Our People

What does your role entail? My role involves providing advisory and transaction execution services to the Government of Ontario. I’m currently working on two separate mandates: 1) The Accelerated High Speed Internet Program (AHSIP), which will connect over 200,000 homes and businesses to high-speed internet by 2025; and 2) Developing a digital twin strategy for the province with the aim of getting priority infrastructure projects built faster and more efficiently.

What’s the most unique part of working at Infrastructure Ontario? Infrastructure Ontario sits at the intersection of the private and public sectors and leverages private sector expertise to solve governmental policy challenges. This results in interactions with government officials and policymakers, corporate executives, and a wide range of other stakeholders. Bringing together these stakeholders to solve important issues makes for very rewarding work.

How has your career grown since joining Infrastructure Ontario? Prior to joining Infrastructure Ontario, I’d never even heard of GIS (Geographic Information Systems – technology to work with, analyze, and display data visually to improve decision making). Through my role, I’ve become well-versed in it and am now my team’s go-to for all things GIS. This is just one example of the new skillsets I’ve picked up since joining Infrastructure Ontario.

Can you share your biggest accomplishment at Infrastructure Ontario? Signing contracts with 8 ISPs (Internet Service Provider) totaling ~$1.25B in spring 2022 for the Accelerated High Speed Internet Program (AHSIP). This was the culmination of years of work from many bright and dedicated minds at Infrastructure Ontario and marked a successful conclusion to a unique competitive procurement process we ran to help connect underserved Ontario communities to high-speed internet by the end of 2025. A close second would be a targeted negotiations process I led with ISPs to secure coverage for an additional ~25k homes and businesses.

What would your advice be to a new employee? Hunger and curiosity are your best friends!

What does your role entail? As Senior Legal Counsel in the Transaction Legal team, I work closely with the Project Delivery team, advising on legal and commercial matters on public-private partnership (P3) projects throughout the planning, procurement and implementation phases of projects. Since starting at IO in August 2021, I’ve been engaged primarily on the development of IO’s new progressive P3 and progressive design build project models.

What is your career background? Prior to joining IO I worked at a leading national law firm, advising on P3 and infrastructure projects, as well as mergers and acquisitions and a broad range of corporate and commercial matters.

What drew you to join IO? I was drawn to join IO because of what I saw to be the building blocks of a rewarding career. The work is both interesting and impactful: every day I work on large, complex infrastructure projects that directly impact the daily lives of millions of Ontarians. IO is an agency that values being sharp, skillful and solutions-oriented: to me, this has translated in working as part of a team that seeks to adapt to changing market realities and landscapes, and is continuously problem solving. Finally, IO is also a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion, providing a safe space to learn and grow.

What is it like to work on the Transaction Legal team? The Transaction Legal team is made up of so many intelligent and talented people. It’s a fairly large team, with over 20 lawyers and non-lawyers. This means that there are a lot of people to bounce ideas off of and to collaborate and problem-solve with when faced with novel and complex issues. The team has a great culture of sharing knowledge and encouraging professional and personal growth.

Can you share your biggest accomplishment at IO? I’m very proud to have played a part in the two first progressive P3 projects – the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority Redevelopment Project and the Trillium Health Partners Broader Redevelopment Project – The Peter Gilgan Mississauga Hospital – reaching the start of the development phase. These are important healthcare projects for Ontario which will impact so many people across the province. While advising on these projects, I was able to work with a cross-functional team within IO, our co-sponsors and external advisors in creating a model that could address the unique characteristics of each of the projects.

What’s one thing IO does to make you feel empowered/supported? IO provides a lot of resources and opportunities for continuous learning and personal development. I’ve particularly enjoyed the opportunity to take advantage of the training courses offered by “Learning@IO”, including courses on how to have difficult conversations and on mental health.

What does your role entail? As an Associate at the Transaction Structuring team, I support the day-to-day project work for financial and commercial workstreams on complex P3 projects and Commercial Projects transactions, participating in business case assessments, evaluation of financial proposals, transaction structuring, and development of contractual documentation.

