Gathering on Housing Technical Knowledge: Speakers

Ali Rezaiefar

Ali Rezaiefar is an evaluation officer at the Canadian Construction Materials Centre since 2018. He had a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a Master’s degree in structural (fire) engineering before coming to Canada from Iran in 2009. He finished his education at Concordia University in Montreal with a Masters degree in structural (earthquake) engineering and a PhD in civil (structural) engineering.

At the CCMC, he mainly focuses on the evaluation of structural products as well as construction products with fire, acoustics, and other performance aspects. As an immigrant, he holds the highest regards for the native Canadians and indigenous peoples while believing deeply in our shared values as fellow Canadians. Before joining the public sector, he was a structural engineer at a private engineering consultant firm for 10 years mainly designing structures for the industrial sector.

Allen Claxton

Allan served his community of Tsawout as Chief for twenty (20) years and as councillor for twelve (12) years. Allan has worked to develop infrastructure projects such as a multipurpose health and recreation facility and dealt with many challenges for roads and access to lands.

Allan provided leadership and guidance serving as FNII Development Board Chair from 2017 through to FNII being established in 2023. Allan continues to provide guidance to the FNII Technical Team.

Bruno Di Lenardo, B. Eng., Consultant

Bruno Di Lenardo is now retired from the National Research Council (NRC) where he worked for 30 years. At NRC, he worked within Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC) to test and evaluate innovative construction products, not covered by the NBC. This evaluation service was on behalf of the Provinces and Territories for acceptance by building officials across Canada.

Bruno relates to the task of building officials as before joining NRC, he worked for 5 years within the Building Department of the City of Westmount, outside of the City of Montreal. Bruno is a civil engineer having graduated from McGill University in Montreal in 1980. Soon after graduation Bruno was exposed to the challenges of building in the north, in James Bay, Quebec. Bruno was involved in the construction of the new Town of Chisasibi for the Cree Nation of Quebec. He was involved with the inspection and completion of 200 houses, the fresh water circulating system and several community buildings.

Claude Lawrenson, FNHP

Claude is Metis by status through his grandparents. Claude’s career started in the field of architecture, construction management and inspection consultant which includes a wide diversity of building experience. He retired after 26 years of teaching as the Program Coordinator and Senior Architecture Program Professor from St. Clair College School of Engineering Technologies.

Claude is a member of FNNBOA (First Nation National Building Officers Association) and has contributed countless hours in the housing and related capacity development for First Nations. As a retired educator he continues to devote his time, proficiency, and knowledge in advancing housing and technical building responsibilities as a proud member and First Nation Housing Professional.

Dan Sandink

Dan Sandink is Director of Research at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction. Dan has authored or co-authored more than 60 technical reports and peer-reviewed articles on topics related to protecting Canadians and their property from the impacts of extreme rainfall/urban flooding, high wind, wildland-urban interface fire, and hail.

Dan is currently ICLR’s manager of the PIEVC Program (www.pievc.ca), is Co-Chair of Canada’s national Infrastructure and Buildings Working Group, is a member of NRCan’s Adaptation Plenary, and served on the Built Environment Advisory Table for Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy.

Gord Cooke, President of Building Knowledge and & Partner in Construction Instruction

A professional engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the low and high-rise residential building industry, Gord shares his insights and passion as he advocates for better building practices and methods for improving IAQ and energy efficiency in new and existing homes. Combining solid building science with his training and technical background, his presentations and workshops have been requested by builders, HVAC contractors and new home sales professionals building throughout North America.

Lately, Gord and his team have been helping the residential construction industry make decisions that can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the construction and operation of homes.

Grant Suffel, CRM, FRM, PCIP - Risk Management Consultant

Grant Suffel has over 30 years of professional experience in corporate and business risk management. He worked in the electrical distribution industry for 25 years where he was the Manager of Corporate Services and Risk Management with Hydro Ottawa. In that role he managed corporate services including corporate risk management, claims mitigation, central procurement, materials logistics and asset management.

Since leaving Hydro Ottawa Grant has worked as an Associate with the Lansdowne Consulting Group on a variety of consulting assignments including integrated risk management, threat and risk assessments, critical infrastructure protection, procurement support and project risk audits. Grant has many years of experience as a training facilitator in risk management, critical infrastructure protection and procurement management including 26 years as an instructor in the CRM professional development program at Carleton University.

Jason Calla

Jason has worked with First Nations on comprehensive community plans and with First Nation institutions to consider approaches to close the infrastructure gap. Jason served as a member of the First Nations Infrastructure Institute Technical Team from 2017 to present. He served on the Board of Directors of the First Nations Health Authority from 2013-2019.

Jason completed a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of British Columbia (1994) and a Master of Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1998). Jason is also a member of the Squamish Nation.

John Dumbrell, MCIP, RPP

A community planner and senior consultant with Urban Systems, John holds planning and resource management degrees from the University of Western Ontario, and the University of Victoria. Since joining Urban Systems in 1988, John’s practice has included work with First Nations, local governments, Provincial and Federal government agencies and private sector developers on a wide range of assignments. This has included supporting the evolution of the First Nations Infrastructure Institute, established by the First Nations Fiscal Management Act in June 2023, over the last 7 years.

