Member Profile- Francis Laparé
Like many others, despite a firm intention to be a career officer, Francis Laparé grew
uncomfortable with the impacts of remote decision-making on frontline troops. With a posting
to a desk job imminent, he concluded that a life more aligned to his values and ambitions must
be possible for him outside of uniform. So, following “a passion rather than a plan”, it was with
enormous trepidation that he left the Army and went straight to Ryerson (now Toronto
Metropolitan) University to complete a Masters in Architecture and Design. He’s glad he did. It
has landed him some really interesting jobs.
During his time at Ryerson he joined Treble Victor’s Toronto Chapter and through 3V was
placed as an intern at a well-respected Toronto architecture firm, Dialog. This was enough
civilian experience to parlay into a full-time job with McDonalds Restaurants, working in their
highly sophisticated real estate division. “It was very impressive, highly effective and familiar.
Everything that could be standardized was standardized” has says. This atmosphere of
institutional structure and process was a comfortable buffer between military operations in
Afghanistan and what was to follow.
After McDonalds, Francis moved to a Real Estate Investment Trust, that was performing a once-
in-a-lifetime office tower “repositioning” (a real estate term for transforming the building
through a major renovation) in the heart of Bay Street. This exciting project did expose him for
the first time to less a structured management approach and siloed technical teams. “It was a
different way to function to what I was used to” he says. In good military fashion he was able
to adapt to his new environment and grow professionally there for several years before
accepting a move to manage a team of Project Managers at Jones Lang Lassalle, delivering
complex real estate projects for clients such as office fit-outs and even building entire factories.
Despite growing to love Toronto, when PSP Investments, a Pension Fund manager came calling
with a greenfield career opportunity to oversee their North American property development
portfolio out of Montreal, Francis leapt on the chance to move back home. He is now in a role
where he can fully use his strategic mindset and quick decision-making (honed in his early
career with the Van Doos and Special Ops), to focus his attention and resources across his many
concurrent projects. What the future holds for Francis he does not know but he certainly feels
like the current role has the potential to take him wherever he wants.
Despite having such a full plate professionally, Francis has stepped back into a leadership role
with Treble Victor, this time as co-lead of the Montreal chapter. We look forward to seeing the
Chapter continue to thrive on his watch.