Preferring to be unknown in public events and working mostly behind the scenes as a hidden soldier. Khalil Khanafer, is a Lebanese-canadian originated from Aynata, a village of the south of Lebanon mostly known as the manager of Al-Hilal for more than 16 years. He’s a self-learner that learned different languages and slangs to serve the varieties of community in the neighborhood, such as creole, English, quebecois and maghrebin dialects, which made him very close from his employees, partners, suppliers, clients and even politicians and high-class actors of Montreal society.

Arrived in Montreal in 1989 with his family at 15 years old, he lived, studied and worked in Montreal-North for the last 35 years of his life. He holds a DEP in industrial management and began his professional life as a work material planner in the well-known company “Bombardier” and rapidly got promoted as a chief of his department due to his commitment, flexibility and streetwiseness. He also contributed to the launching of the first Bombardier Global Express business jet in 1999.

After his work at Bombardier for many years, he decided to shift his carrier to business and became a partner of Nana, a food store supply very known in the arab community.

In 2008, he decided to join Al-Hilal, a family business for Al-Khanafer family that was founded at the beginning of 2000’s. Couple of years later, he becomes the manager of the market that rassembles many sections such as a butcher’s, a bakery, a restaurant and a grocery. The market evolved through years due to the willing and perseverance of Khalil to pursue his dream in collaboration with more members of Khanafer’s family that joined and invested to elaborate the shared dream into a reality mostly managed on the ground by Khalil, the dynamo of Al-Hilal.

He participated to the foundation of SAWA, a Montreal-based non-profit organisation that aims to underline and recognize the contributions of the Lebanese community to the Canadian society and in which he actively worked on promoting the participation in its very successful galas made for three consecutive years, the last on 2018, and that had a big impact and reach among the Montreal society and its surroundings and was emphasized in 2018 through a declaration in front of the Assembly of Québec made by a member deputee of the time.

Very well known by his diplomacy, social intelligence, kindness and pro-activity, he’s considered a leader by his employees that developed a loyalty to the market and a devotion to the work thanks to him, as they say. An active listener, always with interest for the person and its preoccupations, he gained the trust of a lot of people and become therefore a reference frequently and unofficially consulted and even sought after by politicians that aim to access to a large base of voters while building relations with him.

He also used to make fundraising initiatives for humanitarian causes especially for the interest of people in needed in Lebanon.