About

Our Chapter

History of the PEO-WT Chapter

In late 2008, PEO reorganized the boundaries of several of its 36 chapters in its 5 regions of Ontario, and the new PEO West Toronto Chapter was formed, with Rob Willson, Chair of the erstwhile Toronto Dufferin Chapter, acting as First Chair of the new Chapter for 2008 which actually consists mainly of the old Toronto Dufferin Chapter. The boundaries of the Chapter are given in detail elsewhere on the Website, but in general terms, they may be described as extending from the Toronto Islands on the South to Lawrence Avenue on the North and from Yonge Street on the East to Jane Street on the West.

At the first Annual General Meeting of the new PEO-WT Chapter held on February 25, 2009, at the Toronto Lillian Smith Public Library at 239 College Street, our late distinguished colleague, Georg Kralik was elected as its first Chair.

From the PEO-WT Chapter, two past Executives, Rob Willson and Jim Chisholm went on to serve PEO as West Central Regional Councillors and three of its Chairs, Georg Kralik, Barry Westhead, and Pat Scanga have all been awarded PEO's Order of Honour.

The Chapter was considered to be one of the most active and progressive of PEO's 36 chapters, holding many seminars and tours until the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020. It is now slowly recovering and getting back into gear!

Listed below are the Chairs of the PEO-WT Chapter:

2008-2009: Rob Willson

2009-10: Georg Kralik

2011-12: Jim Chisholm

2013-14:  Eugen Karanxha

2015-16:  Barry Westhead

2017-18:  Catharine Hancharek

2019-20:  Ammar Nawaz

2021-23:  Pat Scanga

2024-2025: Catharine Hancharek

 

Get to know us

Coming Soon: resources to learn more about the West Toronto Chapter!

Chapter leadership

Connecting engineers and communities

Catharine Hancharek
Chair
Gordana Slepcev
Co-Vice-Chair
Sanja Hulec
Co-Vice Chair
Pat Scanga
Treasurer and Past Chair

West Toronto Chapter committees

  1. The communication committee manages communications outreach with Chapter members via emails, the chapter website, newsletters and our social media channels.

  2. The GLP committee works to ensure that government, elected officials and the public continue to recognize and understand PEO’s regulatory mandate and policy directions.

  3. The education outreach committee works with local schools, teachers and students to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and careers.

  4. The EIT committee provides engineering interns (EITs) with guidance, mentoring and support as they work towards their professional engineer (P.Eng.) licence.

  5. The events committee plans and organizes events—networking, recognition, professional development, recreational and more—for chapter members.

    Sub-Committees

    • The Certificate Presentation Ceremony subcommittee organizes P.Eng. licence certificate presentation ceremonies for new engineers.
    • The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) subcommittee organizes professional development activities—seminars, symposiums, technical tours, etc.—for chapter members.
    • The Networking subcommittee builds relationships between the Chapter and local business, professional associations and academic institutions. 
    • The 30x30 subcommittee supports Engineers Canada’s 30 by 30 initiative to raise the percentage of newly licensed engineers in Canada who are woman to 30% by the year 2030.

  6. The nominating committee works to present a slate of candidates for election to Chapter board positions each year.

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