Government of Canada appoints Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation President, Chair of the Board of Directors, and new Board members
Coleen Volk, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Recognized for her strengths in leadership and strategic planning, Coleen Volk joins CMHC as President and CEO with extensive experience in executive roles within both the federal and provincial public service, and previous experience in the private sector.
Prior to her retirement from the Alberta Public Service in 2022, Ms. Volk spent three years serving as Associate Deputy Minister, Executive Council; Deputy Minister, Operations; and Deputy Minister, Intergovernmental Relations. From 2016 to 2019 she was the Deputy Minister of Alberta Energy which had the responsibility of providing policy advice across oil & gas and electricity sectors.
For more than 10 years Ms. Volk held executive roles within the federal government, including as Associate Deputy Minister at Environment and Climate Change Canada, Assistant Deputy Minister at its precursor Environment Canada, Assistant Deputy Minister at Finance Canada and Associate Assistant Deputy Minister at Industry Canada. She also served as Deputy Secretary, Senior Personnel, Business Transformation and Renewal at the Privy Council Office. While there she supported the Prime Minister and the Clerk of the Privy Council in governor-in-council appointments, such as for deputy ministers, crown corporation and agency boards and CEOs, federal commissions and tribunals.
Her appointment as President and CEO marks a homecoming to CMHC where she previously spent nine years in leadership roles from 1996 to 2005, including Assistant Vice-President, Finance; Managing Director, Securitization; and Treasurer.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Volk worked in the banking industry, including six years with CIBC in the Corporate Treasury function. She is a Member of the Board of Directors of Blueprint ADE, holds a CPA designation (CPA, CMA), and has a Bachelor of Science with a computer science major from the University of Regina.
Don Iveson, Chair of the Board of Directors
Well-known as the former mayor of Edmonton from 2013 to 2021, Don Iveson is passionate about solving big problems, and follows a guiding principal of making things better for the next generation.
As Edmonton’s 35th mayor, Mr. Iveson oversaw the development and execution of Edmonton’s pro-density housing supply and regulatory reforms, and City Council’s Community Energy Transition Strategy. He also served as Chair of Canada’s Big City Mayors for five years, extending his political leadership to the national stage at a time when cities were responding to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. As Chair, Mr. Iveson helped to shape the National Housing Strategy, and influence the Federal Government to commit to ending chronic homelessness nationwide. While mayor, Mr. Iveson was an Honourary Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and implemented the first trauma-informed all-staff Indigenous awareness and reconciliation training program at a major Canadian city.
A passionate volunteer with civic society organizations, Mr. Iveson is a member of the Expert Panel on Adaptation at the Canadian Climate Institute, he serves as Co-Chair of the Task Force on Housing and Climate, and volunteers as Board Co-Chair of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.
Mr. Iveson founded Civic Good in December of 2021, a practice that provides strategic advice on climate, housing, civic innovation and complex governance issues. He is currently engaged primarily with Co-operators as Executive Advisor, Climate Investing & Community Resilience, where he supports the CEO and key executives in advancing initiatives that will support climate adaptation projects and climate-resilient infrastructure in communities across the country.
Laurie LeBlanc – Director, Board of Directors
Prior to retiring in 2022, Laurie LeBlanc spent a rewarding 35-year career with the Ontario Public Service where she held various Deputy Minister positions leading complex departments such as the Ministries of Transportation; Training, Colleges and Universities; Municipal Affairs, and Housing; and Aboriginal Affairs. Endorsed for her skills in policy development, stakeholder engagement, and complex problem solving, Ms. LeBlanc has received several awards, including being named one of the top 75 alumni of Carleton University's School of Public Policy and Administration.
In her role as Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ms. LeBlanc supported negotiations between the province of Ontario and the Government of Canada to develop and implement the first ever National Housing Strategy which led to billions of dollars in investment for affordable and social housing in Ontario.
Ms. LeBlanc is committed to mentoring and supporting young professionals. She has fulfilled this passion throughout her time as an executive in the Ontario Public service, as well as through various volunteer positions on professional and non-profit boards.
Ms. LeBlanc has an undergraduate degree in Journalism, and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Carleton University.
Ray Williams – Director, Board of Directors
A seasoned financial services executive with more than 35 years of experience specializing in global capital markets, Ray Williams is a former Vice-Chairman of Financial Markets at National Bank Financial where he was responsible for facilitating engagements with strategic accounts, and worked to promote the bank’s One Mission, people-first approach. He also represented the bank in several sustainable finance forums, transition initiatives, and was a key contributor to the bank’s affordable housing commitments.
