Speakers
Andrew Gordon
Biography
Andrew Gordon is a professor and the current program coordinator for Fleming colleges resource drilling technician program at their frost campus in Lindsay Ontario. As a former graduate of the program himself, upon graduation Andrew worked as a geothermal driller across many projects throughout Ontario. His passion for sustainable technology led him to work in the ICF Industry building high efficiency custom homes and cottages. Becoming a professor in 2020, Andrew brought his experience on sustainable building technologies to the classroom and has been giving insight to his many students on high efficiency technology and practices ever since.
Brad Carr
Biography
Brad Carr is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mattamy Homes Canada. He was named CEO in September 2018 after joining the company as President, Canada in June 2013. Together with a best-in-class leadership team, Mr. Carr is responsible for leading all aspects of Mattamy’s homebuilding lifecycle from land acquisition to closing in the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. Working with a talented group of more than 1,400 people, Mattamy is reimagining the future of living in Canada through innovative urban and low-rise communities, all with the collective goal of delivering the best homeowner experience. Prior to joining Mattamy, Mr. Carr spent 12 years at Monarch Corporation in a variety of roles including President. In addition to his role at Mattamy, Mr. Carr is a founding member of the CivicAction Housing Affordability Collaborative, a member of the Executive Table – Business Council of Toronto (Toronto Region Board of Trade), Executive Committee Member of the Climate Smart Building Alliance, a member of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s Economic Action Team and a volunteer Board member and a past Board President for Drayton Entertainment, a not-for-profit professional theatre company with seven theatres located across Southwestern Ontario. Mr. Carr is an alumnus from Toronto Metropolitan University, graduating in 1996 with a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Science.
Caroline Karvonen
Biography
Caroline Karvonen is the Vice President Sustainability and Stakeholder Relations at BOMA Toronto, the largest Building Owners and Managers Association in North America. For almost 20 years, her career has been focused in the ESG and sustainability fields, with experience at municipal and provincial governments, electricity distribution, and commercial real estate sectors.Caroline has a background in geography and urban studies from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Master’s degree in Environment and Resource Studies from the University of Waterloo. She is a designated Environmental Professional.
Chad Brezynskie
Biography
Chad Brezynskie is the co-founder and Vice-President at GeoSmart Energy, a well established North American brand of geothermal heat pumps. With over two decades in the distribution of geothermal heat pumps, he has acquired significant business and technical knowledge related to sustainable technologies and uses that to drive company and industry growth every day. He has served on several industry boards and committees in the past and is currently serving as an executive board member of the Ontario Geothermal Association.
Cloe Logan
Biography
Cloe Logan is a journalist with Canada’s National Observer who writes about climate and environment in the city of Toronto, narrowing in on the dynamic between the province and the city. She has been a reporter on both coasts of Canada, has been nominated for numerous awards, and was a fellow with the Metcalf Institute at the University of Rhode Island in 2023.
David Brodrecht
Biography
David Brodrecht is the Senior Geothermal Engineer in the Energy and Carbon Solutions Group at WalterFedy. He has over 25 years of experience in renewable energy systems, with over 18 years in the geothermal industry working across multiple markets from residential to large scale commercial and municipal projects. David is a recognized authority in geothermal systems, with extensive experience designing geothermal systems, conducting feasibility studies and energy audits. His role as a board member of the Ontario Geothermal Association and ASHRAE membership demonstrates his commitment to shaping industry guidelines and standards. With a Master’s from Purdue University and a Bachelor’s from the University of Toronto, David combines academic rigor with hands-on expertise.
Diana Stephenson
Biography
Diana Stephenson is Toronto Hydro’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Customer Officer. Prior to joining Toronto Hydro, she served as BC Hydro’s Senior Vice-President of Customer and Corporate Affairs. Ms. Stephenson brings over two decades of experience in public sector and market-based energy jurisdictions, having also served as Vice President, Public Affairs and Sustainability with ENMAX Corporation. Ms. Stephenson’s executive leadership focus spans electricity marketing, customer and public communications, stakeholder engagement, customer experience, business development, and the delivery of energy management products and services, and she has overseen a range of corporate services and functions throughout her career. She also spent time in the Canadian retail sector, serving as Chief Governance Officer for Mountain Equipment Company, where she held a range of organizational, public affairs and stakeholder engagement accountabilities. Ms. Stephenson currently serves on the board of WaterAid Canada, a Canadian non-profit agency that works to increase access to and awareness of the need for clean water, sanitation and hygiene in economically challenged and marginalized regions across the world. She also recently served as a member of the management board for Invest Vancouver. Ms. Stephenson holds a Bachelor of Sociology from Simon Fraser University and a corporate governance designation from the Institute of Governance Professionals.
Gabby Kalapos
Biography
Gaby is the Executive Director at Clean Air Partnership an Ontario based charitable environmental organization. She has been working to motivate and support local government action on clean air and climate change for over 25 years. Her passion has been on encouraging the uptake, transfer and implementation of clean air and climate change policies and actions and the building of partnerships that enable collaboration and support between the community and all levels of government. She is looking forward to supporting the crucial role geothermal will need to play in Ontario’s building decarbonization efforts.