What is your career background? I have more than ten years of experience in the infrastructure industry, working within both the public and private sectors in several aspects of large-scale capital project transactions, such as project financing, procurement strategy, project management, tendering process, and contract management. Moreover, I have an MBA from the Schulich School of Business with a concentration in Infrastructure and Real Estate, and I’m a Project Management Professional (PMP).

What drew you to join IO? I wanted to be at the center of where the major infrastructure projects in Ontario are developed. At IO you have the luxury of seeing and getting involved in a diverse portfolio of mega projects that will impact the lives of millions. From the pre-transaction and procurement phases, until substantial completion, operations, and maintenance, you can participate in projects that are transforming Ontario. This kind of exposure is unique and takes your knowledge to a much higher level.

What’s one thing IO does to make you feel empowered/supported? IO truly values its employees, providing the tools for them to excel without losing sight of the importance of balancing that professional growth with your personal life. I took advantage of this culture and took parental leave after my second child was born. It was the best decision I could have made at that moment. Allowing me to stay close to my daughter during that period created such a special bond and unforgettable memories. Such flexibility made me feel very supported.

What would your advice be to a new employee? Explore, connect, and engage. Use tools such as IOpener, the Knowledge Centre and others to understand deeper the role that you and your team play at IO. Familiarize yourself with documents such as the Ontario Infrastructure Act, the Ministry of Infrastructure Act, and the IO Procurement Policy that gives you the background of how we arrived where we are now. Connect with other teams, be genuinely curious about their stories and listen to their experience at IO. Lastly, engage in the events that happen throughout the year and help us celebrate our achievements.

IO’s vision is to create a modern, connected and competitive Ontario – how do you connect with this vision? I fully connect with that vision because I believe infrastructure is the building block that will enable Ontario to face challenges such as healthcare system capacity, broadband access, transit network, and affordable housing. IO can help with that, providing consistency to infrastructure projects based on a long-term sustained investment, acting in essence as project manager of the Province in delivering the largest and most critical infrastructure projects.

What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on for IO? What did you do on that project? The Ottawa Hospital was the most interesting project I worked on at IO. First because of its relevance since it will serve a population of 1.3 million in Eastern Ontario, Western Quebec, and Nunavut, and second because of its procurement model – Progressive DBFM. At the time, I was a Procurement Specialist and dove deep into the progressive approach and its very collaborative nature. During this period, I helped to procure the main advisors, participated in the RFP drafting, released the RFP successfully, presented the Phase 1 All-Proponents Meeting, and participated in the first round of Project Structuring meetings before moving to my current role at the Transaction Structuring team where I will have the opportunity to be involved in the project again, but in a different capacity.

How did you get your start at IO? I joined IO as an operational reporting analyst with the Corporate Reporting group.

How long have you worked at IO? I have been with IO for almost two years.

What does your job entail? As a Director with the Corporate Reporting team, I manage the organization's key reporting requirements, including dashboard development, operational reporting, and performance reporting. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to have worked alongside such great colleagues and leaders.

What do you like most about your role? I enjoy collaborating with teams across IO to develop reporting solutions that drive business decisions and empower teams with insights.

What sets IO apart from other organizations? Apart from the impactful work we do here at IO, one of the best things about IO is its culture. IO empowers its employees to succeed, and people’s input is really valued.

What is your career background? Prior to joining IO, I worked in Consulting for 5 years.

How did you get your start at IO? Infrastructure Ontario was already on my radar given my previous role with an institutional investor where we purchased IO-procured PPP bonds, plus IO is well know in infrastructure finance. So, when the role was brought to my attention, I applied!

How long have you worked at IO? I started my role at IO in late 2021. One of my first impressions was how much my new colleagues valued IO’s impact on communities across Ontario.

What does your job entail? My job is to create a culture on the team where we can achieve more together, than apart and have some fun in the process! Our team provides 30-year term loans, for infrastructure purposes to communities and eligible organizations across Ontario. We might finance something as small as a town’s request for financing of a plow truck, or the construction of a long-term care home, arena complex, or affordable housing building.

