Former Assistant Deputy Minister, Government of Ontario

Victor is currently VP of Partnerships at the Toronto Region Board of Trade, after a long career as a senior executive in the Ontario Public Service (OPS).

While with the OPS, he held several assistant deputy minister positions in the Cabinet Office and ministries of infrastructure and economic development, leading policy portfolios in international and internal trade, business supports, red tape reduction, regional economic development, small business, and land use planning. As assistant deputy minister responsible for pandemic response, he was instrumental in standing up N95 respirator and medical grade nitrile gloves facilities in Ontario, and the domestic production of other critical PPE.

Victor was also Ontario’s chief negotiator for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, and the Canadian Free Trade Agreement. At the ministry of finance, he served as director of communications and director of fiscal planning and federal-provincial relations.

Victor is vice-chair of the HR & Governance Committee of Venture Ontario. He previously served on the board of directors of Ontario Place Corporation and has been a parent representative on the Portuguese Advisory Committee of the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Victor was also previously a member of the CD Howe Institute’s International Economic Policy Council. His international volunteer work with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada includes projects in Angola and Mozambique.

Victor was born in Portugal and moved with his family to Toronto in 1972. He is a graduate of York University’s Public Policy and Administration program.