Board of directors
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is governed by an 11-member board of directors. Board members use their professional expertise to provide high-level direction, guidance, and approval of the port authority’s work without being directly involved in operations.
The appointment criteria and responsibilities of board members are outlined in the Canada Marine Act and our Letters Patent. Members are appointed by the following four groups:
- Federal government appoints eight members, seven of which are recommended by port users
- Province of British Columbia appoints one member
- Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba collectively appoint one member
- 16 municipalities that border the port authority’s jurisdiction collectively appoint one member
For more information about our governance structure, please contact us.
Executive leadership team
The port authority’s management structure is organized into divisions, each of which is led by an executive. These divisions reflect the key areas of work the port authority leads to fulfill our mandate. The executives, including the president and chief executive officer, work together to lead their teams to advance the port authority’s business objectives.
Peter Xotta
President and CEO
Peter Xotta is the president and CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the federal agency responsible for enabling Canada’s trade through the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port. Peter joined the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s executive leadership team over a decade ago, most recently serving as vice president, operations and supply chain.
The proud son of immigrant parents, Peter was born and raised on Canada’s West Coast. Growing up surrounded by the country’s vibrant maritime industry, Peter developed an appreciation of the value and complexity of the port from an early age. He started his port career over 35 years ago—nearly 30 of which have been spent at the port authority—and progressively advanced through various roles. Today, he applies the experiences, relationships, and passion he has cultivated throughout his life and career to his role as the port authority’s president and CEO.
Peter’s long career in port environments has given him a deep understanding of the things that matter to the customers and partners that keep goods moving through the Port of Vancouver. He is particularly interested in work that keeps the port competitive and goods moving efficiently for the benefit of all Canadians, such as addressing resiliency and fragility in the supply chain and developing innovation within operational systems.
Prior to his appointment to president and CEO in 2023, Peter’s diverse portfolios at the port authority included port operations, business development and strategic projects. He played a key role in working with local partners to identify and secure funding for a suite of off-terminal trade enabling infrastructure projects throughout the region, which were developed to improve the movement of goods to and from the port and support Canada’s competitiveness in international trade. He also led the organization’s port and supply chain optimization work, such as the Active Vessel Traffic Management Program and other supply chain visibility initiatives.
Peter sits on the boards of Invest Vancouver Management, Burnaby Hospital Foundation, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, and on Western Transportation Advisory Council (WESTAC)’s Executive Committee. He previously served on the boards of the Freight Management Association of Canada and the Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping. He is also the former chair of Canada Place Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
Peter has a master of business administration degree from Simon Fraser University’s Segal Graduate School of Business and has served as a mentor in the program.
Parm Hari
Parm Hari joined the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in 2021. As vice president, strategy, transformation and chief human resources officer (CHRO), she is responsible for human resources, internal communications, facilities and administration, events and experience, and the business transformation office. Parm also oversees guest experience at Canada Place, which is owned and operated by the port authority.
In her role, Parm leads a variety of initiatives to enable data, people, processes, and systems to drive organizational wide excellence and continuous improvement. Under her direction, the organization has expanded to leverage enterprise-level data analytics to inform decision making, and better align projects to improve overall business performance. From a human resources perspective, she is focused on growing and enhancing the organization’s strategic HR practices in order to attract, retain, recognize and develop exceptional talent. Through her work with Canada Place, Parm supports external events and guest experiences at Vancouver’s iconic landmark, venue, and cruise terminal.
Prior to joining the port authority’s executive team, Parm was executive director, people and culture at Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCH), where she served as the people strategy lead in B.C. for the largest-ever vaccination campaign in history. Before her time at VCH, Parm was vice president of global strategy for Pierre Fabre Group, a French multinational, where she transformed a key subsidiary from a US-market only brand to an international player in 10 countries.
Parm currently serves as a special advisor to the HR committee with the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. She is also a faculty advisory board member with UCB Sauder School of Business.
Parm holds a master of business administration degree in strategy and consulting, and a bachelor of commerce degree, both from the University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business. As a champion of life-long learning, she recently completed board governance and compensation committees programs through Harvard Business School and attended the Cambridge Academy of Transport. She also holds certifications in executive and organizational coaching, advanced change management, project management, process improvement, leadership, and organizational development.
Jennifer Natland
Jennifer Natland joined the port authority’s executive team in 2023. In her role as vice president, properties and environment, Jennifer oversees the management and administration of the port authority’s real estate portfolio, which includes real estate, land use and transportation planning, development, engineering, asset management and maintenance.
Since first joining the port authority in 2006, a key area of focus for Jennifer has been the strategic and efficient management of industrial land. Throughout her tenure, Jennifer has held progressively senior roles across the organization including director, corporate strategic planning and director, planning and development. She has led work at the port authority to ensure the Port of Vancouver is able to support growing Canada’s trade needs in the face of the rapidly dwindling supply of available trade enabling land in the Lower Mainland.
Before joining the port authority, she worked in local government in a land use planning capacity. She has also worked as a consultant to the port sector, supporting tenants with their development projects.
Jennifer currently sits on the Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia board of directors. She is also a member of Lambda Alpha International, a global land economics society, and has served on the executive committee of the Vancouver chapter. Previously, she served as commissioner and co-chair of the Vancouver City Planning Commission.
She holds a bachelor of arts degree in geography, a master of urban studies degree and a master of business administration degree, all from Simon Fraser University.
Cliff Stewart
In his role as vice president, infrastructure, Cliff Stewart leads the development and delivery of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s infrastructure programs, which include road, rail, terminal and facility projects, and associated habitat restoration. He also serves as president of Canada Place Corporation, where he liaises with tenants and stakeholders that operate out of the iconic landmark Canada Place building.
