Food Starter

To support Toronto’s growing but under-served food entrepreneurship sector, Chris led the development and launch of Food Starter—Ontario’s first dedicated food business incubator.

Responding to industry barriers such as high production costs, limited access to food-grade space, and complex regulatory requirements, Food Starter offered early-stage companies a 20,000 sq. ft. facility equipped with shared commercial-grade equipment. The incubator specialized in baking, hot and cold fill, and culturally diverse food products, and provided wraparound training, mentorship, and commercialization support to help food entrepreneurs scale their businesses.

Chris secured public and private funding for the initiative, oversaw facility construction, established the not-for-profit operating model and board of directors, and led the team through launch and early operations.

Chris' role in the project included securing funding, managing the construction of the facility, developing a not-for-profit and board of directors, hiring staff and overseeing the launch of the facility and its programming.

From Concept to Commercialization: A Startup Eco-system Strategy for the City of Toronto

Chris led the development of From Concept to Commercialization—the City of Toronto’s first dedicated strategy to strengthen its startup ecosystem and position the city as a global destination for entrepreneurship.

The five-year strategy outlined a bold vision and actionable framework to support the sustained growth of early-stage companies, expand access to business support infrastructure, and align municipal efforts with private-sector innovation drivers. It provided a clear roadmap for enhancing Toronto’s competitiveness by nurturing the conditions that help entrepreneurs launch, scale, and thrive.

To view the feasibility study visit here.

Client Relationship Management System Development and Deployment

To modernize service delivery and improve client tracking across Toronto’s Small Business Centres, Chris led the design and implementation of a new Salesforce-based CRM platform—supporting more than 28,000 entrepreneur interactions annually.

Chris oversaw the full project lifecycle: from defining user requirements and selecting the platform, to customizing the system, managing developers, and contributing to hands-on configuration. He also led staff training and change management efforts to ensure seamless adoption across the City’s three centres.

Within a year of launch, the platform had generated over $150,000 in staff time savings and significantly enhanced the City’s capacity to engage, track, and support entrepreneurs accessing municipal programs.

Tommy Thompson Park Restoration with Coca-Cola

While at TRCA, Chris partnered with Coca-Cola to support the company’s global water neutrality goals through local ecosystem restoration. Working closely with Coca-Cola’s sustainability team, he helped identify and evaluate restoration opportunities that could deliver measurable water savings in the Greater Toronto Area.

Chris applied Coca-Cola’s water neutrality framework to TRCA-led projects and worked with technical staff to quantify impacts and align outcomes with corporate sustainability targets. His efforts culminated in a successful proposal that led Coca-Cola to invest $500,000 in the creation of a nine-hectare coastal wetland at Tommy Thompson Park—an initiative that advanced ecological restoration, improved water quality, and demonstrated the potential of public-private environmental collaboration.

York Region Broadband Strategy

To advance digital equity and support economic competitiveness, Chris initiated and led the development of York Region’s first Broadband Strategy—a comprehensive roadmap to improve connectivity for businesses, residents, and the public sector across the Region.

Developed in partnership with York Region’s nine local municipalities, the strategy was shaped through extensive engagement with major telecommunications providers including Bell, Rogers, and Telus. It outlined a clear action plan organized around three pillars:

• Education & Advocacy: Building awareness of connectivity’s role in regional growth and resilience.

• Municipal Processes: Streamlining approvals and leveraging infrastructure projects to accelerate broadband expansion.

• Infrastructure Investment: Identifying priority projects to strengthen network coverage and capacity.

The strategy provided a strong foundation for coordinated action across all levels of government and the private sector to close connectivity gaps and unlock new opportunities for York Region’s growing communities.