What do you like most about your role? I enjoy the problem-solving aspect of my job. Our team is problem-solving every day to deliver financing solutions and financial insights into policies that will have an impact on communities for generations. Recently, the rising interest rate environment has required a lot of problem-solving! Now my family gets to listen to me point out projects that the IO lending team has financed when we drive throughout Ontario.

What sets IO apart from other organizations? IO’s culture is what I believe sets us apart from other organizations. Collaboration and working together as a team, is something that is really valued here, which helps create a positive work environment and fosters excellent working relationships.

What is your career background? I have been fortunate to have so many exceptional roles working in global financial institutions based both in Canada and in the UK. Over the past 25 years, I have worked in corporate banking, syndications, private/public fixed income, credit derivatives/products, project financing and risk management. I have continued to teach (part time) a 2nd year MBA course called “International Credit: Markets and Metrics” at the Schulich School of Business to share my knowledge and hopefully ignite interest in careers in loan/debt financing. Academically, I have an MBA, LLM and ICD.D designation.

How did you get your start at IO? My partner forwarded me the LinkedIn posting for the Manager of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion position and I was immediately drawn to the language of the job description. For an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion role, the job description reflected up-to-date inclusive language and realistic goals for the role, that I interpreted as a commitment to a long-term successful program. I also loved that there was an EDI team that I’d be joining and that this wasn’t a sole position with no team to build on. All of these indicated to me that IO was taking EDI very seriously and I wanted to be a part of that.

How long have you worked at IO? I joined May 2022.

What does your job entail? As the Manager of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion I work with several departments within IO to review, improve and create integrated programming and resources, that better reflect inclusion and create belonging for IO employees and partners.

What do you like most about your role? I love that everyone I’ve worked with so far is excited and ready to make strides within EDI. I find the hardest part of EDI work in general, is convincing people that it’s important to do. Once everyone is excited and on-board the changes are much easier to make, and people feel the impact immediately, even if there’s still room for improvement. It’s very gratifying and greatly contributes to my own sense of value and belonging on the team as well.

What sets IO apart from other organizations? I feel a great sense of trust from our CEO and senior management in the work that we do. There is an understanding that there is need for improvement, a humility in accepting this as a truth and an eagerness to be better. The messaging I hear from our leaders is “how best can we do this” when I bring an idea forward. The support is very liberating.

What is your career background? I ran a business in Toronto for 10 years as an Owner/Founder of a Doula business. In addition to doing the work itself, I did all of the marketing, operations, admin, etc. Birth culture is very white-centric, heteronormative and feminized, and if you didn’t fit into that default, you were likely to have difficultly finding resources and people who truly knew how to support and respect your family. Sometimes this even impacted access to health care itself. It was here that I developed a strong interest in EDI work and sought out opportunities to develop my skill in EDI programming. For the last few years, I held various HR and management related positions and ran an EDI consultancy in my own time. I mostly worked with fertility clinics across Canada on improving their Gender and Sexually Diverse inclusion but also brought EDI into talent acquisition, pharmaceutical sales, post secondary education spaces and retail.

How did you get your start at IO? Prior to starting my journey at IO almost a year ago, I managed an interesting and diverse portfolio of capital and ministry funded projects located across Ontario with a project management service provider. Over time, I had terrific and memorable conversations with members of the IO team and those profound interactions left an indelible mark that made me aspire to be a part of IO.

How long have you worked at IO? Coming close to one year.

What does your job entail? No two days are the same in this fast paced and high energy domain of managing hospital redevelopment P3 projects. The goal is to align, strategize and advise in a collaborative environment while being fair and reasonable with all of our partners in every interaction to collectively help them cross the finish line to total construction completion.

What do you like most about your role? I’m a big believer in building goodwill through gradual and committed action. It’s a pleasure to be part of a culture where the team communication dynamic promotes good ideas through continuous improvement along with supportive colleagues. Additionally, at the end of the day knowing we worked as one united team and did an honest day’s work helping bring the vision of, state-of-the-art hospital space for public use to fruition.

