buildingSMART Canada

Board of Directors

Meet our experienced team of experts leading bSC.

Claudia honed her expertise as an architect with over 15 years practicing in Ontario and British Columbia. An expert in the field of BIM in architectural practice, she has led the BIM implementation in two architectural practices and is an advocate for the implementation of BIM in Canada.

Claudia is the founder and chair of the Toronto BIM Community and a BIM Subject Matter Expert for the Canadian Handbook of Practice V3. She previously served as a board member of the Institute for BIM in Canada Steering Committee as a Royal Architectural Institute of Canada representative.

She is an Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) mentor and has spoken at a number of conferences and events on BIM, openBIM, and technology in architectural practice.

John has 25 years of experience developing, implementing, and managing computer aided design (CAD), geographic information systems (GIS), and BIM applications and solutions in support of AEC and real property sectors within the federal government.

John is the BIM lead for the Department of National Defence, where he works to enable integrated enterprise BIM tools and processes. His current focus is on organizing the Federal Government’s move towards BIM through the Digital Built Government of Canada initiative.

John is an active contributor to international, national, and regional BIM committees and organizations. He sits as the Vice-president of buildingSMART Canada and is a member of both the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the Standards Council of Canada Mirror Committee. John also serves as Vice Chair of the CSA s250 Mapping of Underground Utility Infrastructure Technical Committee.

David has been an active member of CSC for more than 25 years and was inducted into the CSC College of Fellows in 2009. While participating with the International Construction Information Society as a representative of Construction Specifications Canada (CSC), David was introduced to BIM.

David’s involvement with buildingSMART International dates back more than 20 years, where he’s served in many capacities including the technical development of BIM standards. David’s contributions to the buildingSMART Data Dictionary (bSDD), including the development of the ISO standard it is based on, date back to the project’s origin and continues today.

David serves as chairman of the Canadian Mirror Committee for BIM standards, representing Standards Council of Canada (SCC) at the International Standards Organization (ISO) level. This ISO committee is responsible for approximately 20 BIM standards that have been published or are under development. David currently co-chairs the Canadian committee developing a Canadian annex for the ISO 19650 BIM standard.

David’s primary focus relates to construction documentation and its integration with BIM, where he draws upon his experience developing and marketing specifications and software tools since 1996.

Bill is an active contributor to international, national, and regional Building Information Modeling (BIM) committees and organizations. He sits as the Treasurer and Board of Director member for buildingSMART International and is the president of buildingSMART Canada. Bill is also a member of the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the Standards Council of Canada Mirror Committee.

Bill serves on the Consulting Engineers of Alberta’s BIM Task Force and is the chairman and founder of the Calgary BIM Community. He has also formerly represented the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of Canada (ACEC) as the Chair of the Institute for BIM in Canada. 

Throughout his more than 30-year career, Bill has been innovating, leveraging, and implementing disruptive technology such as BIM within the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry for large & mid-sized firms.

Arash is a respected entrepreneur and innovator who is known as a digital technology visionary and recognized for his ability to bring stakeholders together on collaborative initiatives. He was recently named as one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Canadian Construction for his innovative work.

Arash holds a PhD in construction engineering and management and co-founded the Building Innovation Research Centre at University of Toronto. As Associate Director of the Centre for six years, he led innovative research, partnership development, and transformational change amongst key stakeholders in the Canadian construction, government, and education sectors.

He currently serves as Research Chair of the Toronto BIM Community (tBIMc). Arash is also CEO of AECO Innovation Lab, which he co-founded to lead digital transformation of AEC industries and governments through collaborative R&D projects, innovative products, and expert consulting.

Brent is the Chief Technology Officer at Turner Fleischer Architects and has over 20 years’ experience in designing and managing high-profile projects in a wide range of industry sectors. He holds membership in numerous professional accredited associations in North America and has extensive experience in both professional speaking engagements and teaching.  

While having a heavy technical background – aligned with key project areas in bSC (Education, Curriculum, LOX etc.) he has a wide catchment area of industry contacts, connections and experience. The interview process identified a genuine interest in bSC and its approach to driving the digitalization of the built asset industry through standards and data interoperability. Brent could advocate bSC to an expanded group of individuals and corporations in North America as well as provide immediate backup on relevant projects within bSC.  

Erik Poirier is an associate professor at the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montreal, Quebec. He also leads the Quebec Construction 4.0 Initiative which aims to support the digital transformation of Quebec’s construction industry and built environment.