Gerard Paradis
Biography
Gerard Paradis, Vice President – MGEA. Gerry is a founding director of the MGEA. He started in the plumbing and HVAC trade full time in 1981 and has been involved with the installation and service of GSHP since 1985. Gerry has been involved in over 1100 installations of residential, commercial, ice rinks, curling rinks, numerous churches, community halls and financial institutions.
Ian Jarvis
Biography
Enerlife’s founder and president since 2001, Ian Jarvis is an authority on energy conservation and decarbonization for commercial, institutional and multi-residential buildings. Ian has been at the leading edge of practice and research of high performance buildings for over three decades. He provides strategic and technical advice to property owners and managers, forms and leads Integrated Building Performance Teams, and brings specialized knowledge and experience of achieving and sustaining exceptional performance in individual buildings and portfolios. Ian is an expert witness in regulatory hearings, advises governments and utility companies on policy and program design and evaluation, and is an accomplished speaker and workshop leader.
Jack Bolland
Biography
Jack leads sustainability strategy at Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), Canada’s largest social housing provider. He supports TCHC’s mission to deliver triple-bottom-line impact across its portfolio by translating ambitious climate goals into investable, scalable solutions that improve tenant experiences. Jack specializes in mobilizing the technical and financial resources needed to advance the energy transition. Before joining TCHC, he spearheaded low-carbon infrastructure initiatives at the City of Toronto, including the design of the geothermal district energy system at the Etobicoke Civic Centre, sewer waste heat recovery and storage, and community energy planning for major development areas such as the Port Lands. With an international background spanning business development in complex environments and intergovernmental policy negotiations, Jack brings a pragmatic, results-driven perspective to TCHC.
Jean-François Lavoie
Biography
Mr. Lavoie is Director of Sales and Marketing at Versaprofiles Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of HDPE pipe serving the geothermal, water, gas, and custom profile markets across North America. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Université Laval in Quebec, Canada. Active in the plastics industry since 1995, he held several roles in product development, consulting, and sales before joining Versaprofiles in 2015. Since then, he has served as Product Manager and Operations Manager prior to assuming his current leadership role in sales and marketing. Over the past 11 years, Mr. Lavoie has played an active role in the HDPE pipe and geothermal industries, serving as Vice-Chair of the Geothermal Steering Committee of the Plastics Pipe Institute and participating on various standards revision committees, including CSA C448. He has co-authored several articles and papers focused primarily on HDPE geothermal loop configurations for optimized ground-source heat pump systems. Versaprofiles is recognized as one of the founding companies of the Québec Geothermal Association.
Jeff Hammond
Biography
Jeff Hammond is Executive Director at the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA), a non-profit, member-driven organization established in 1987 to advance ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology on local, state/provincial, national, and international levels. Jeff earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and an A.A.S. in electrical engineering technology from Purdue University. He has 40 years’ experience in the ground source heat pump (geothermal) industry, including positions at ClimateMaster, Enertech, Geo-Flo, and WaterFurnace. Jeff is a member of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers), ASAE (American Society of Association Executives), and CSA (Canadian Standards Association). He has served on CSA, AHRI (Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute), and PPI (Plastics Pipe Institute) technical committees. He is currently chair of the CSA/ANSI/IGSHPA C448 Ground Source Heat Pump Standard committee.
Joanna Jackson
Biography
Joanna is a sustainability leader with deep expertise in reducing energy, water, and carbon consumption across large residential real estate portfolios. She worked at Minto Canada from 2017 to 2026, serving as Vice President, Sustainability & Innovation from 2023 to 2026, following 15 years as a mechanical engineering consultant. During her tenure at Minto, she led initiatives to improve environmental performance across the rental portfolio, including Minto’s first deep retrofit project at 61 Yorkville in Toronto. She also played a central role in charting the company’s path toward net‑zero carbon emissions in its rental buildings.
Joseph Martin
Biography
Shakokwenios Joseph Martin is from Six Nations of the Grand River and the Mississaugas of the credit First Nation having one parent from each community. Shakokwenios Joseph Martin is a traditional knowledge keeper, Dancer, language speaker, an story teller who has performed for The Chiefs of Ontario, The Toronto Rock, the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Ontario special Olympics, The Native Woman’s association of Ontario, Six Nations elected council, Mississauga of the credit First Nation, as well as many other celebrations and events. Shakokwenios Joseph Martin will share the thanksgiving address in the Mohawk lanagauge followed by translation and then share a traditional earth song.
John Rathbone
Biography
Rathco’s CEO and Co-Founder, John Rathbone, is a Professional Engineer and a certified Project Management Professional with extensive experience in energy systems, particularly district energy systems. John has led local and international teams on the planning, design, and implementation of multiple district energy systems within Canadian jurisdictions and has developed effective strategies to meet and exceed client’s goals. John has experience with pre-insulated piping systems, energy transfer stations, boilers and chillers, heat pumps, heat exchangers, and other various components of a district energy system. He also has experience designing geothermal, wastewater energy exchange, and biomass projects. With 17 years of experience, John is very comfortable leading projects that incorporate large-scale, complicated systems that include numerous engineering disciplines utilized simultaneously. He is currently licensed as an engineer in the Provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.
