Alumni Achievement Award nominee:
Managing growth in a responsible fashion is in the best interest of us all. We have all witnessed both positive and negative examples of new development and can appreciate the relationship that well planned, thoughtful community designs have on new residents, surrounding communities, infrastructure and the natural environment.
Frank Cairo of Caivan Communities understands this well. As a prominent real estate developer in Ontario, the School of Planning grad is putting his education to good use, building thoughtfully planned communities that stand out.
Chances are that you’ve driven by one the communities Caivan has been involved with developing in the Toronto, Ottawa or Southwest Florida areas. Since founding the business with his friend and fellow University of Waterloo grad, Troy van Haastrecht, Caivan has established itself as an industry leader in integrating sound planning, engineering and architectural principles into their developments, while maintaining an adaptive/responsive approach to addressing consumer demand.
We all know that unplanned growth should be avoided. Caivan Communities is an organization that is committed to facilitating urban growth as part of the cultural, social, economic and natural environments they operate in. As a registered professional planner and member of the Canadian Institute of Planners with a background in Civil Engineering, Frank has an extra set of skills and knowledge to call upon that many in his industry don’t possess.
Frank’s journey to establishing the award winning Caivan Communities group with 40 staff, and 20 active development projects began with humble origins. He cut his teeth working for Mattamy Homes, first as a Co-op Student in the GTA and by 28 years old, lead the startup Ottawa Division of Canada’s largest land development and home building company as President. The task required just about every ounce of planning and engineering knowledge the young Cairo had, plus a fair dose of business acumen.
Thankfully, the School of Planning had given him the tools he needed to effectively navigate the planning framework in Ontario, needed to establish new communities. To this day, many of the pathways and processes opened up by Frank are being used as a mainstay in the City of Ottawa when planning new, large scale communities in the area.
Frank is more than just a businessman. He is committed to being a strong voice in Ontario and helping shape planning policy that best reflects the societal needs of current and future generations. He has served on a variety of committees, including those dealing with Planning Act reform and policy, housing affordability, economics, engineering standards review, land and energy efficiency and is deeply committed to Youth Related philanthropy.
Frank remains part of the University of Waterloo community. He married a civil engineering grad from Waterloo, and he has recruited and hired dozens of co-op students through the Waterloo’s co-op program. He’s also mentored numerous young engineers and planners over the years, many of whom now occupy prominent positions in the home building industry and beyond.