After 19 years with Publicis—the last five as president of Publicis Toronto—Bryan Kane is leaving the agency for a new job in the industry.

“I’m excited for him, for what he’s become and for what we did together,” Duncan Bruce, president and CEO of Publicis Canada, told The Message.

Bruce will take over Kane’s duties, working alongside the rest of theToronto leadership team. “We’ll take some time to make the appropriate tweaks we think we should, not necessarily looking for a president at this stage,” he said.

Kane told Bruce about his departure earlier this week and staff were notified Friday.

“The decision to leave an agency after 19 years is obviously a difficult one, especially when it’s the only agency you have ever worked for,” said Kane in a statement shared with The Message.

“The fact that I have been at Publicis since its inception when we were a mere 35 people is something I take great pride in. I have spent close to half my life at Publicis, so to say that the agency and more specifically Andrew [Bruce], Duncan and Yves [Gougoux] have made an indelible impression on me both personally and professionally would be an understatement.”

Speaking with The Message just after leaving Publicis for the last time Friday afternoon, Kane confirmed he would be joining another agency, although he couldn’t say which one.

“It came about pretty quickly,” he said of the new opportunity and decision to leave Publicis. “It was something I hadn’t been pondering or really thinking about.”

Kane said goodbye to friends and colleagues Friday afternoon, reminisced a little about how much the industry has changed since he started at Publicis and hit the road for a few weeks at the cottage before starting his new job.

“Having never resigned from a job before I had no idea what to expect,” he said. “It was this overwhelming sense of gratitude.”