Tom Vair is the Deputy CAO, Community Development and Enterprise Services at the Corporation of the City of Sault Ste. Marie. In this role he works with local stakeholders on community development initiatives and has oversight of a number of business and citizen facing City services including Planning, Building, Recreation and Culture, Transit and Parking, Community Centres, the Essar Centre and Cemeteries.
Prior to joining the City of Sault Ste. Marie, Tom was the Executive Director of the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, a non-profit organization that worked to grow the science and technology sector in the Algoma District. Previous to that, Tom worked for Corel Corporation and a number of internet startup ventures in Ottawa.
Tom has been involved in a number of organizations in the past including serving as a member of the Ontario Research and Innovation Council, as a Board member for the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) and Algoma University Health Informatics Institute, and serving on a number of committees including the Northern Advisory Committee for the Northern Ontario Growth Plan, the Sault College Computer Studies Advisory Committee and Sault Area Hospital Innovation Fund Committee. Tom also served as a judge for the Premier’s Catalyst Awards and participated in 2015 in the Governor General’s Leadership Conference.
Tom holds an M.B.A. from McMaster University and a B.A., Administrative and Commercial Studies from the University of Western Ontario.