Tamara Vrooman is President and CEO of Vancouver International Airport, Canada’s second busiest airport with a world-class hub and local roots. She is a transformational leader with a strong financial background who understands the intrinsic link between a strong and sustainable economy and a healthy community.
Before joining Vancouver International Airport, Tamara served as President & CEO of Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union with $28 billion in assets. She assumed leadership of Vancity at the beginning of the global financial crisis and transformed the business and service model, delivering record profitability and doubling its assets. During her tenure, Vancity became a global reference point, and she became a leading voice in the Canadian and international financial sectors. With achievements such as leading the first financial institution in North America to carbon-neutrality and the creation of the first Fossil-Fuel Free Mutual Fund in Canada, Tamara continues to demonstrate a successful new vision for values-based banking.
Prior to joining Vancity, Tamara served as Deputy Minister of Finance for the Province of British Columbia, Secretary to the Treasury Board and CEO of the Public Sector Employers’ Council where she oversaw the government’s annual $100 billion borrowing and cash requirements, led the Ministry of Finance to three AAA credit rating upgrades, and developed its $36 billion fiscal plan and the province’s first P3 Capital Project. Tamara also served as Deputy Minister and Executive Financial Officer for the Ministry of Health, which, under her leadership, achieved its first balanced budget in 16 years.
Tamara is a Board Director of the Airports Council International (North America), and Chairs the Canadian Airports Council. She is also Director of the Board for DRI Healthcare Trust, and a member of Canada’s Disability Inclusion Business Council.
Tamara pursued post-secondary education at the University of Victoria, earning a Master of Arts in History in 1994 and a Bachelor of Arts with honours in 1991. She also received an Honorary Doctorate (Laws) from Simon Fraser University in 2016, and an Honorary Doctorate (Technology) from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 2013. She lends her voice and leadership experience to issues related to women, families, and children with a particular focus on issues related to equality, inclusion and empowerment.
As an active member of the community, Tamara serves as Board Chair of the Rick Hansen Foundation, a member of the B.C. Achievement Foundation. She also serves as Simon Fraser University’s 12th Chancellor. She is the recipient of the Order of British Columbia (2019), the Peter Lougheed Award for Leadership in Public Policy (2016), and the B.C. CEO of the Year Award (Major Private Company) from Business in Vancouver (2015) among many other citations.