The Future of Sustainable Buildings

Engage with a panel discussion moderated by Jody Becker, Chief Strategy Officer and EVP, of Infrastructure Services and Technology at EllisDon.

PRESENTED BY

Geoff Smith President and CEO, EllisDon

Geoff Smith is the President & Chief Executive Officer of EllisDon, an employeeowned, $5 billion-a-year construction services and technology company that has grown exponentially beyond its modest origins in London, Ontario. With over 5,000 salaried and hourly employees across fifteen national and international offices, EllisDon has become a leader in every facet of the construction industry.

Geoff earned his law degree from the University of Toronto and was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1981. After joining EllisDon in 1983, he quickly gained experience across various management positions, including Field Operations, Legal and Labour Relations and Executive Leadership.

In 1996, at the height of a trying time at EllisDon, Geoff was named President and CEO. Through a redefinition of its construction offering, Geoff reinvented EllisDon as a ‘Cradle to Grave’ services provider with guaranteed performance outcomes through its Capital Services, Facilities Management, and Sustainable Building Divisions. EllisDon is determined to lead the coming disruption in the construction sector, having recently created pioneering initiatives in Energy Management, Smart Buildings Software and Data Analytics and Modular construction.

Geoff’s community involvement has covered a broad spectrum. He has served as a Curriculum Advisor to Ryerson University, on the Board of Halton Health

Services, and chaired the Technology in the City Campaign for George Brown College. Geoff was past Chair of the Ontario Liberal Fund and is a founding member and Chair of the Ontario Global 100 (OG100) Board, an initiative to enable Canada’s fastest growing companies to become exporters to the world. Geoff also co-Chairs the Unity for Autism Golf Event, is on the Board of Directors for the Business Council of Canada as well as the CD Howe Institute. Geoff views EllisDon as a values-based proposition above all else: Trust, Complete Openness, Mutual Accountability, and Entrepreneurial Enthusiasm serve as the company’s foundation, wherever it goes, whatever it does. These core values have earned EllisDon consistent accolades, including Aon Hewitt’s 50 Best Employers in Canada, Deloitte’s Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies, Canada’s Top 100 Employers, and Waterstone Human Capital’s Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures.

Geoff has also earned recognition as the recipient of the Ontario General Contractors Association’s Jock Tindale Award for Integrity in 2011, EY’s Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2013 and the Donald P. Giffin, Sr. Construction Industry Achievement Award presented by the Toronto Construction Association in 2020.

Peter Gilgan Chairman and CEO, Mattamy Asset Management Inc.

Peter Gilgan is the Chairman & CEO of Mattamy Asset Management Inc., a firm he founded in 2018 to build and hold a diversified portfolio of investments and businesses across geographies, asset classes and the spectrum of risk and return. Mattamy Asset Management is the parent company of Mattamy Homes, the largest privately owned homebuilder in North America, which Mr. Gilgan founded in 1978. Mattamy Homes has operations across Canada and the United States, and every year helps more than 8,000 families realize their dream of home ownership.

One of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs and generous philanthropists, Mr. Gilgan was awarded one of the country’s highest civilian honours when he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013, in recognition of his innovative leadership in Canada’s construction industry, and for his philanthropic support of initiatives in health care, education and athletics. In December of 2020, Mr. Gilgan was promoted to an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2013, he was honoured with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of outstanding achievement and public service and was named to the Order of Ontario in 2012, for his business leadership and philanthropic initiatives.

Mr. Gilgan was named by the prestigious Ivey Business School as its 2019 Business Leader of the Year. In 2016, he was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, in recognition of his contributions to sport, recreation and philanthropy in Ontario. In 2013, he was inducted as a Companion into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. Mr. Gilgan was awarded the Outstanding Business Leader of the Year award from Laurier’s School of Business and Economics in 2010 and was elected a

Fellow (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2009. Mr. Gilgan was also honoured in 2007 as Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr. Gilgan’s multi-million-dollar commitment to philanthropy and community building is unparalleled, from health care to physical activity to higher education and community legacies – he truly is a respected and dedicated community leader. His lifetime charitable donations total more than $360 million, making him part of a small group of Canadian philanthropists who have given more than $100 million.

In February 2022, Mr. Gilgan made an historic gift of $105 million to Trillium Health Partners –the largest donation to a hospital in Canadian history, to support Trillium in building the biggest and most advanced hospital in Canada. Together with donations made to other hospitals to date, it makes Mr. Gilgan and the Peter Gilgan Foundation the largest benefactor to hospitals in Canada. In June 2019, Mr. Gilgan gifted $100 million to The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the largest single gift ever to SickKids. In September 2017, Mr. Gilgan donated $10 million to the Promise Campaign of St. Joseph’s Health Centre, in tribute to his parents and childhood in the west end of Toronto. In February 2017, Mr. Gilgan, along with the Canadian Cancer Society, provided a collaborative $12 million gift to Women’s College Hospital, establishing an unprecedented collaboration that will further research, education and innovation in the field of women’s cancers. In 2014, Mr. Gilgan announced a $30 million gift toward construction of a new patient-care tower for critically ill patients at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital. Mr. Gilgan gave then the largest gift to a pediatric hospital in Canadian history with his $40 million donation to SickKids Hospital in 2012. His historic $15 million gift to Ryerson University in 2012 led the development of a new student and community athletic centre at the site of the former Maple Leaf Gardens. And in 2010, Mr. Gilgan kicked off the capital campaign to build the New Oakville Hospital with a $10 million pacesetting gift.

Dave McKay CEO, Royal Bank of Canada

Dave McKay is President and CEO of RBC, Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization. He is reimagining the future of financial services to help RBC’s clients thrive and communities prosper.

An unwavering champion of innovation, big ideas, and creativity, Dave is actively transforming RBC for the future, harnessing the power of transformational technologies like artificial intelligence to deliver digitallyenabled, client centric advice, insights and experiences. Dave is also a leading force behind RBC’s ‘beyond banking’ strategy, building ecosystems, like RBC Ventures, that enable RBC to participate in a broader part of the client journey and value chain. In his home market, he is a passionate advocate for Canada’s future prosperity and preparing youth for the future of work through the support and development of RBC Future Launch, a 10-year, $500 million commitment to help young people build the skills required to succeed in a changing world. Dave is also the Chair of RBC’s Diversity Leadership Council, and is strongly committed to driving RBC’s diversity and inclusion vision forward.

Dave joined RBC in 1983 as a co-op student in computer programming before moving to the organization’s retail banking arm. He then held progressively senior roles in retail and business banking, group risk management, and corporate banking. He became Group Head of Canadian Banking in 2008. During his tenure leading the division, Dave helped reinvent the bank’s retail operations, introducing new technology that has enabled RBC to adapt and evolve to rapidly-changing consumer demands.

Shortly after being appointed President and CEO in 2014, he led the acquisition of City National Corporation, creating a platform for growth with institutional, corporate and high net worth clients in the U.S.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Mathematics and an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo. He also holds an MBA and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and an honorary degree from Ryerson University. He is both a member and a Board of Director at the Business Council of Canada, a member of the U.S. Business Council, and a Board of Director with the Institute of International Finance (IIF). Dave also serves on the Catalyst Canada Advisory Board and is the chair of the Business/Higher Education Roundtable, which brings together Canada’s top businesses, universities and colleges to find ways to better link workplaces and classrooms.

The BSI is a learning hub dedicated to research and innovations around sustainability. It will be located at Limberlost Place, the college’s new mass timber net-zero emissions building. Learn more by visiting brookfieldsustainabilityinstitute.com/.