Geoffrey M. Smith

Geoff Smith is the former President and CEO of EllisDon, an employee-owned, $3.5 billion-a-year construction industry leader that operates across Canada and around the world.

Geoff earned his law degree from the University of Toronto in 1979, practiced law for a brief period before joining EllisDon in 1982. His leadership positions at EllisDon have included Legal and Labour Relations, Vice President for Western Canada in the late eighties, President and COO in the early nineties and ultimately assuming the role of CEO in late 1996.

In recent years, EllisDon has garnered significant recognition including Aon Hewitt’s ’50 Best Employers’ with EllisDon placing either first or second for seven consecutive years; Deloitte’s ‘50 Best Managed Companies’ (thirteen years in a row) and WaterStone Human Capital’s ’10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures™’, among others.

EllisDon has uniquely moved far beyond its traditional core contracting business, offering Project Management & Engineering, Project Finance Services, Network and Digital Services, as well as a recently created for profit Data Division.

Geoff is also very active in the community, previously serving on numerous hospital boards and capital campaigns, chairing the George Brown College ‘Technology In The City’ capital campaign, serving as a curriculum advisor to Ryerson University and chairing the Ontario Liberal Fund for four years. Geoff is a founding member of OG100, and actively supports Venture For Canada.

In 2011, Geoff was awarded the Ontario General Contractors Association’s Jock Tindale Award for leadership in integrity within the construction industry and in 2013 was named EY’s ‘Canadian Entrepreneur Of The Year®’.