Services have included land use plans, resource and environmental management studies, community infrastructure and service delivery and financing strategies, and public consultation / facilitation work.

Lisa Bergeron

Lisa Bergeron is Director of Business Development and Regulatory Affairs for JELD-WEN of Canada, a global leader in window and door manufacturing, representing the company on provincial, national and international trade associations. Her position also involves engaging with the different levels of government on industry related issues such as building and energy codes.

Mrs. Bergeron has been with the company since 1996, occupying sales management positions as well as marketing manager. Since 2010, her efforts have been focused on leading the fenestration industry in challenging economic times. She is a past President of Fenestration Canada and of the AVFQ, the Quebec Window and Door Manufacturers Association and is also a board member of Fenestration Manitoba. Mrs. Bergeron also participates at CHBA at their Technical Research Committees as well as on the Manufactured Homes Council.

Mrs. Bergeron is the FGIA Chair and voting member at JDMG – Joint Management Document Group which oversees changes to the North American Fenestration Standard - NAFS, Co-Chair’s FGIA’s NAFS Committee and sits on FGIA’s Rapid Response Committee as well as on the board of FGIA’s Fen BC Region. Mrs. Bergeron also sits on NRCan’s Energy Efficient Fenestration Steering Committee which sets criteria for the ENERGY STAR program in Canada and is a voting member of the CSA A440 standard technical committee. Mrs. Bergeron is also an Ambassador for the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation.

Marianne Armstrong

Marianne Armstrong is Director of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Climate Resilient Built Environment Initiative. In this role, she establishes and executes the national research program to increase the resilience of Canada’s infrastructure and buildings to climate change and extreme events. Since 2016, she has led the R&D vision in this area, directing and inspiring multi-disciplinary resources at the NRC and collaborators from over 170 different organizations to achieve critical progress and impacts in support of national policy on adaptation.  Ms. Armstrong has built her career at NRC over the past 20 years, with a strong research background in building envelope and materials, and residential energy technologies.

Marianne is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, holds a MSc in Industrial Design from University of New South Wales, Sydney, and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University.

Matt Farrell, CET, CBCO

Is the President and Executive Director for the Alliance of Canadian Building Officials Associations. He currently represents ACBOA on the Advisory Council for Harmonized Construction Codes and has consulted with all levels of government on how to increase the supply of housing while maintaining building safety. His work with ACBOA focuses on creating training and resources for building officials across Canada as well as developing relationships with industry stakeholders.

Matt was previously President of the Ontario Building Officials Association and has 23 years experience as a Chief Building Official and Manager of Building and Planning.

Mihailo Mihailovic, P. Eng.

Mr. Mihailovic is civil engineer and works as an evaluation officer with the Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC). He started his career in 1997 at the National Research Council (NRC) working in research on flat roofs under dynamic wind loads.  Prior to returning to NRC, he worked in the building science/roofing consulting field working on all types of buildings from residential, commercial and industrial.

Mihailo returned to the NRC in 2008 and joined Codes Canada where he worked as a technical advisor on Part 9 – Housing and Small Buildings, and helped develop the energy efficiency requirements in 9.36 as well as National Energy Code for Buildings. With CCMC, he currently evaluates several types of products from roofing, claddings, insulations, air/vapour barriers and other innovative materials.

Richard Hall

Richard was born and raised in Bella Coola; a small town located on the central coast of B.C.

At age 33 he went back to school for carpentry, and the doors open because of education. In 1991 he became an International Red Seal Carpenter and moved further into his career as a reputable Building Inspector in BC. As home investigator and 22 years later after inspecting 6,000 homes, it gave him the insights and knowledge to help First nations with challenging issues.

In the 39-years of First Nations housing he experienced: Constructed and managed the construction of 150 homes in B.C.; Commercial construction manager for schools, clinics and civil infrastructure; Site Supervisor and managed 5 construction crews; Housing manager/Asset manager; Qualified building inspector for BC /FNNBOA certified; Wood energy technician (WETT); Home Designer for the West Coast People of B.C. 

Saman Davari, M.A.Sc, M.Eng, B.Arch

Saman Davari is a BIM Manager with a robust portfolio spanning building and architectural engineering roles across various projects in North America, the Middle East, and Europe. 

At the heart of his professional journey lies a passion for BIM, particularly around the integration of lifecycle information management by coupling physical and digital built assets and resources. Currently, Saman is focusing on the adoption and implementation of digital solutions within the built asset industry. Recognizing the transformative potential of BIM and openBIM, he is actively working on smart solutions that ensure standardized, interoperable, and transparent digital workflows. 

In Canada, Saman has undertaken work for organizations such as the First Nations National Building Officers Association (FNNBOA), Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI), National Research Council Canada (NRC), Centre for Intersectional Studies and Research on the Circular Economy (CERIEC), and buildingSMART Canada (bSC).

Trevor Trainer

Trevor Trainor is the President and a Building Science Specialist with Bawating Building Science; an Indigenous-owned and Indigenous- focused building science consulting firm. 

With over a decade of experience in the field, he provides design consultation, research and educational services to Indigenous groups and communities across Turtle Island.