People Moves: Sept. 2025

Terry Thomas has stepped down from his role as CEO at Make Space after almost eight years and has been appointed as President of Maple Leaf Self Storage and Executive Vice President of Self Storage for QuadReal.

Jeff Block has joined Spire Mechanical LTD in a Western Canada Sales role focused on business marketing and development.

Tim Laronde has joined First Nations Major Projects Coalition as Senior Advisor, Project Development, while continuing his primary role as National Director, Indigenous Strategies at Chandos Construction.

Preet Gill has been appointed Vice President and General Manager of Peak RSG Services, effective October 6. She brings 30 years of leadership experience, including nearly 20 years at The Home Depot Canada in senior roles.

Dawn Farrell, former head of Trans Mountain Corporation and TransAlta, has been appointed the Major Project Office’s first chief executive officer.

Beau Brooker has been chosen by Northcrest Developments to oversee construction work on the $30-billion redevelopment of the former Downsview Airport lands in Toronto. Brooker joined the company this sumer as Vice President of Construction. 

Hammad Chaudhry has started a new position as Principal, Strategic Ventures at Cupix. 

Nick McParland has been tapped as Hammersmith’s new Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. 

Rippan Bhattacharjee is starting a new position as Sustainability Lead – Rail & Transit at Parsons Corporation.

Alvin Tse has been promoted to Road Safety Lead at ISL where he has worked for over 12 years, contributing his expertise and leadership to advancing safer transportation systems across our communities.

Peter Macrae is now Director of Architecture at Omicron. A registered architect with 15 years of experience, Macrae brings expertise across a wide range of project types; from mixed use high-rise to boutique heritage infill, multi-modal transportation, community and institutional, and master planning.

Albert Chu has joined Omicron as its new Director of Construction. He brings over 18 years of experience across the real estate, development, and construction industries.

Aldo Porra has joined Aecon as Preconstruction Manager.

Darren Tangen has been named President at Westbank, joining from Oaktree Capital Management where he served as Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Business Development.

Daniel Fournier is stepping down as leader of Oxford Properties as of November 3, with Eric Plesman rejoining the organization on that date as President & CEO.

Bernie Robert has started a new position as President at O’Hanlon Paving / The Fath Group. 

Mathew Kattapuram has joined Bird Construction as Senior Advisor, Government Relations. He has more than 40 years of experience in the industry. 

Esther Ziyi Zhang, CPA, has joined Denciti Development Corp as Director of Finance, bringing over a decade of experience in real estate development and construction.

Iveta Cabajova has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer at Chaos, effective October 1, 2025, succeeding Stephan Sieber who will transition to executive chairman.

Nick Franjic will retire as executive director of Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) before the 2026 AGM, ending an 18-year tenure and more than three decades with the organization.

Donny van Dyk has been appointed as City Manager for the City of Vancouver, effective September 8, 2025.

Robert (Bob) Kroeger has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer at Allnorth, effective September 3, 2025, replacing founder Darby Kreitz who is stepping down to focus on Red Leaf Pulp.

Ana Bailão has been appointed as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of Build Canada Homes by Prime Minister Mark Carney, transitioning from her role leading Affordable Housing and Public Affairs at Dream Unlimited.

Stacey Vanovermeire, CPA, CMA has been promoted to Vice President of Finance at Chandos Construction.

Arsalan Zargar has joined CIMA+ as Senior Vice President of Transportation for Western Canada and Ontario.

Christian Nonni has been promoted to Senior Director, Real Estate Operations, at Nonni Property Group. He will be responsible for managing Nonni Property Group’s IPP assets in relation to new development asset retention and operational performance.

Oliver David (OD) Krieg, President at Intelligent City, has been named to Maclean’s New Nation Makers list, recognized “for sending in robots to fix the housing crisis.”

Agnes Wietrzynski has been named CEO of Ardea Technologies, bringing her proven leadership experience from her previous roles as CEO of a major Canada-wide construction company and District Manager at GFL Environmental/Accuworx.

Rick Kovach is stepping down as President of Kode Contracting after more than four decades and moving into a new role as Director & Advisor, with Ed Kovach being promoted to President.

Greg Brokenshire, President of Alberici Constructors, has been appointed as OGCA Chair for 2025/2026.

Christina Chiarini started a new position as District Human Resources and Professional Development Advisor at PCL Construction’s Solar District.

Mark Hildebrand is joining Peak Group of Companies as Vice President, Inventory Planning. Hildebrand is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a seasoned finance and retail operations leader with more than 13 years of progressive experience at Canadian Tire Corporation.

Jacob Cohen has been promoted to President at The Daniels Corporation after serving as Chief Operating Officer for five years, while Mitchell Cohen remains CEO. Ginette Battikha has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, transitioning from Vice President of People and Culture, and Gokul Pisharoty has been named the company’s first Chief Construction Officer after 19 years with the firm.

Kiran Marok has been promoted to COO at Resident. They have been with the company for more than 4 years, previously serving as Executive Vice President, Operations.

Eric Lombardi has been appointed as Chair of Build Toronto, a new civic project of Build Canada focused on addressing Toronto’s housing, transit, and governance challenges ahead of the 2026 municipal election.

Mykola Pulnyev, Risk Lead at EllisDon, has announced plans to leave after more than 5 years at the company.

Zac Abelson has been promoted to Development Manager at Wesgroup.

Richard Hylands has joined QuadReal’s Board of Directors. Hylands is the co-chairman and founder of the Kevric Real Estate Corporation,

Erin Elliott has joined Conwest Developments as CFO.

Kaitlynn Given is now Senior Development Planner at the City of Burnaby.

Matt Kamer has begun a new role as Director of Construction at Western Canadian Properties Group.