The Building Ontario Fund is a new, arms-length, board-governed agency. The Board of Directors shall manage or supervise the management of the Building Ontario Fund’s affairs and will be composed of at least three and at most 11 members.
Board members will be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council (LGIC) on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance and will need to have significant financial and infrastructure related project expertise.
As part of its commitment to transparency and accountability, the Building Ontario Fund (BOF) has made available a Letter of Priorities issued by the Minister of Finance to the Chair of the Board. The letter outlines the Government of Ontario’s immediate priorities for the BOF for the next year and sets out the government’s expectations for the BOF’s role in building critical infrastructure in Ontario.
Brian J. Porter served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Scotiabank from November 1, 2013 to January 31, 2023. He currently serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of Huron University College at Western University, as a Director of the Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., and as a Director of the Board of the Atlantic Salmon Federation.
He has also served as Chair of the University Health Network (UHN) Board of Trustees for 7 years, and currently sits as a member of the UHN Board of Trustees. Mr. Porter previously served as Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance (IIF) as well as a Board Member of the Council of the Americas.
Mr. Porter earned a B.Comm. from Dalhousie University, and has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from Dalhousie University (2008) and Ryerson University (2018). He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School.
Jan De Silva is Canada Co-Chair, Canada-ASEAN Business Council, Canada’s Representative to APEC Business Advisory Council, former President & CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade, and an Independent Board Director.
As President and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, one of the largest and most influential business organizations in North America, Jan represented the businesses, talent and economic opportunity in Canada’s commercial centre bringing extensive international leadership and government relations experience to the role.
Prior to joining the Board, Jan served as CEO of Sun Life Financial’s Hong Kong and Mainland China businesses and co-founded and later sold Retail China Limited. She also served as Dean of Ivey Asia for Ivey Business School of Western University.
Highly respected for her business advocacy and government engagement, Jan has been Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Chair of the Canada China Business Council in Beijing and served on the Board of the Asian Corporate Governance Association. She has been appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to two three-year terms representing Canada on the APEC Business Advisory Council where she chairs the Council’s Digital & Innovation Working Group. Jan also sits on the board of Intact Financial Corporation, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Bryan Davies has extensive financial sector and governance experience in both the private and public sectors.
He served as inaugural Chair of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, and was Chair of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation from 2006 to 2016, serving concurrently as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Securities Transition Office from 2009 to 2013.
Prior to those appointments, he was Chief Executive Officer and Superintendent of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario and also held various Deputy Minister roles in Ontario, including as Deputy Treasurer and Deputy Minister of Economics.
In addition to those public sector assignments, he was Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at the Royal Bank Financial group and was Vice President of Business Affairs and Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Toronto.
He has served on the Boards of both publicly traded and private corporations, and has been, and remains, active in a range of non-profit organizations, focused on heritage and education. Bryan is a graduate of Queen’s University and the University of Toronto.
His distinguished leadership and significant contribution in the field of public administration was recognized by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada which awarded him the Vanier Medal.
James Cowan is Vice Chair, Global Private Markets at Northleaf Capital Partners, one of Canada’s leading private market asset managers focused on investments in infrastructure, private equity and private credit globally.
James has worked in private markets for more than 25 years, including serving as CEO and President of the MIRA Infrastructure Global Solution funds.
Prior to joining Northleaf, he worked at Macquarie, TD Securities, Hambros Bank and started his career with Ernst & Young in corporate restructuring. James earned a BA from Western University and his Chartered Accountant designation.
James also serves on the board of Canada’s National History Society and the investment committee for Sinai Health Foundation, the latest in 30-plus years of serving on boards of not-for-profit organizations in the education, community and health sectors.