Our executives

Shayne Ramsay, CEO 
Since May 2000, Shayne has been the CEO of BC Housing. Shayne was responsible for setting up the Homeowner Protection Office in 1998 and also served as its first CEO. The Homeowner Protection Office has been a branch of BC Housing since April 2010.

Prior to becoming the CEO, Shayne was the Director of Development Services for BC Housing, and the Director of Housing Policy and Program Development with the former Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in B.C.

In addition to his work as CEO, Shayne serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Crown Corporation Employer's Association, an agency that represents human resource issues for the provincial crown corporations in British Columbia.

Shayne has a graduate degree in urban planning from the University of Toronto.

Dan Maxwell, Vice President Corporate Services & Chief Financial Officer
Dan is a chartered accountant and was the Director of Internal Audit for the Office of the Comptroller General of BC and an auditor in private industry before joining BC Housing as the Director of Finance in 1996.

Dan left BC Housing in 1999 to help establish the Homeowner Protection Office where he held the positions of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer. He returned to BC Housing as the Chief Financial Officer in 2003.

Dan has a degree in commerce and business administration from the University of British Columbia.

 

Craig Crawford, (Acting) Vice President of Operations
In his current role as Vice President of Operations, Craig brings more than 20 years of experience in the development of a wide range of housing projects in partnership with the non-profit sector.

For the past six years, Craig has been the Vice President of BC Housing’s Development Services Branch. During that time, Craig and his team worked with non-profit societies to deliver more than 10,000 affordable housing units across the province. Craig recently spearheaded the Strengthening the Social Housing initiative that resulted in the development of several tools to enable non-profit housing providers to deliver projects more effectively.

Craig holds a Masters in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and is the executive sponsor of BC Housing's Leadership Development Program.

Michael Blaschuk, Vice President of Asset Strategies
Prior to joining BC Housing as the first Vice President, of the Asset Strategies Branch in October 2008, Michael held several senior executive positions in the federal government, most recently as the Director General Accommodation, Portfolio Management and Real Estate Services with Public Works and Government Services Canada and Director General, Headquarters Administration at Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Michael is a former Chief Appraiser of Canada and is an expert in real estate appraisal and assessment.

Michael has multiple diplomas in Urban Land Economics from the University of British Columbia and is a fully accredited member of the Appraisal Institute of Canada.

 

Agnes Ross, Vice President of Human Resources
Leading BC Housing’s HR team for over 10 years, Agnes has stewarded the organization’s growth from just over two hundred staff members to the over six hundred people it employs today.

Committed to best practice in all areas of human resource management, Agnes led the development of BC Housing’s People Strategy, encompassing excellence in employee development and recognition while creating a culture of accountability. The People Strategy continues to evolve with many innovative employee programs and is credited with bringing the organization’s employee engagement scores into the top 25 per cent of benchmarked companies in North America.

Agnes is designated as a Certified Human Resources Practitioner (CHRP) with Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and English from the University of Calgary.

Susan Thom,  Vice President of Corporate Communications
Prior to joining BC Housing in 1993, Susan was the Regional Manager of Public Affairs with the former Employment and Immigration Canada (currently Service Canada) where she was employed for 17 years. She brings with her extensive experience in government, media and community relations.

Susan is an Accredited Business Communicator with the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and has served in different capacities on their local, national and international boards. Over the years, she has earned some 18 provincial, national and international awards from both IABC and the Canadian Public Relations Society for various communications programs.

Susan attended the University of British Columbia prior to switching her focus to the news media and graduated from Broadcast Journalism at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

Wendy Acheson, Vice President and Registrar, Homeowner Protection Office
Wendy was appointed the first Vice President and Registrar of the newest branch of BC Housing, the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO), on April 1, 2010.

Prior to the transfer of the HPO to BC Housing, Wendy was the Manager, Licensing and Deputy Registrar of the Homeowner Protection Office. In this senior management position, which she held for almost five years, Wendy was responsible for overseeing licensing and compliance operations, and leading important initiatives within the organization to improve service delivery and increase consumer protection. This includes important changes to the Homeowner Protection Act.

Wendy also served as Director of Licensing/Deputy Registrar of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia for five years. She brings extensive experience in licensing, the regulation of professionals and legal matters, government, housing and consumer protection.

Wendy has degrees in both Law and political science from the University of Calgary. Her community involvement encompasses service with strata, co-operative housing, and community housing organizations.

Armin Amrolia, (Acting) Vice President of Development Services
As Acting Vice President of Development Services, Armin draws on more than 20 years of experience at BC Housing, with over six years in a senior leadership position. She has a strong background in stakeholder relations, liaising with health authorities, private and non-profit housing providers, and community resource groups.

Some of Armin's key accomplishments include the delivery of housing units for the Independent Living BC program, the Provincial Homelessness Initiative Phase I and II, and involvement in local government partnership projects with the cities of Vancouver, Abbotsford, Surrey and Maple Ridge. In her former role as Executive Director of the Lower Mainland for BC Housing’s Development Services Branch, Armin and her team have delivered more than 4,000 housing units since 2005.

Armin holds a degree in Political Science from Simon Fraser University.