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Nov 24

Leslie Woo, Chief Planning Officer, Metrolinx

Toronto ON, C.D. Howe Institute, 67 Yonge Street, Suite 300

Connecting People: A Draft Transportation Plan for the GTHA

Metrolinx and its partners are planning for 2041 – the exciting next chapter in the story of our region. At the heart of the Draft Transportation Plan are five core strategies that will turn this ambitious vision for the region into reality and move the GTHA forward.

Working closely with partners and stakeholders, the region is experiencing a massive expansion in rapid transit investment. The Draft Plan focuses on completing delivery of our projects, while expanding and improving transportation to create a more complete and connected region.

The investments being proposed will help us realize the provincial vision for managed growth by co-locating office development, public institutions, and regional services with transit and all other modes of travel. The Draft Plan lays out programs that focus on excellence in the traveller experience, such as high quality architectural design, seamless service integration, an integrated fare system, innovative trip planning and full mobility service offerings.  

Join Leslie Woo, Metrolinx’s Chief Planning Officer, on November 24th, as she speaks to “Connecting People: A Draft Transportation Plan for the Region in 2041” and the exciting initiatives Metrolinx is working on to transform transit in the GTHA.

Leslie Woo, Chief Planning Officer, Planning and Policy

Leslie Woo is Metrolinx’s Chief Planning Officer Planning and Policy, leading Metrolinx’s planning and policy.

Leslie’s portfolio spans the long range vision for mobility in the region, as set out in The Big Move (2008), to detailed service planning for GO Transit rail and bus, and includes capital project pre-planning, setting scope and defining projects. Leslie ensures that the $31 billion capital public investments are guided by good planning evidence and robust policy research. She is also a champion for driving corporate sustainability, innovation, design excellence and leads Metrolinx’s network for women in management.

As a member of Metrolinx’s Senior Management Team, Leslie brings her executive expertise in addressing complex urban development challenges in constrained environments to deliver results. Her leadership in tackling the integration of the $13.5 billion GO Regional Express Rail with local transit initiatives, with challenging the status quo on transit fare structures in the Toronto region and her determination to deliver planning that is built on strong business case has been recognized nationally. She was named the 2015 Outstanding leader by Canada’s Women’s Infrastructure Network.

Prior to joining Metrolinx she worked in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She shaped the influential Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan (2006), which over the last ten years, has resulted in urban intensification totalling over 18 per cent increase in multi-family residential development, a two-thirds reduction of greenfield lands consumption, and has conserved about 800 square kilometres of agricultural and rural land.

Amongst her many global professional associations, Leslie is a 2011/12 Fellow and member of the International Women’s Forum, a Global Trustee with the Urban Land Institute, a member of the Scientific and Strategy Council of the Institut pour la ville en mouvement (2012-2015), and a retired member of the Ontario Association of Architects. Leslie holds many community volunteer roles including Vice Chair of the YMCA for the Greater Toronto Area and founder of shebuildscities.org.

Leslie received a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Waterloo where she also studied Urban and Regional Planning. She is also the 2015 recipient of the Renison University College Distinguished Alumna Award.

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