Riaz Kara

Vice-President, Policy

Riaz J. Kara is an accomplished senior executive with nearly two decades of experience in the public sector, having worked within the federal public service and the provincial government of British Columbia, as well as at a federal Crown corporation. He has held senior policy leadership roles in housing, labour and employment, and has experiences that span strategic policy, regulatory management and business transformation.

Before joining PPF, Riaz was Director General, Housing Policy & Partnerships at Housing, Infrastructure & Communities Canada, where he stewarded Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, a whole-of-government mobilization to pull on every available lever to fix the housing crisis. In this role, he was also responsible for federal-provincial-territorial relations, stakeholder engagement and social policy files, as well as forerunning leadership on integrating housing with federal immigration, employment, health and industrial policy.

Riaz was formerly Vice-President, Social Policy & Equity at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. He led policy work to stand up the Co-Operative Housing Development Program, as well as enact significant changes to the Affordable Housing Fund and the Apartment Construction Loan Program. Under his leadership, the latter two programs were revamped to be easier to access for proponents and made fit-for-purpose given Canada’s housing deficit. While at CMHC, he also advanced policy and program interventions to support equity-denied communities in accessing CMHC funding and financing programs — an area of importance given the country’s widening wealth and homeownership gap.

Prior, Riaz held executive roles at Employment and Social Development Canada, including leading the federal government’s review of the Employment Equity Act as well as acting as Director General of federal labour programs, including in Employment Equity and Federal Workers’ Compensation. Riaz was also the labour regulator for the federal public sector in Ontario, where he led regulatory oversight of the banking, telecommunications, trucking, airlines and airports sectors, as well as the federal public service. He also led day 1 responses for these sectors during COVID-19, including policy and program work related to ‘safe restart.’

Riaz holds a master’s degree in economic history from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Trent University. In 2019, he completed the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Certificate in Public Sector Leadership. Riaz is also proudly a Board director of Christie Lake Kids, a 100-year-old non-profit focused on improving outcomes for children and youth. He also serves as Chair of its Governance and Human Resources Committee.

Riaz joined PPF in 2024.