Kit Milnes
Biography
Kit is responsible for developing and executing KingSett’s sustainable investing strategy and managing the climate risks and opportunities across its existing assets, developments, affordable housing, debt funds and internal operations. Kit leads the development and execution of KingSett’s climate risk and decarbonization strategy across the company and is also responsible for its internal and external reporting, third-party standards alignment and sustainable investment and lending programs. Prior to joining KingSett, Kit held positions at Triovest Realty Advisors and Bentall Kennedy, developing and executing strategies that lead to national and international leadership recognition for both companies. Kit’s experience covers over a decade and a half of sustainable investment, business strategy and project execution experience across a variety of industries and asset classes. Kit holds an Honours Bachelors degree in Environmental Science from Dalhousie University and is a LEED Accredited Professional.
Lee Hodgkinson
Biography
Lee Hodgkinson is Head of Renewable Energy for Dream Unlimited. As part of the Senior Management team for the $31 billion group of companies, he is responsible for developing and executing the renewable energy pipeline (31MW+), overseeing Dream’s Net Zero by 2035 ambition, supporting sustainable developments, leading sustainable finance initiatives ($1B+) and generating other value-add opportunities. Lee brings over 16 years of engineering, construction, building automation, sustainability and ESG, and energy management experience to lead a wide range of initiatives to create a positive impact on people and the planet.
Marc Madi
Biography
Marc brings over 18 years of experience in high-performance building systems across institutional and commercial sectors, specializing in HVAC design, building energy performance, and decarbonization of existing and new buildings. His work spans energy analytics, life-cycle costing, and system optimization, with a focus on improving real-world building performance, reducing performance gaps between design and operation, and enabling cost-effective pathways to electrification and emissions reduction in public infrastructure. He is currently leading a national research initiative to develop a practical implementation guide for ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems in K–12 schools, drawing on real-world case studies of both successful and underperforming installations.
Matt Poirier
Biography
Matt prides himself on translating research findings into actionable solutions that support the clean energy transition. He brings over 10 years of experience working with governments, utilities, and industry to decarbonize the built environment. Before this role, Matt held consulting roles at Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors and Deloitte and worked in industry and non-profit organizations focusing on green building design and legal analysis. He holds degrees in mechanical engineering and psychology from the University of Waterloo, in law, with specializations in environmental and business law, from Dalhousie University, and he also holds an MBA from Saint Mary’s University.
Mayor Olivia Chow
Biography
Olivia Chow is the 66th Mayor of Toronto and the first woman of Asian descent elected to the office. Her story reflects that of so many Torontonians who immigrate here to build a new life and make an impact on our city. Throughout her career, Olivia has been driven by the belief that we are always stronger together.
MECP Ontario Session
Biography
Discussion Session regarding potential changes to permissions for the geothermal sector. Led by the following staff from the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks:
Juwairia Obaid, Manager, Policy and Program Development
Aziz Ahmed, Manager, Municipal Water & Wastewater Permissions
Orit Biran, Senior Program Advisor, Policy and Program Development
Ben Hendry, Lead Engineer, Engineering and Special Projects
In this session, staff from the MECP will begin discussions with members of the geothermal drilling industry regarding possible future changes to the approval process and Ontario Regulation 98/12.
Paul Frith
Biography
Paul Frith is the Founder and President of JPF Consulting, helping real estate developers, public sector organizations, and businesses adopt low-carbon technologies, improve energy efficiency, and advance decarbonization strategies. With more than 20 years of experience in business development, sales, advocacy, and government relations, Paul has spent over a decade supporting the Canadian geothermal industry. He now serves as President of the Ontario Geothermal Association, where he is focused on growing the sector, strengthening partnerships, and advancing geothermal adoption across Ontario and Canada.
Steve Oslanski
Biography
Steve Oslanski is a visionary leader focused on the energy transition, providing renewable energy systems across multiple industry sectors. As a Partner, Steve leads Business Development efforts for the Envirotech Group of Companies which includes Envirotech Geothermal Ltd. (Install contractor) and Envirotech Geothermal Drilling Corp. (A geo-exchange drilling specialist), and Envirotech Solar. Steve’s background includes 20 years of land acquisition & regulatory/environmental expertise, navigating the complexities of the Municipal Government Act (MGA), Alberta Environment & Parks (AEP), and the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).
Tim Weber
Biography
Tim Weber is the Co-Founder and CEO of Diverso Energy, North America’s leading geothermal utility provider. With 30 years of HVAC experience—18 of them focused exclusively on geothermal—Tim uses his expertise to drive business development, build client relationships, and identify new market opportunities. He is currently focused on pioneering new financial models to support the adoption of geothermal systems in mid- to high-rise residential buildings. Leveraging his deep knowledge of geothermal and commercial real estate, Tim helps clients identify projects that best align with Diverso Energy’s model, optimizing their economic advantages in turn. Outside of Diverso, he serves as Vice President of the Ontario Geothermal Association, working to dismantle the barriers to adoption and accelerate our net-zero transition.