Our team

Better people make better lending

We lend billions of dollars to commercial real estate projects every year. But it’s not just capital that distinguishes us. It’s the empowered nature of our workforce. Our advisors are experienced experts whose sole focus is to deliver financing strategies that enable you to achieve greater success.

Our Better Lending culture – three decades in the making – is built on the skill that comes from pure mortgage lending. Because we start from a position of knowledge about you, your project, and your market, we can design solutions that are fit for your purpose. And because accountability is in our nature, we meet our commitments.

Better by design, better by nature, better for you in every corner of the country.

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Cassie Duan

Cassie is a member of:
Team Gidney and Barda

Analyst, Commercial Financing

cassie.duan@firstnational.ca

647-425-6943

Entrepreneurial. Insightful. Organized.

“I add value by speaking the borrowers’ language and preparing them thoroughly to meet clearly communicated financing requirements.”

Cassie joined the First National team in May 2024, bringing five years of experience to her role as Analyst. Previously, she worked as a portfolio analyst for CMBS loan underwriting and then held several positions in real estate development and investment. Her exposure to the equity side gives her a unique insight into borrowers’ business operations. Her experience with preparing development and acquisition proformas expedites her underwriting without sacrificing the integrity of CMHC guidelines. With a goal-oriented mindset, Cassie takes initiative with tasks and comes up with creative solutions to address client needs. With the complexity and urgency of her work, she is skilled at organizing priorities to meet time-sensitive deadlines.

When she’s not adding value for First National borrowers, Cassie finds her zen with yoga and indulges in her passion for contemporary dance. She loves the energy of the city, but also seeks out the calm of nature with escapes to national parks and oceans.