Meet GTA’s builder of the year
Mohammad Al Zaibak’s award recognizes leaders who make Toronto a better place
When Mohammad Al Zaibak, his wife and their three children — the youngest only two weeks old — arrived in Canada almost three decades ago, the telecommunications engineer believed the move from Syria would give his family the best opportunity at an inclusive future.
“I had the choice to go and live anywhere I wanted, but I was really looking for the best place in the world to raise a family,” Al Zaibak said in an interview with the Star.
That decision shaped the lives of the family from Damascus.
Al Zaibak has enjoyed a distinguished career as the head of technology companies. He sits on the board of Ryerson University, chairs the Canada Arab Business Council and is president of Lifeline Syria — a humanitarian organization he and his daughter Leen formed in response to the Syrian refugee crisis.
Now Al Zaibak is being honoured with the Toronto Region Board of Trade annual builder award. It was established in 2013 to recognize business leaders whose extraordinary contributions have made the region a “better place to live, work and do business.” Past recipients include former TD bank president Ed Clark and former Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy.
“To be included among those people who are really recognized as visionaries, city builders, business leaders . . . it’s a great honour,” Al Zaibak said.
He didn’t even know he had been nominated for the award until Board of Trade president Janet Da Silva called him in mid-November and said he was the recipient.
“To tell you the truth I was quite overwhelmed,” he said. “I am really humbled this way and I had no idea.”
Da Silva told the Star that Al Zaibak was the judges’ top choice among a shortlist of around 15 candidates assessed on the basis of their business leadership, philanthropy and relevance to the future of Toronto.
“(Al Zaibak) really is the quintessential Toronto story as a newcomer who’s been able to do extremely well in Canada,” Da Silva said.
“Where he helps shed a spotlight on Toronto is not just the success he’s been able to achieve as a newcomer in the market, but also around the Syrian refugee crisis,” she said, referring to his work on Lifeline Syria and personal sponsorship of Syrian refugee families.
Al Zaibak said he hopes his award, to someone who came to Canada from another part of the world to build businesses, will underscore how crucial pluralism is to Canadian society.
“At the same time I hope that Canadians realize how fortunate we are to live and grow in this country,” he said.
Da Silva said a larger number of candidates from the technology field have emerged as candidates for the award in recent years, as the importance of innovation to Toronto’s future has become increasingly clear.
Having spent his career in the technology field — notably partnering with the Ontario government to create pioneering digital land registration information system Teranet 25 years ago — Al Zaibak has insight into the role technology can play in city building.
Al Zaibak will receive the award at the Board of Trade annual dinner in February, which will also feature a keynote presentation by Daniel Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs.