Markham Centre OVIN Demonstration Zone

Chris collaborated with the City of Vaughan to secure $2.5 million in funding from the Province of Ontario to establish an Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) Demonstration Zone in Markham Centre. The initiative provides a real-world urban environment where small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can pilot and showcase advanced mobility solutions—including electric vehicles, robotics, integrated mobility systems, and connected/autonomous vehicle technologies. The zone is now operational across downtown Markham and Vaughan.

See the website.

My Main Street

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris partnered with the Canadian Urban Institute and the Economic Developers Council of Ontario to develop and launch My Main Street—a province-wide initiative focused on revitalizing Ontario’s main streets.

The program supported community economic development and placemaking through targeted investments, local market research, and capacity-building for small business ecosystems. By grounding economic recovery in local data and inclusive growth strategies, My Main Street helped communities rebuild stronger, more resilient main street economies.

ShopHERE Program

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris led the design and launch of ShopHERE—an emergency digital support program created in partnership with the City of Toronto and Digital Main Street. The initiative helped independently owned main street businesses establish e-commerce stores at no cost, enabling them to maintain operations and reach customers during lockdowns.

What began as a local response quickly scaled nationwide. In under a year, ShopHERE supported the launch of over 50,000 online stores for small businesses and artists across Canada, accelerating digital adoption during a time of unprecedented disruption.

WeWork Toronto Startup Pass

In order to help Toronto technology companies access global markets, Chris worked with a number of local incubators and post-secondary partners, including MaRS, DMZ at Ryerson, the University of Toronto and York University, to create the WeWork Toronto Startup Pass.

The program allowed Toronto technology companies to access a WeWork monthly pass at no-cost for one-year. The pass provided participating companies the ability to use WeWork’s global coworking network to access new markets.

Over 500 companies used the program in its first year of operation and the program is being expanded to support companies in Montreal, Ottawa and Waterloo.

Civic Hall Toronto

In partnership with Code for Canada and the Centre for Social Innovation, Chris helped launch Civic Hall Toronto—a first-of-its-kind initiative designed to support public servants tackling complex community challenges through technology, policy, and civic engagement.

The platform brought together government innovators and community partners to co-create solutions to pressing issues at the local, provincial, and federal levels. By fostering collaboration and building digital capacity within the public sector, Civic Hall Toronto helped accelerate more responsive, citizen-focused approaches to government service delivery.