Erik is the Vice-President of Groupe BIM du Québec and the Chair of the Mirror Committee for the Standards Council of Canada relating to the International Standards Organization Technical Committee 59 – Steering Committee 13 (ISO TC59-SC13).

He holds a doctorate and master’s degree in construction engineering from the École de Technologie Supérieure and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Laval University. He also completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia. Erik specializes in the integration and optimization of information flows throughout the full lifecycle of development in the built environment.

Gord has spent many years working in the geospatial industry in Canada, having held senior positions in the private industry, education, and government sectors. Originally educated and trained in mapping and surveying, he advanced his career by working in digital mapping and the CAD/GIS Software services industry. An advocate and innovator in the development of GIS, he spent much of his career implementing GIS software and hardware in both education and governments in Canada.

An ardent supporter of open systems and data interoperability, his experience with GIS and design modelling software gave him the opportunity to see the introduction of GIS and BIM interoperability firsthand. He is one of the Board of Directors of buildingSMART Canada and also the CEO of McElravy and Associates, where Gord provides consulting services to the geospatial industry.

Jonathan is Founder and Managing Director of GoGeomatics.  A prolific entrepreneur he has founded numerous successful geomatics industry and industry related initiatives over his almost 20 years in Geomatics. He is well identified and connected in North America and Internationally through his organization and planning of international conferences and events. Acquainted with and active in both GIS and BIM committees and events, he has a truly international perspective on promoting organizations and their objectives.    

Jonathan would bring a much-needed geomatics perspective to bSC. His entrepreneurial skills, proven track record in planning, hosting and delivering international conferences adds valuable experience and knowledge to bSC operations at this time. Of note, his international Digital Twin Event for RBC brings bSC new industry engagement opportunity. He would present a business approach to a highly technical board and expand bSC advocacy to a broader industry. 

Kelby is Director General / Service Lead, Technical Services PSPC, Ottawa and has worked at PSPC for the past 7 years following 30 years military experience retiring as a Colonel.  He works closely with the private sector to respond to the current and emerging real property needs of PSPC. In his military capacity he worked establishing and maintaining strategic alliances, partnerships and stakeholder consensus with treasury board and other federal government departments as well as allied nations around the world.   He holds professional certification as an Engineer in Ontario and Alberta. He is presently chairman of FIRPAC (Federal / Industry Real Property Advisory Council) of which bSC is a member. 

Mark is the Director of Design Technology at HOK with over 15 years’ experience having worked on a wide variety of complex project types in numerous industry sectors both domestic and international. He holds membership in numerous professional accredited associations in North America and has extensive experience in both professional speaking engagements and teaching in North America and abroad.  

While having a heavy technical background – aligned with key areas in bSC (Technical Vote, and Standards Committee documentation, Standards etc.) he has a wide catchment area of industry contacts, connections and experience in both North America and Internationally. Of note his work on the Centre Block Rehabilitation, Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) Long Term Accommodation and Canadian Embassy Berlin brings valued further exposure and credibility for bSC in the federal government sector. Mark as well could advocate bSC to an expanded group of individuals and corporations in North America and internationally. 

Patrick is Director Virtual Design and Construction at Ellis Don. Having almost 15 years’ experience in team lead for Co-ordinators and Managers of construction projects covering six business market areas in Canada, he has the responsibility of communicating strategic BIM initiatives and direction to the corporate leadership.  He holds professional accreditation and is teaching in the BIM program at Algonquin College. He is a good representative of the construction industry sector in Canada and has numerous links and connections. 

Patrick, in his role of co-founder and a Director of dBNCR has localized experience with affiliate groups and representatives. In his interview he expressed that now that he carries a more national role within Ellis Don, he desires a more national perspective on BIM and BIM standards and views bSC as an organization that has that national and international perspective. Energetic and engaged, he could advocate bSC to the construction sector stakeholders. 

Susan is a highly regarded Fellow and Canadian ambassador of buildingSMART International where she also serves as the Manager of the International Awards Program. In addition to serving as Vice-President and Board Member, Susan leads buildingSMART Canada’s Affiliates Program which aims to connect local industry leaders across the country.

Susan is an active participant with the Standards Council of Canada, where she represents Canada on the International Standards Organization Technical Committee 50 – Steering Committee 13 (ISO TC50-SC13). In addition, Susan established the BIM Lifecycle Management Graduate Certificate program at Algonquin College where she is an Academic Coordinator. Susan also serves as Senior Program Manager of Facilities Management at the House of Commons of Canada.