20+ Years of Market Intelligence Excellence
We've spent two decades helping organizations across North America make million-dollar decisions with confidence. Our mission is simple: provide the market intelligence you need to compete, grow, and win.
Built on a Simple Belief: Better Intelligence Leads to Better Decisions
Aaron Cruikshank, CTRS President and resident Market Intelligence Expert, has spent more than two decades helping leaders reduce risk and make confident strategic decisions through market intelligence, competitive intelligence, and applied research. His work spans private industry, public sector organizations, and nonprofits - often supporting initiatives where the cost of being wrong is measured in millions of dollars, years of execution, or reputational risk.
Before CTRS, Aaron worked in research and consulting and repeatedly saw the same pattern: smart teams making major decisions with partial visibility into the market. They could find plenty of opinions, plenty of data, and plenty of generic frameworks, but they struggled to find decision-grade intelligence that connected the dots and held up under scrutiny. That gap was not only common but also a competitive blind spot. CTRS was built to address it.
Aaron’s strength lies in helping people see patterns they couldn’t before, then act with clarity and confidence. Beyond CTRS project work, Aaron is a speaker for podcasts, keynotes and summits, and company workshops. Learn more about his signature talks and book Aaron for 2026/2027.
A Different Approach: HUMINT + OSINT + Analytics
CTRS blends two disciplines that are rarely combined well in North America:
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HUMINT (Human Intelligence): the “lost art” of investigative research rooted in journalism and law enforcement - picking up the phone, tracking down knowledgeable sources, asking better questions, and validating what’s real on the ground.
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OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) + advanced analytics: technology-enabled collection and analysis that helps identify patterns, quantify shifts, and rapidly synthesize large volumes of market signals.
The result is clarity: what is happening, why it matters, what is likely to happen next, and what you should do about it.
The CTRS Point of View
Many North American organizations plan a few quarters ahead and react to current market conditions. In contrast, many organizations in the EU and Asia develop strategic plans by looking 5–10 years ahead and planning for where the market is going, not where it is today. CTRS exists to bring that forward-looking discipline to leaders who want an advantage: better timing, better positioning, and fewer expensive surprises.
We also believe that market intelligence tools should be in the hands of all organizations - not just the big ones. Major decisions don't wait for perfect information — but they shouldn't have to rely on guesswork either. For over two decades, CTRS has helped organizations of every size across North America close that gap: replacing partial visibility with decision-grade intelligence that holds up under scrutiny, and under pressure.
We're also proud to be one of the first companies in British Columbia to become a registered Benefit Company in 2020. This structure formally commits us to creating positive impact for people, communities, and the planet — and reflects what has always been true about how we operate. [Read more →]
Experience You Can Lean On
Since 2003, Aaron and CTRS have supported 1,000+ projects from growing SMEs to major brands and public-sector organizations worldwide. Engagements commonly focus on market assessments and decision support for:
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entering new markets with existing offerings
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launching new offerings into established markets
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major capital investments and strategic bets
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policy, regulation, and heavily regulated industries
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product and go-to-market strategy backed by rigorous evidence
Aaron’s background includes an Associate Vice President role at Ipsos (2011–2012) and a track record of work with well-known organizations (e.g., Bosch, BC Hydro, Government of Canada, BC Lottery Corporation, Vancity, Nintendo, and BDC, among others).
CTRS is built on collaboration. Beyond our core team, we work with a trusted network of subject-matter experts across industries and geographies — each bringing deep, specialized knowledge that would be impossible to replicate in a single firm. What this means for clients: you get the right expertise for your specific challenge, not a generalist assigned to fill a role. Different perspectives aren't just a value we hold — they're how we consistently find angles others miss.
It's Time to Make Better Decisions With Better Intelligence
Whether you're an enterprise making a multi-million dollar investment, an SME entering a new market, or a research firm needing overflow capacity, we're here to help.