Vancouver Island Construction Conference speakers

Andy Chong
**Integral Group**

Andy Chong joined Integral Group in 2007 and has gained a mastery of the design, construction, and contractual challenges of large, complex projects. In 2014, Andy was responsible for the start-up of Integral Group’s Victoria Design Studio, and is now the Principal overseeing the mechanical team for projects on Vanco...
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Brad McCannell
**The Rick Hansen Foundation**

Brad McCannell is the Vice President, Access and Inclusion at the Rick Hansen Foundation.
SESSION: Rick Hansen Foundation - An Inclusive Approach to Developing the Built Environment

Brandon Kotyk

Branden Kotyk has been disrupting the construction industry’s status-quo for over 12 years to bring the efficiencies of leading-edge technology and innovative fabrication processes to key project stakeholders. Drawing on insights gained through positions in Canada, Australia, and the USA, Branden has a history of fa...
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Chad Chang
**Converge Business Advisors**

Chad uses technology, strong accounting practices and leadership to maximize company performance. Over the 20+ years, Chad has experiences spanning most mission critical parts of a business. From sales, to marketing, information technology, accounting, to leadership in project and operational management, he understands...
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Chris Atchison
**BC Construction Association**

Chris has many years of expertise working collaboratively across the province, ensuring optimal program results for employers, employees, communities, industry and funders.Chris brings to BCCA a wealth of experience, including 9 years as Chief Operating Officer at ASPECT and more than 15 years as a workforce developmen...
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Christian Cianfrone
**ZEBx**

Prior to joining ZEBx as its first Executive Director, Christian spent 13 years as a building energy consultant, working on hundreds of high performance projects, developing progressive energy policy, and researching and presenting emerging and innovative content across North America. Christian is also a founder and di...
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David Graham
**d. graham ARCHITECTURE inc.**

David Graham has been a registered Architect for 29 years. For most of his career he has been involved in contract document procurement. His project experience includes hospitals, universities, high schools, middle schools, colleges, government projects (federal, provincial, municipal), class AAA office buildings, reta...
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Greg Gillespie
**Gillespie Land Management**

Greg is a creative and passionate land use consultant with proven success in negotiating and project management at a senior level. He offers 13 years of extensive leadership and real estate experience delivering end-to-end land management expertise in acquisitions, permitting and municipal affairs across multiple geogr...
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Helen Goodland
**Brantwood Consulting**

Project Delivery in the Digital EraHelen Goodland is the managing principal of Brantwood Consulting to which she brings over 30 years of experience working on transformative solutions for the real estate and construction industries in Canada and around the world. She is co-founder of Building Technology Innovations th...
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Jean-Francois Perrault
**Scotiabank**

Jean-François Perrault is the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at Scotiabank. Jean-François joined Scotiabank in 2015 as Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. He leads a team of Economists to support Scotiabank’s domestic and international business lines and clients from retail to capital markets, pr...
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Kimberley Amirault-Ryan
**Keynote Speaker**

Performance Consultant to Olympians, the NHL, and the NBA Dr. Kimberley Amirault-Ryan has worked in professional sport since 2001 becoming the first and only woman to be the Performance Consultant with the New York Rangers, New York Knicks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers. She has worked at 5 Olympic Games ...
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Larry Berglund

Larry’s supply chain experience includes leadership positions in the forest industry, public health care, municipal government, university operations, academia, and consulting services. As a consultant he drafts procurement policies, templates, develops strategies, conducts audits and implements best practices.He f...
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Mark Taylor
**Mark Taylor Construction Advisory Services Ltd.**

Mark has over 30 years of construction industry experience, having spent most of this time working with major construction companies in Canada and the UK, including PCL and Stuart Olson. Along the way he has fulfilled many roles including Vice-president, Permanent Modular Construction, Director of Operations and Senior...
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Mary Van Buren
**Canadian Construction Association**

Mary Van Buren, a bilingual marketing, strategy and digital expert, started as the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) president in 2017.Mary has worked in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors and has held executive roles at leading associations and not-for-profits, including the Canadian Medical Associa...
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Maureen Sullivan
**NECI**

Good Documents, Good Projects - Maureen is President of National Education Consulting Inc. (NECI), and specializes in helping organizations maximize the value they receive from procurement and contracting activities. She is a lawyer by training, has obtained her Certified Training Practitioner designation through AT...
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MJ Whitmarsh
**MJ Whitmarsh Consulting**

M.J. Whitemarsh operates a family owned Consulting venture focused on strengthening SMEs and not for profit societies through improved business strategies, compliance with board governance, government and stakeholder relations strategies, improved branding and marketing concepts. Previously M.J. served as CEO of the Ca...
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Rory Kulmala
**Vancouver Island Construction Association**

