Engineering is in my blood, as my father is an engineer, and I studied electrical engineering as an undergraduate at Laval University in Quebec. But I was also fascinated by the entertainment world, so I went on to do a master’s degree in theatre production in Kingston-upon-Hull in England. After that I worked for around twelve years in entertainment, working mostly as a technical director on the creation of circus shows. I did a lot of work for Cirque du Soleil and was involved in the construction of the National Circus School in Montreal during its construction and first year of its operation.
Then, fourteen years ago, I decided to return to the world of engineering consultancy and joined Genivar, which is now WSP. My first job was to project manage the construction of two theatres in Trinidad and Tobago, quickly moving to project manager on the owner’s advocate team for the Hilton Hotel Rehabilitation project.
My specialty is the project management of complex, multidisciplinary, billion dollar-plus projects. I spent three years managing one of Canada’s largest hospitals, Le CHUM in Montreal. Then I was involved in two major transportation projects. The first was the extensive reconstruction of the Turcot Interchange, Quebec’s the largest freeway interchange, which involved our Property and Buildings, Transportation and Environmental teams. Then, before my current project, the rehabilitation of the Canadian Parliament, I worked on WSP’s bid for Montreal’s light railway, the REM, currently under construction.