What sets IO apart from other organizations? At IO, the successful transformation of Ontario’s public sector assets to serve all Ontarians with best in class infrastructure, starts with an engaged, empowered, inclusive and community orientated team.

What is your career background? My professional experience spreads across different industries, ranging from megaprojects with one of the largest oil and gas companies in Canada, to projects for provincial infrastructure, telecom and nuclear industry. I completed both Mechanical engineering and MBA from University of Toronto (Rotman).

How did you get your start at IO? I joined IO in February 2020 as Administrative Assistant for Project Controls & Program Management. I also assisted the Procurement team from November 2020-April 2021. Currently, I am the Administrative Assistant for Project Controls & Program Management.

How long have you worked at IO? I have worked at IO for 2 and a half years, time has flown by!

What does your job entail? As an Administrative Assistant, I provide key administrative support to both the senior management of my department and the entire team. This includes calendar management, scheduling, onboarding, communications etc.  I also foster positive relationships with my team and the rest of IO.

What do you like most about your role? My favourite part of my job is my team. Every day I feel lucky to work with such a kind, caring and fun group of professionals.

What sets IO apart from other organizations? IO actually practices what they preach in terms of work-life balance, using time off, and growing and developing their people. By supporting their employee’s professional development, they allow everyone to learn and advance in their careers.

What is your career background? I have a BFA in Photography Studies and throughout my education worked in an administrative role in the public sector. After graduating I began my professional career working in Infrastructure in the private sector.

How did you get your start at IO? I joined IO In December, 2019 in the Analytics team and later moved to the IT Data Architecture team as a Business Process Advisor. I was referred to IO by a friend that already worked here.

What does your job entail? My job involves working closely with cross functional business teams to understand their data requirements, ensure compliance of data governance, and help ease the data access and management process for them.

What do you like most about your role? I get to learn new things everyday. As part of my job, I have been given opportunities to work on high impact projects which have really helped me enhance my knowledge base and hone my technical and project management skills.

What is your career background? Academically, I have an MBA in Finance and completed programs in Six Sigma Black Belt from American Society of Quality, Process Improvement from Harvard Business Publishing and Project Management Professional (PMP) from Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania. Professionally, I have worked in the telecom, technology, and financial sectors as process and project management specialist.

What sets IO apart from other organizations? IO helps people tap their innermost potential. It enables them to venture into new areas of learning and empowers them to succeed as our ultimate goal is to work as one team.

How did you get your start at IO? Before joining IO, I was working as a Project Manager at a major downtown hospital overseeing their P3 redevelopment. It was through my role there that I first heard about IO. After a brief stint in the private sector consulting on hospital redevelopment projects, I decided to make the change to IO for the opportunity to work on a variety of large-scale healthcare projects.

What does your job entail? As a Project Manager on the Project Delivery Healthcare Team, I work on a number of exciting but very different projects, including the CAMH Phase 1D Redevelopment. My day-to-day involves working with various groups of internal and external stakeholders - architects, engineers, doctors, nurses, housekeeping, and administrative staff - to strategize, and develop innovative solutions to delivering healthcare projects. Each day is unique in its challenges but always rewarding.

What do you like most about your job? Not only do I get to work on projects that directly benefit communities, but I can also see first-hand projects transform before my eyes, it’s incredibly satisfying. I feel a great sense of pride knowing that my work contributes to greater access to healthcare for all communities, which has been especially fulfilling during COVID.

What is your career background? I began my career as an administrative Ward Clerk in an Emergency Department. There I saw first-hand the intricacies of hospital operations. I gained a new-found respect for the complexity of the healthcare system and ways in which redevelopment could shape the outcome of patients care. In essence, this helped shape the way I manage projects today.

This led to my career in the redevelopment of hospital P3’s. Using my background in the clinical setting enabled me to identify project needs from a different perspective. It also provided me the knowledge to engage all stakeholders, not just the doctors and nurses.