Rory Kulmala, MBA, AScT, PMP, CD, is the CEO of the Vancouver Island Construction Association, one of the oldest not-for-profit construction associations in Canada.A born and raised Northern Ontarioan, Rory moved to Victoria in 1993 having completed a diploma in Civil Engineering Technology. Since settling down on th...
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Sonia Sahota
**Civic Legal LLP**

Sonia Sahota is a founding partner of Civic Legal LLP, and practises in the areas of procurement, construction and land development, with a particular focus on tendering law, procurement fairness and construction contracting. Sonia routinely provides advise on structuring and administering public tenders and competit...
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Terry Bergen
**Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.**

Terry leads RJC's Building Science & Restoration practice on Vancouver Island. He has over two decades of experience designing new and retrofit building enclosures for buildings across Canada, with particular focus on projects in coastal, interior, and northern regions of British Columbia. Terry is passionate abo...
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Vincent Plourd
**Chandos Construction**

Vincent possesses over 10 years’ experience within the Building Information Modelling (BIM) field and passionately provides support to project teams as Chandos Construction’s BIM Manager. Since joining Chandos in 2016, Vincent has co-led the national BIM Team and has been instrumental in implementing the BIM proces...
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Brandon Kotyk

Branden Kotyk has been disrupting the construction industry’s status-quo for over 12 years to bring the efficiencies of leading-edge technology and innovative fabrication processes to key project stakeholders.

Drawing on insights gained through positions in Canada, Australia, and the USA, Branden has a history of facilitating a collaborative interface between owners, builders, trade contractors, and suppliers across the ICI and natural resources construction industries.

By leveraging BIM technology, modularization, and lean manufacturing principles Branden has helped lead the successful delivery of innovative mechanical solutions for construction projects ranging from $1M to $9.2Billion, on four continents.

Chad Chang

Converge Business Advisors

Chad uses technology, strong accounting practices and leadership to maximize company performance. Over the 20+ years, Chad has experiences spanning most mission critical parts of a business. From sales, to marketing, information technology, accounting, to leadership in project and operational management, he understands how they are all important towards company growth and viability. After several years of work he gained his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Royal Roads University, and then achieved his Certified Management Accountant and Chartered Professional Accountant designations, before leading firms in the construction and trades industry through transformative change. Having come from large professional organizations with very strong processes, people and technology, he saw a tremendous need in the construction and trades industry. As a result of this need, he created of the Construction Forum with the Chartered Professional Accounts of BC (CPABC) to bring together CPAs and share best practices intent on transforming an industry that has lagged most in productivity and efficiency. Through his own consulting practice, Converge Business Advisory Limited, he has successfully helped businesses realize consistent profitability and growth through three mission critical areas: strategy, technology and accounting. He takes an owners' perspective towards solving business issues and takes pride in reaching the "bigger" goals like less stress, more time with family, and planning for retirement.

Chris Atchison

BC Construction Association

Chris has many years of expertise working collaboratively across the province, ensuring optimal program results for employers, employees, communities, industry and funders.

Chris brings to BCCA a wealth of experience, including 9 years as Chief Operating Officer at ASPECT and more than 15 years as a workforce development strategist for organizations and communities throughout BC. Chris oversees a BCCA team that operationalizes a sector-wide strategic plan spanning pillars of: skilled workforce, construction projects, technology and community partnership. In addition to his work credentials, Chris holds an International Relations Degree from UBC and a Shipping and Marine Operations Diploma from BCIT, is Past President of the Victoria Minor Hockey Association and Past Chairman of the Sandra Schmirler Foundation. Plus in his “spare time”, he's the Head Coach of the Midget Female AAA Vancouver Island Seals.

SESSION: Coastal Community Social Procurement Initiative - Making Public Investments on the Island work!

David Graham

d. graham ARCHITECTURE inc.

David Graham has been a registered Architect for 29 years. For most of his career he has been involved in contract document procurement. His project experience includes hospitals, universities, high schools, middle schools, colleges, government projects (federal, provincial, municipal), class AAA office buildings, retail commercial, residential low-rise and high-rise, restaurants, automotive dealerships, retail, and banks.

David is the current Director of the Vancouver Island Chapter of Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) and sits on the National CSC Board of Directors. He teaches the Principles of Construction Documentation (PCD) and Construction Contract Administration (CCA) courses in the CSC education program. He volunteers as a design mentor in the RAIC Syllabus Architecture program and has taught at NAIT in the Architectural Technology program. For the last 10 years, David has been solely providing specifications consulting services to other architects and manufacturers mainly in BC and Alberta.

SESSION: Good Documents, Good Projects

Greg Gillespie

Gillespie Land Management

Greg is a creative and passionate land use consultant with proven success in negotiating and project management at a senior level. He offers 13 years of extensive leadership and real estate experience delivering end-to-end land management expertise in acquisitions, permitting and municipal affairs across multiple geographic regions.

