Canadian Chamber of Commerce to Celebrate Top Business Leaders in Toronto

(TORONTO) – February 21, 2023

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has announced The Canadian Business Leader of the Year Awards for 2023, presenting Peter Gilgan, Chairman & CEO, Mattamy Asset Management Inc., with the Canadian Business Leader Lifetime Achievement Award, and Heather Chalmers, President & CEO, GE Canada, with the Canadian Business Leader of the Year Award.  

The Canadian Business Leader of the Year Awards were established to celebrate and recognize Canadian business executives at the top of their fields. All award honourees are setting new standards in leadership and innovation in Canadian business. The Toronto honourees inspire their teams and peers and continue to have a positive impact on the future of business in Canada.

Canadian Business Leader Lifetime Achievement Award
Peter Gilgan, Chairman & CEO, Mattamy Asset Management Inc.

One of Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs and generous philanthropists, Mr. Gilgan was awarded one of the country’s highest civilian honours when he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013, (promoted to Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020), in recognition of his innovative leadership in Canada’s construction industry, and for his philanthropic support of initiatives in health care, education and athletics. In 2013, he was honoured with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of outstanding achievement and public service and was named to the Order of Ontario in 2012 for his business leadership and philanthropic initiatives.

Mr. Gilgan’s multi-million dollar commitment to philanthropy and community building is unparalleled. From health care to physical activity to higher education and community legacies – he truly is a respected and dedicated community leader. His lifetime charitable donations total more than $360 million. Mattamy Asset Management is the parent company of Mattamy Homes, the largest privately-owned homebuilder in North America, which Mr. Gilgan founded in 1978.

Canadian Business Leader of the Year Award

Heather Chalmers, President & CEO, GE Canada

Heather Chalmers is the President and Chief Executive Officer for GE Canada, and International Advocacy Lead for GE VERNOVA, the company’s portfolio of energy businesses. GE Canada has produced world-leading solutions for 130 years and employs thousands of employees across multiple sectors delivering innovation and outcomes to customers in Canada and across the world.

Heather is passionately committed to leading businesses that consistently deliver Canadian innovation and outcomes to customers in Canada and globally. She holds a Chemical Engineering degree from Queens University, an MBA from the Rotman School of Business and is a director on the C.D. Howe Institute Board, Business Council of Canada Board,  Vice-Chair Ontario Brain Institute Board and St. Elizabeth Health Foundation Board. She is also a member of the Rotman School of Management’s Healthcare and Life Sciences Advisory Council and was formerly part of the GTA United Way Cabinet and Vice-Chair Medtech Canada Board.  She was recently presented with Rotman School of Management’s 2022 Arbor award and Women Leaders in Digital Health 2020 award.

We look forward to celebrating these two visionary business leaders at a reception and dinner event on Thursday, September 28. For more details on the event and a full biography of our recipients, please visit chamber.ca/torontoawardsdinner

For more information or to attend the award ceremony, please contact Lianne Cheng, Director, Member Relations at lcheng@chamber.ca or 416.417.0229.

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce — The Future of Business Success

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is Canada’s largest and most activated business network — representing over 400 chambers of commerce and boards of trade and more than 200,000 businesses of all sizes, from all sectors of the economy and from every part of the country — to create the conditions for our collective success. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is the undisputed champion and catalyst for the future of business success. From working with government on economy-friendly policy to providing services that inform commerce and enable trade, we give each of our members more of what they need to succeed: insight into markets, competitors and trends, influence over the decisions and policies that drive business success and impact on business and economic performance. 

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Contact

Karl Oczkowski

Senior Director, Corporate Communications and Public Relations

Canadian Chamber of Commerce

koczkowski@chamber.ca