In 2013, Rob Cowley and Lydia Abbott, both veterans with at least 10 years of experience in the Canadian auction field, joined him as managing partners and owners.
They launched Consignor Canadian Fine Art at 326 Dundas St West, Toronto, across from the Art Gallery of Ontario, launching a model new to the Canadian market—online-only auctions complemented by a year-round gallery space.
It saw positive growth within its first year, as in May 2014 it broke the record for a Canadian online auction, with Jack Bush's Summer Lake achieving a price of $310,000.
[11] The Cowley Abbott's two-session spring live auction event on June 8, grossed more than $16 million with An Important Private Collection of Canadian Art cumulatively achieved a gross total of over $27 million across the two auctions to date with a final installment coming in December 2023.
The catalogues, filled with detailed essays by Canada's art historians, were thought to be "treasures for any library".