As Founder of Gillespie Land Management, Greg has led a broad spectrum of projects, including residential revenue portfolios, telecommunications networks, multifamily developments, and waste-to-energy facilities. Currently, he is the Development Manager for Mike Geric Construction, a local developer and homebuilder known for their leadership in green building technology and energy efficiency.

Greg is currently working on an innovative multi-family project in Victoria which will be the tallest, first to market, and fully Mass Timber residential building in Canada.

Helen Goodland

Brantwood Consulting

Project Delivery in the Digital Era

Helen Goodland is the managing principal of Brantwood Consulting to which she brings over 30 years of experience working on transformative solutions for the real estate and construction industries in Canada and around the world.

She is co-founder of Building Technology Innovations through which she provides advice and mentorship to start-ups focused on the construction industry. She is also an executive in residence for the BC Tech Association. She serves on the National Zero Waste Council’s construction taskforce and the Canadian Construction Associations CSR taskforce.

Helen is an architect registered in the UK and has an MBA from the University of British Columbia. She is also one of the BC Sustainable Energy Association’s climate action heroes and has been nominated as a YWCA Woman of Distinction. In 2017, she received the Vancouver Regional Construction Association/s Outstanding Woman in Construction Award.

Jean-Francois Perrault

Scotiabank

Jean-François Perrault is the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at Scotiabank.

Jean-François joined Scotiabank in 2015 as Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. He leads a team of Economists to support Scotiabank’s domestic and international business lines and clients from retail to capital markets, providing Scotiabank’s senior executives, business lines and customers with perspectives, insights and forecasts on economic, financial market and policy developments.

Prior to joining Scotiabank, Jean-François held prominent roles with the federal government, the Bank of Canada, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

SESSION: Opening Plenary Session

Kimberley Amirault-Ryan

Keynote Speaker

Performance Consultant to Olympians, the NHL, and the NBA

Dr. Kimberley Amirault-Ryan has worked in professional sport since 2001 becoming the first and only woman to be the Performance Consultant with the New York Rangers, New York Knicks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers.

She has worked at 5 Olympic Games with the Gold Medal winning teams of the Women's Hockey Team, Cross Country Ski Team, and Speedskating Team. The Canadian Olympic Committee appointed her as the Lead of Sport Psychology for the entire Olympic team for the 2010 Vancouver, 2012 London and 2014 Sochi Olympics.

For her groundbreaking work she has received awards such as the Globe and Mail's Top Power 50 List and WXN Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women. Companies worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies VISA, Johnson & Johnson, General Mills and Royal Dutch Shell have hired her to help motivate them to lead under pressure and achieve sustained high performance. 

Larry Berglund

Larry’s supply chain experience includes leadership positions in the forest industry, public health care, municipal government, university operations, academia, and consulting services. As a consultant he drafts procurement policies, templates, develops strategies, conducts audits and implements best practices.

He facilitates online and classroom workshops on buying, business ethics, circular economy, inventory management, leadership, contract management, risk management, social procurement, operations management, supplier performance evaluations, competitive bidding, performance metrics, and corporate social responsibility. He also provides onsite supply chain operational reviews.

Larry is an online coach for several supply chain courses in the Athabasca University Leadership & Management Development program. He has presented at conferences across Canada and in the USA. In 2012 he was invited to Hong Kong and Singapore to present workshops on supply chain strategies to leading companies in the fast moving, consumer goods sector. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 Larry was invited to present on advanced supply chain training to the United Nations staff in Brindisi, Italy. He is a procurement advisor and trainer for the Coastal Communities Social Procurement Initiative.

In 2016 Larry was the recipient of the prestigious SCMA Fellow award.

Larry has written many articles on a variety of supply chain subjects for business magazines. His 3rd book, available on Amazon.com is Good Planets Are Hard To Buy: A Management Handbook for Creating Conscious Capitalism, Sustainability Principles and Supply Chain Excellence.

SESSION: Coastal Community Social Procurement Initiative - Making Public Investments on the Island work!

Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor Construction Advisory Services Ltd.

Mark has over 30 years of construction industry experience, having spent most of this time working with major construction companies in Canada and the UK, including PCL and Stuart Olson. Along the way he has fulfilled many roles including Vice-president, Permanent Modular Construction, Director of Operations and Senior Construction Manager.

Mark now uses the experience gained through his career to work with contractors to develop and improve the systems and processes they need to operate effectively and profitably in today’s market - his wide exposure to different geographic and market sectors has given him a diverse experience to draw on in finding solutions to both business and project problems.

Always looking to challenge the status quo, Mark is constantly seeking to find new ways to improve our industry and how we build. Through the training he offers he looks to develop strong builders and leaders who can excel in their roles.

