CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER | CEO
Gaëtan Royer, an experienced management professional, is CityState’s founding President. In a first career, he served Canada and the United Nations as a Military Engineer. He was awarded a Governor General’s Medal for his humanitarian work during the 1992-95 war in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Gaëtan Royer served in senior positions with the cities of Surrey, Whitehorse then Port Moody, where he was CAO for 11 years. He was appointed Head of Regional Planning and Parks at Metro Vancouver in 2011.
Gaëtan has degrees in Architecture, Engineering and Urban Planning, disciplines that are complementary yet rarely found together in one person. He wrote Time For Cities, a book used by several universities. This unique combination of skills and experience makes Gaëtan creative, disciplined, analytical and in tune with best practices in urban affairs.
A passionate practitioner of public process, Gaëtan is adept at facilitating consultation with large crowds in fluent French and English. He contributed to numerous strategic plans with Commissions, non-profit Boards and Councils, helping them to successfully address thorny issues, implement complex projects and steer change under media scrutiny and in tough political environments.
As a public servant, Gaëtan acquired a reputation for being an entrepreneurial bureaucrat who got things done. Since leaving the public sector in January 2013, Gaëtan Royer has consulted in policy research, public processes and planning with Client s such as Ernst & Young, City of Moscow, Columbia Institute, BC Recreation & Parks Association, City of Burnaby, Abbotsford Hospice and private developers. Gaëtan and CityState use the latest architectural design and site planning tools to get projects approved.