Throughout his tenure at the port authority, Cliff has been instrumental in building the organization’s internal infrastructure team and leading the development of large scale, trade-enabling projects—both at the Port of Vancouver and throughout the Lower Mainland—designed to support the port authority’s federal mandate to enable Canada’s trade through the Port of Vancouver. This includes the realignment of Low Level Road in North Vancouver, the expansion of the Centerm container terminal in Burrard Inlet, and building the Tsawwassen Container Examination Facility on Tsawwassen First Nation industrial land. Early in his time at the port authority, Cliff was involved in drafting the project definition report for what would eventually become the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project.
Cliff’s expertise in both infrastructure delivery and the container industry has been built throughout his career, which spans almost four decades. Prior to joining the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, he served as vice president, operations for DP World Canada Inc. In that role he oversaw a redevelopment program at Centerm, which doubled the terminal’s capacity and improved its efficiency without interrupting operations. In the late 1990s, Cliff led the redevelopment of North Vancouver’s Vancouver Wharves bulk terminal site. He also held maintenance, engineering and major project roles with BCR Marine and Quintette Coal earlier in his career.
Cliff previously served on the boards of the BC Maritime Employers Association, Green Marine, North Shore Neighbourhood House and Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue. He is a professional engineer and holds a bachelor of applied science in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia.
Victor Pang
Victor Pang was appointed chief financial officer of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in November 2016. In his role, he is responsible for the finance, accounting, information services, procurement, treasury, and corporate strategy functions of the organization.
Since joining the port authority, Victor has applied to his work his passion for helping organizations achieve success through periods of growth and change. His focus is on enhancing the port authority’s decision-making by embedding strategic, financial, and commercial best practices, and driving execution effectiveness through system improvements.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Victor has a deep understanding of the value of port cities. Through his work at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Victor aspires to help people across the region understand the important roles that the port plays in shaping their local communities.
Victor brings more than 25 years of diverse finance and operations experience to the port authority. His industry experience spans the transportation, technology, mining, consumer packaged goods, and banking sectors. Prior to joining the port authority, he served as vice president of financial planning and analysis and corporate development at CHC Helicopter, where he was responsible for leading the company’s global strategic planning, financial planning and mergers and acquisitions.
Victor is a former board member and chair of the Finance and Audit Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He is also a former board member for Slemon Park Corporation, an aerospace park in Atlantic Canada.
Victor earned both his bachelor of commerce and bachelor of laws degrees from the University of British Columbia. He began his finance career at HSBC and articled at the law firm McCarthy Tétrault.
Mark Gustafson
Mark Gustafson joined the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s executive team as vice president, legal, risk and compliance in 2021. In his role, he leads the organization’s legal and enterprise risk management and internal audit functions. He oversees legal services for all areas affecting the port authority, including commercial contracts, real estate, infrastructure, regulatory matters, litigation, and corporate governance.
Growing up in Vancouver, Mark developed a lifelong appreciation for the impact of the Port of Vancouver on the economy, including the $11.9 billion in GDP and 115,300 jobs across Canada enabled by port-related activities annually. Through his role, he enjoys working with a diverse and talented team to support all aspects of the port authority’s mandate.Mark began his legal career in Vancouver at the national law firm Fasken, where he worked in the real estate and natural resources group. After shifting his focus to in-house practice, Mark joined the City of Vancouver, where he worked with the legal team to achieve business-minded solutions. In 2011, Mark joined the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority as legal counsel, and in 2017 he became general counsel, corporate secretary, and director of legal services.
In both 2022 and 2021, Mark was recognized as one of the leading general counsel in B.C. by Business in Vancouver in its BC500 list of the most influential business leaders in the province. He was also nominated for a Western Canada General Counsel Award in 2022, in the Environmental, Social and Governance category. In 2020 he received a Lexpert Rising Stars Award, which recognizes leading lawyers in Canada under 40.
Mark received his law degree from the University of Victoria. He also holds a masters degree in international business law from Vrije University in Amsterdam and an executive master of business administration from Queen’s University.
Shri Madiwal
As vice president, operations and supply chain at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Captain Shri Madiwal is responsible for the port authority’s land and marine operations, trade development, health, safety and emergency management, and port and supply chain optimization activities.
As part of the port authority’s executive leadership team, Shri is passionate about digital transformation within the supply chain, focusing on enhancing efficiency and reliability. He is committed to building strong relationships with and developing both internal teams and external stakeholders.
At the age of 18, Shri left his home of Mumbai to begin what would be a long and exceptional career at sea. He handled nearly every type of cargo as he sailed around the world and worked his way up to the rank of captain. In 2008, Shri’s career transitioned to shore-based roles in Canada, where he was involved in diverse shipping projects and responsibilities, including ship management, ferry operations, and shipbuilding.
Shri joined the port authority as harbour master in 2019. In that role, he applied his considerable maritime expertise to advancing marine operations initiatives that create value and improve service for Port of Vancouver users. One of these initiatives is the Active Vessel Management Program, which will usher in a set of tools, guidelines and practices to prioritize the movements of ships through port waters.
Shri is a certified Master Mariner—the highest internationally recognized level of seafarer qualification available. He also holds a master of business administration degree from Simon Fraser University.
Strategic planning
Each year, port authority leadership identifies the strategies, goals, and action plans that will help us advance our federal mandate. This strategic planning process provides the organization with common objectives and benchmarks for measuring the success of our activities.
In addition to our annual strategic planning process, we also use scenario planning to improve our understanding of the key issues facing the Greater Vancouver Gateway. Scenario planning allows us to collaborate with key stakeholders from across the region to explore the opportunities and challenges that can affect the future success of the port.
To read the 2022 Port Forward scenarios report, please contact us.