APEC Business Advisory Council biographical note

Backgrounder

Janet De Silva is an experienced international business executive with a track record of excelling in on-the-ground leadership roles. As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, Ms. De Silva is spearheading efforts to make Toronto one of the most competitive and sought-after business regions in the world.

Prior to joining the Board, Ms. De Silva spent 14 years in leadership roles in Asia. She served as Chief Executive Officer of Sun Life Financial’s Hong Kong subsidiary and Mainland China joint venture. She co-founded and was Chief Executive Officer of Retail China Limited, which was acquired in 2010. She later served as Dean of Ivey Asia, leading the Hong Kong campus and Asia operations of Ivey Business School of Western University.

Highly respected for her business advocacy and government engagement efforts, Ms. De Silva has served as Council Member on the Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council (ABLAC) since 2018. She also currently sits on the boards of Intact Financial Corporation, Blue Umbrella Limited and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance.

Ms. De Silva has been named one of ‘Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, a Woman of our Time’ by Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and made the Canadian Board Diversity Council’s inaugural ‘Diversity 50’ list.

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