Session: Tips and tricks to improve your bottom line.

Mary Van Buren

Canadian Construction Association

Mary Van Buren, a bilingual marketing, strategy and digital expert, started as the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) president in 2017.

Mary has worked in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors and has held executive roles at leading associations and not-for-profits, including the Canadian Medical Association’s subsidiary, MD Financial Management, and Export Development Canada. In her most recent role as vice-president of marketing and IT at the Canadian Real Estate Association, Mary led a team of 60 to grow its premier services, REALTOR.ca and WEBForms® in the double digits.

Mary holds an MBA in international business from McGill and a B. Com from the University of Ottawa and is a Certified Association Executive.

MJ Whitmarsh

MJ Whitmarsh Consulting

M.J. Whitemarsh operates a family owned Consulting venture focused on strengthening SMEs and not for profit societies through improved business strategies, compliance with board governance, government and stakeholder relations strategies, improved branding and marketing concepts. Previously M.J. served as CEO of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC where she spearheaded industry-led certified education and training and the promotion, development and delivery management of effective industry trades training. M.J. has chaired and participated provincially and nationally in many boards, task forces, and committees including current board appointments as Director to the Industry Training Authority (ITA), Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), Technical Education and Career Council (TECC), and the BC Small Business Round Table (SBRT). M.J. is a former Governor of the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and a graduate of the Executive Marketing program, University of British Columbia (UBC).

SESSION: Builders Code: Equality in the Workplace

Rory Kulmala

Vancouver Island Construction Association

Rory Kulmala, MBA, AScT, PMP, CD, is the CEO of the Vancouver Island Construction Association, one of the oldest not-for-profit construction associations in Canada.

A born and raised Northern Ontarioan, Rory moved to Victoria in 1993 having completed a diploma in Civil Engineering Technology. Since settling down on the island, he has worked as a project coordinator for a local engineering consultant, spent ten years working with BC Ferries delivering terminal construction projects up and down BC’s coasts, assumed the role of senior project manager with a national construction contractor to deliver commercial projects in Western Canada, headed up BC Transit’s engineering and construction group and, finally, took the helm of the construction association in February of 2017.

As VICA CEO, Rory represents over 450 members in the commercial, industrial, institutional and multi-family residential construction sectors on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and other coastal areas of BC.

Sonia Sahota

Civic Legal LLP

Sonia Sahota is a founding partner of Civic Legal LLP, and practises in the areas of procurement, construction and land development, with a particular focus on tendering law, procurement fairness and construction contracting. Sonia routinely provides advise on structuring and administering public tenders and competitive RFPs, managing contractor performance and lien issues and securing land tenure.

She practised as a professional engineer for 10 years and worked on civil and geotechnical design and construction projects in British Columbia and abroad. She provides legal advice with practical insight by drawing upon her unique professional understanding of construction and engineering projects.

Sonia keeps a watchful eye on the growing awareness and use of BIM technology within the construction industry, and its legal impact on traditional practices and contractual relationships.

SESSION: Project Delivery in the Digital Era

Terry Bergen

Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

Terry leads RJC's Building Science & Restoration practice on Vancouver Island. He has over two decades of experience designing new and retrofit building enclosures for buildings across Canada, with particular focus on projects in coastal, interior, and northern regions of British Columbia. Terry is passionate about sustainability and he works with clients and industry to focus on the integration of building enclosures and mechanical systems to optimize thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and durability. Terry is a member of the ASTM E60 Sustainability Committee and sits on the BC Safety Standards Appeal Board. He presents on efficiency and sustainability topics to varied industry groups and is co-author to research papers focused on these topics.

Terry Bergen, CTech, CCCA, LEED-AP, CPHC - Managing Principal, RJC Engineers

SESSION: High Efficiency Buildings

Vincent Plourd

Chandos Construction

Vincent possesses over 10 years’ experience within the Building Information Modelling (BIM) field and passionately provides support to project teams as Chandos Construction’s BIM Manager. Since joining Chandos in 2016, Vincent has co-led the national BIM Team and has been instrumental in implementing the BIM process on most of the company’s projects. Vincent can be described as an effective problem solver who produces tangible and value add solutions to projects using BIM.

He continues to support teams with their transition to BIM Methodologies and improves coordination between project teams and disciplines, improving overall project delivery. Vincent takes pride in pushing project teams out of their perceived comfort zones; which result in project teams working collectively to find constructability issues digitally before they are found on site.

Vincent has a Diploma in Engineering Design and Drafting Technology from Lethbridge College and a CIFF/SPS VDC Certificate from Stanford University. Vincent continues to lend his expertise on a variety of projects, securing him and Chandos as industry leaders in the use of BIM technologies.