In 2020 Mr. Williams co-founded the Black Opportunity Fund, the largest fund in Canada created to address anti-black racism through social and economic empowerment. He works closely with the organization today as the current Chair.
Passionate about inspiring change and community engagement, particularly in advancing workplace diversity and inclusion efforts, Mr. Williams is a long-time mentor, and serves on a variety of organization leadership boards, including 100Strong Foundation. He is also an executive-in-residence at the Rotman School of Management, in Toronto, and is on the board of the George Brown College Foundation, as well as Toronto Global and the Institute for Research & Public Policy (IRPP). Mr. Williams is the past and a founding president of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP), a member-based resource organization for the advancement of Black and minority professionals in the Canadian financial services industry.
Mr. Williams has a BA in Economics from North Staffordshire University, a Master of Arts from Coventry University, and obtained his ICD.D (Designation, Institute of Corporate Directors) from Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
Darlene Hyde – Director, Board of Directors
Darlene Hyde is a business leader in Western Canada with over 30 years of experience as an executive and board member across Canada. She is the former CEO of the BC Real Estate Association, and former Executive Director of the Metro Vancouver Commercial Real Estate Development Association. She recently served as the Interim CEO of the Alberta Insurance Council and currently serves as Chair of the Stabilization Central Credit Union of British Columbia.
Ms. Hyde has worked in a wide range of economic sectors, including real estate, energy, insurance, and telecommunications. She gained invaluable experience in both private and public sectors, including provincial crown corporations and regulatory agencies, and served on a number of boards in the financial services and regulatory and not for profit areas. Currently, she is the Chair of the McGill University Women in Leadership and Philanthropy chapter for Metro Vancouver.
Ms. Hyde was recognized as the 2020 CEO of the Year (Non-Profit Sector) by Businesses in Vancouver. When under her leadership, the BC Real Estate Association was ranked as Great Place to Work among the top national workplaces led by women in 2020 and 2021.
She holds an undergraduate degree (Honours) from McGill University, has an MBA from Memorial University, and professional designations from Simon Fraser University, and the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Heather Tremain – Director, Board of Directors
Heather Tremain is an accomplished strategic leader and collaborator with experience in organizational transformation, and has a passion for social purpose real estate and sustainable development.
From 2014 to 2024, Ms. Tremain was the CEO of Options for Homes Canada, an organization that uses an innovative financial model to help low and moderate income families become home owners. Under her leadership, Options delivered close to 900 new homes and built a significant development pipeline becoming one of Canada’s largest developers of affordable ownership housing.
Prior to joining Options for Homes Canada, Ms. Tremain founded and led Urban Fabric Group, a strategic real estate and development consultancy to non-profits. She was also the co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based green building consulting and development company reSource Rethinking Building, which consulted with many of Vancouver’s largest developers and institutions to support the creation of greener buildings in the metropolitan area.
As a champion of affordable housing, Ms. Tremain has helped change public policy support for this segment of the housing continuum. She is active in the community as Chair of Circle Community LandTrust, and a board member of Nch’Kay Development Corporation.
Ms. Tremain has a Masters’ degree in Architecture from the University of British Columbia and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from McMaster University. From 2008-09, she was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and a Visiting Fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Nick Macrae – Director, Board of Directors
Nick Macrae is the Senior Vice President and Head of Investments at Woodbourne Capital Management, a private real estate investment firm that owns, develops, and manages Canadian real estate properties on behalf of institutional investors with a focus on rental housing, seniors housing, purpose-built housing, and mixed-use projects where he is responsible for the firm’s investment activities.
Prior to joining Woodbourne Capital in 2021, Mr. Macrae was the Co-Head of Global Real Estate (Acting) and Senior Portfolio Manager of Real Estate at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), a major Canadian pension plan with over $100 billion in net assets and a $16 billion global real estate portfolio. Earlier in his career he was an analyst at Brookfield Financial within Brookfield Asset Management, and an associate at Avison Young Commercial Real Estate Inc.
Mr. Macrae is an active volunteer on various not-for-profit and industry organizations and associations in both Canada and the Unites States, including Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Community Living Toronto, Pension Real Estate Association (Hartford, CT), REALPAC, and the Urban Land Institute (Washington, DC). He obtained an MBA (Bregman Scholar) from the University of Toronto, and a BA (Honours) from Queen’s University.
