust.

• Becoming the internal “finance trainer” long before that role formally existed.

Jessica founded The Box Automotive Finance Academy to solve a long-standing gap in the industry: there is no national standard, no recognized professional designation, and no structured training path for automotive finance in Canada — despite the finance office being the most regulated, most profitable, and most liability-heavy department inside any dealership.

Her vision is clear:

Raise the standard. Protect the customer. Strengthen the dealership. Elevate the profession.

Jessica believes the industry is overdue for a shift toward competency-based training, transparency, and ethics. Knowledge gaps within finance departments don’t just create inconsistencies — they directly impact compliance, profitability, lender relationships, customer trust, and overall dealership performance. With no formal education pathway, most new finance managers are thrown into “sink or swim” environments that lead to preventable errors, low confidence, and high turnover.

Through the Academy’s Professional Automotive Finance Program, Jessica is changing that. Students learn the real, practical skills required on day one: credit-bureau analysis, deal structuring, lender navigation, compliance, documentation, funding processes, product presentation, warranty systems, and more — all taught by someone who still works in the field today, delivering current, real-world knowledge.

Dealerships benefit from stronger performance, cleaner paperwork, consistent processes, higher closing ratios, and finance managers who finally understand what a modern Canadian F&I office demands.

Jessica’s expertise is backed by endorsements from respected industry partners and leaders such as Arash Askarian (Dealer Partner), testimonials from colleagues like Charlie Man (General Manager), and media features recognizing her work in modernizing automotive finance education.

Ultimately, Jessica built the program she wishes existed when she started — a professional, structured, credibility-driven pathway for the next generation of Canadian finance managers.

She’s not just teaching automotive finance.

She’s raising the bar for the entire industry.